Preview

Macbeth - Imagery in Macbeth

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1321 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Macbeth - Imagery in Macbeth
In all of Shakespeare 's plays he uses many forms of imagery. Imagery, the art of making images, the products of imagination. In the play 'Macbeth ' Shakespeare applies the imagery of clothing, darkness and blood. (listed from least to most), Each detail is his imagery, it seems to contain an important symbol of the play. Symbols that the reader must understand if they are to interpret either the passage or the play as a whole.

Within the play 'Macbeth ' the imagery of clothing portrays that Macbeth is seeking to hide his "disgraceful self" from his eyes and others. Shakespeare wants to keep alive the ironical contrast between the wretched creature that Macbeth really is and the disguises he assumes to conceal the fact. In opinion, the reader thinks of the play honors as garments to be worn; likewise, Macbeth is constantly represented symbolically as the wearer of robes not belonging to him. He is wearing an undeserved dignity, which is a crucial point that Shakespeare has made. The description of the purpose of clothing in Macbeth is the fact that these garments are not his. Therefore, Macbeth is uncomfortable in them because he is continually conscious of the fact that they do not belong to him. In the following passage, the idea constantly recurs that Macbeth 's new honors sit ill upon him, like loose and badly fitting garments, belonging to someone else:

"New honours come upon him,
Like our strange garments, cleave not to their mould,
But with the aid of use."
(Act I, iii: 144)

The second form used to add to the atmosphere, the imagery of darkness. In a Shakespearean tragedy, we have known him to create a special tone, or atmosphere to show the darkness in a tragedy. In 'Macbeth ', Shakespeare draws upon the design of the witches, the guilt in Macbeth 's soul, and the darkness of the night to establish the atmosphere. All of the remarkable scenes take place at night or in some dark spot; for instance, the vision of the dagger, the murder of

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Blood Imagery In Macbeth

    • 650 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Every good story needs imagery. It is what drags the reader into the story and lets them have a clearer picture of what is happening. Macbeth is a William Shakespeare play that contains amazing examples of imagery. It utilizes multiple themes of imagery, but one of the most common is blood. Blood imagery is used to present strong images and to further help the audience know what the characters are dealing with throughout the story.…

    • 650 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are many motifs in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, but one of the most important is the recurring disassociation of appearance and reality. The entire motif is introduced in the first scene when the witches say “Fair is foul and foul is fair” (1,i,12). This is then reiterated as important when Macbeth says, “So foul and fair a day I have not seen.” (1,iii, 39). Drawing parallels and comparing two polar opposites, such as foul and fair, sets the stage for the dissimilarity between appearance and reality. This motif changes as the characters change, however, and it moves from the main characters not knowing what to believe or trust, to the main characters using the variance to their own advantage and hiding their true motives, to finally causing the main characters to go insane. Throughout the entirety of Macbeth, what the characters have seen and what the readers know to be true have often times been contrasting. This divergence between appearance and reality grows and develops with the characters throughout the play.…

    • 1005 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Shakespeare uses the symbol of blood in MacBeth to represent treason, guilt, murder and death. These ideas are constant throughout the book. There are many examples of blood representing these three ideas in the book.…

    • 591 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Thesis: I believe that blood and darkness is shown through imagery many times throughout the play Macbeth.…

    • 350 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Guilt in Macbeth

    • 845 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Symbolism is used extensively to express the motivation of guilt in Macbeth. “Out, damned spot!” (Act 5 scene 1) is one memorable quote by Lady Macbeth. The spots of blood that the lady saw on her hand, while dreaming, is a symbol and metaphor of the guilt that she feels of the king’s murder. Despite what she does to try to wash the guilt away she can’t make the blood disappear. Lady Macbeth earlier on tries to repress her ‘womanly emotions’ in order to commit the murder but she is not successful and that guilt would later become her cause of death. Lady Macbeth says to her husband after the king’s murder, “A little water clears us of this deed”. Later, however, Lady Macbeth’s guilty conscience prevents her from ever washing the spots of blood off her hands. This is an instance of irony. Blood is a heavily used symbol. In Act 3 scene 4, Macbeth says “I am in blood / Step't in so far that, should I wade no more, / Returning were as tedious as go o'er”. This quote is just after he sees Banquo’s ghost. The blood represents a marsh of guilt and evil that Macbeth has waded so far in that he cannot back out of it. He has no choice but to accept his guilt and if need be, cover up his guilt with more murders. Symbolism gives the audience more insight to the characters and their feelings. It also adds depth to the concepts of guilt in Macbeth and enhances the experience of the plot.…

    • 845 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Metaphors In Macbeth

    • 168 Words
    • 1 Page

    1. Raven Raven is the symbol of death. It relates to the play because this relates to King Duncan’s murder. Raven was used during Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s conversation. 2.…

    • 168 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The first reference to this is when Ross first announces that Macbeth is now the thane of Cawdor. Macbeth is confused since the current thane is still alive, and asks why he is being dressed “in borrow’d robes” (I.iii.115). Macbeth does not mean the literal clothing of the old thane, but is instead referring to the title, Thane of Cawdor, which he does not believe fits him. In the same scene, Banquo mentions how the “strange garments, cleave not to their mould, But with the aid of use” (I.iii.158-159), using another clothing metaphor to conclude that Macbeth only feels uncomfortable with his new title because he has not had time to get used to it yet. Another example of clothing is used when the Scottish army is marching to meet the English army before Macbeth’s castle, where Angus comments on how Macbeth must now “feel his title Hang loose about him, like a giant’s robe Upon a dwarfish thief” (V.ii.23-25). Angus is saying that Macbeth had unrightfully taken the title of king and it is now obvious since the title, or the robe in the metaphor, does not fit him at…

    • 417 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth Symbolism Analysis

    • 1090 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In the play, “Macbeth” written by Shakespeare there are many deaths and strange happenings taking place. Many of the main characters begin to die off, really taking you by surprise. Shakespeare had an interesting idea to include the use of symbolism and imagery throughout his play. Symbolism is the use of symbols to explain the meaning of qualities, emotions, or ideas. Imagery is a description of visual symbolism in a literary work. There were multiple uses of symbolism and imagery acknowledged from beginning to end. Three of the main appearances of symbolism and imagery seem to involve the use of the number three, symbols of death, and strange occurrences in nature.…

    • 1090 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Theme Of Power In Macbeth

    • 997 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Macbeth grew increasingly confident at the end of the play after realizing that pretending to be hopeful is the only way to convince everyone how strong he is. “Now does he feel his title hang loose about him, like a giant’s robe upon a dwarfish thief.” (V.ii.23-25) Macbeth who once thought he appeared invincible to everyone, is now too small to fit into Duncan’s robe. He is pictured to be a weak character, because he is incapable of handling the country and responsibilities that come after being a king. He is mocked when compared to a dwarfish thief in a giant’s robe, because it devalues his royal social disposition. The large garment emphasizes the size and value of such power and authority. Macbeth is not worthy of the honor that comes with the throne because of his inability to carry the responsibilities of being a devoted king like Duncan. His malicious character is not a moral representation of a loyal…

    • 997 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In all Shakespeare's tragedies, Imagery and diction have an appearance. In the play Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, imagery and diction are two literary devices that are present and have a great significance to the play. Imagery is a form of a literary device to create a vivid image in the reader's mind. As for diction, it is the choice of appropriate words and phrases, that the writer uses to make the message clear that is being said. The use of animal imagery showcases the disturbance caused by the unnatural intervention of the hierarchy through Macbeth's actions and foreshadows events that will happen in the future. Weather imagery uses thunder, lightning, and rain to develop a setting of darkness…

    • 1395 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Shakespeare succeeds in making his play easier to relate to and for the audience to feel like part of the action rather than just eagle- eyeing it”. The symbol of blood made Macbeth more appealing for the audience to figure out the transformation Macbeth and Lady Macbeth went through. Macbeth changes from a kind, honest brave, truthful, and trust worthy person to an evil, murderer, greedy, mean, and cruel…

    • 520 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Act III, Scene II of Macbeth (no quotations, italics), Shakespeare compares certain dangers that still need to be eliminated; in this case, Banquo and Fleance, to a “scorched snake”. This is a suitable comparison because a snake and a threat both portray danger and uncertainty. By specifically mentioning a “scorched snake”, we are able to conclude that Macbeth’s killing spree will continue throughout the play since he will never feel like he has gotten rid of his troubles. This comparison causes the audience to consider Macbeth’s current problematic state of mind caused by guilt and a troubled conscience, and additionally it foreshadows future deaths in the play. As readers, we understand that all of this is happening because of the prophecies stated by the witches when they met Macbeth. Since he was told he would be king, he currently sees Banquo and Fleance as possible threats, so he must get rid of them.…

    • 332 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In conclusion, Shakespeare uses literary devices such as similes, metaphors, and personification to reveal the rise and fall of Macbeth as evil slowly seizes his good will and stains his mind with impure thoughts of murder and deceit. Without the use of literary devices the reader may not understand the entirety of the line or situation. By using these devices the audience can thoroughly convey the tone or imagery in the text and properly respond with their own emotions towards the scene transpiring in the book. Personification or bringing liveliness to an object that would not otherwise convey actions, imagery or sight text used to display a picture the author wants you to see, and similes or comparisons being made being two objects or people…

    • 147 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Macbeth Research Paper

    • 2314 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Ambition is a very desirous trait. Macbeth’s ambition leads him down the path to perform wicked deeds that ultimately lead to his demise. Throughout the play of Macbeth, Shakespeare utilizes many forms of imagery. Some forms of imagery are shown through the character’s appearance in clothing, light and darkness and blood imagery. The most dominant form of imagery in the play is expressed through the clothing worn by the characters. In Macbeth, a play written by William Shakespeare, Shakespeare utilizes imagery of clothing and equivocation to demonstrate Macbeth's over ambitious mindset, which ultimately leads to his collapse. This is exemplified through Macbeth as he becomes the Thane of Cawdor, during the murder of King Duncan, and as Macbeth faces the forces of the British and Scottish.…

    • 2314 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Role Of Guilt In Macbeth

    • 584 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Since a majority of Shakespeare’s audience read his plays, Shakespeare needed a way to conceive images into the blank canvas that is the mind: imagery. All throughout the play, imagery is used to show what is occurring currently. Near the latter half of the play, Lady Macbeth begins to sleepwalk and display signs of insanity and craziness. Both the doctor and the gentlewoman observe her crying out “Out damned spot! Out, I say! One; two: why, then, ‘tis time to do’t. Hell is murky! Fie, my lord, fie! A soldier, and afeard? What need we fear who know it, when none can call our power to account? Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him”(5.1 32-7)? Yet another instance of the imagery of blood pertaining to guilt, this particular proclamation helps demonstrate the power of using imagery as special effects to create an…

    • 584 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics