Imagery


Macbeth


Macbeth finally faced Macdonwald, he ‘unseamed him from the nave to the chops, / And fixed his head upon [the] battlements.’ The characters’ celebration of such violence clearly establishes Scotland in this period as a violent and dangerous place. When Macbeth sees the vision of the dagger (Act 2, Sc 1), the sudden appearance of blood


on the blade and handle ominously prefigures the impending murder: ‘I see thee still, / And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood, / Which was not so before.’ This adds to the overall sense of horror within the play. Images of blood also illustrate guilt within Macbeth. The disquieting vision of Macbeth’s blood-


soaked hands dramatically highlights the gruesome nature of his crime, but his efforts to cleanse them represent his desperation to rid himself of his own guilt: ‘Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather The multitudinous seas incarnadine, Making the green one red’ (Act 2, Sc 1)


Here Macbeth recognises that the violence of his actions will spread rather than be washed away. This foreshadows his grim proclamation later in the play that ‘blood will have blood’ (Act 3, Sc 4). Similarly, the appearance of Banquo’s bloody ghost (Act 3, Sc 4)with ‘twenty trenched gashes on


his head’ dramatically illustrates Macbeth’s guilt. As the ghost shakes his ‘gory locks’ the audience understand that Macbeth is literally haunted by what he has done. In a most telling image, Macbeth pictures himself wading through a river of blood. He is so consumed by the horror of his crimes that his actions now seem to have little significance: ‘I am in blood / Stepped in so far that, should I wade no more, / Returning were as tedious as go o’er’ (Act 3, Sc 4). Although Lady Macbeth never publicly admits her feelings of guilt, the bloody imagery she employs in the sleepwalking scene (Act 5, Sc 1) illustrates the depth of her remorse. She imagines a persistent blood stain: ‘Out, damned spot!’ and the ever-present smell of blood on her hands: ‘Here’s the smell of the blood still: all the / perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little / hand.’ As with Macbeth, bloody imagery serves to highlight Lady Macbeth’s feelings of guilt. Towards the end of the play, images of blood also communicate Scotland’s disorder. Macduff


cries, ‘Bleed, bleed, poor country!’ (Act 4, Sc 3) and Malcolm describes how under Macbeth’s rule Scotland ‘bleeds; and each new day a gash / Is added to her wounds’ (Act 4, Sc 3). Caithness proclaims that loyal patriots are willing to sacrifice their own blood to help Scotland: ‘pour we in our country’s purge / Each drop of us’ (Act 5, Sc 2). Fittingly the play ends as bloodily as it begins,withMacduff carryingMacbeth’s decapitated head.


Just as the play began with a bloody battle, it ends with one. Shakespeare is suggesting that the bloody cycle of violence is due to begin again.


Masks and Clothing Images of masks illustrate the idea of deception at the heart of Macbeth. The audience realises how Macbeth and LadyMacbeth seek tomaintain power through the appearance of virtue, hiding the fact that their power stems from an appalling act of treachery. From the beginning of the play, Duncan highlights the connection between deception and disloyalty. Explaining how his trust in Macdonwald was misplaced, Duncan says, ‘There’s no art / To find the mind’s construction in the face’ (Act 1, Sc 4). As leader of the rebellion, Macdonwald hid his treasonous plans beneath a mask of allegiance. LadyMacbeth also stresses the importance of deception and its relationship to power. She realises


that Macbeth’s outward appearance must be fitting to a goodly king, even if his inner thoughts are evil: ‘look like the innocent flower, / But be the serpent under’t’ (Act 1, Sc 5).


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