Macbeth Imagery
Macbeth - ImageryIn his plays, Shakespeare uses many forms of imagery. Many forms of his imagery are used in his play Macbeth, including the forms of clothing and darkness. Each detail in his imagery, it seems tome, contains an important symbol of the play, and symbols that we must understand if we are to understand either the passage it is
in, or the play as a whole.
In Macbeth I think that the imagery of clothing is used to suggest that throughout the play, Macbeth is seeking to hide his “disgraceful self” from his eyes
and from others. I think that 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. Secondly, I think that in the play honours are thought of 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.” A crucial point in describing the purpose of clothing in Macbeth is the fact that these are not his garments. 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 honours sit ill upon him, like a loose and badly fitting garment, belonging to someone else: New honours come upon him, Like our strange garments, cleave not to their mould, But with the aid of use.
The second, most important chain of imagery used to add to the atmosphere is that of the imagery of darkness. In a Shakespearean tragedy a special tone, or...
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