Imagery in Macbeth   

Imagery Of Appearance and Reality

The theme of Appearance and Reality has been discussed already, e.g. we have mentioned that the play is at least partly based on the ides of deception. Examples of imagery here include Lady Macbeth's advice to Macbeth, "look like the innocent flower, But be the serpent under't" (Act I,Sc.v) and Macbeth's words, "False face must hide what the false heart doth know." In Act III,Sc.ii, Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth that they are, "Unsafe the while that we Must have our honours in these flattering streams, And make our faces wizards to our hearts, Disguising what they are." In Act I,Sc.iii, when he has been told that he is now Thane of Cawdor, he comments, "nothing is but what is not." After the murder of Duncan, Malcolm whispers to Donalbain, "To show as unfelt sorrow is an office Which the false man does easy." (Act II,Sc.iii) In the following scene Ross tells the Old Man of the strange upset in Nature, "...by the clock 'tis day And yet dark night strangles the travelling lamp (i.e. the sun)." In the Ghost scene (Act III,Sc.iv) Lady Macbeth points out to Macbeth that this Ghost (which she cannot see) is the "very painting of your fear" and "O, these flaws and starts" are just "Impostors of true fear." In Act IV,Sc.iii Malcolm observes to MacDuff, "Angels are bright still, though the brightest fell." He is pointing out that, although people may appear to be virtuous, they may in reality be vicious.

Shadow Imagery

When he hears of the death of Lady Macbeth, (Act V,Sc.vi), Macbeth uses the image of the shadow to describe life. A shadow is an imitation of reality and he possibly means that he has been cheated by a life that promised so much. These are just a few examples of this imagery which is often associated with dramatic irony. In fact this type of imagery is in itself ironical.

Imagery of Manliness

This is closely linked with the Theme of Manliness. We have already commented on the early descriptions of Macbeth in Act I,Sc.ii as ' brave' and ' valour's minion (favourite).' In Act I,Sc.vii, Lady Macbeth, in an effort to persuade him to murder Duncan, urges him, "Screw your courage to the sticking place" thereby implying that he is lacking in courage. After the murder she accuses him of having a white heart. When trying to persuade the Murderer's to kill Banquo, Macbeth uses the imagery of manliness to win them over (Act III,Sc.i).

Imagery of Light and Darkness

This imagery is clearly related to the conflict between Good and Evil. It is associated with symbolism because in the play light represents Good and darkness, Evil. The Witches, who also symbolise Evil, set their meeting for the "set of sun" (Act I,Sc.i). Later, in Act IV,Sc.i, Macbeth refers to them as "black and midnight hags". Banquo warns Macbeth against believing the words of the Witches, "The instruments of darkness" (Act I,Sc.iii) In nominating Malcolm as his successor (Act I,Sc.iv), Duncan equates nobleness with the stars and, almost immediately Macbeth, in an 'aside', calls on the stars to hide their fires so that light will not see his "black and deep desires". Again in Act I,Sc.v, Lady Macbeth calls on "thick night" to wrap itself in a blanket of darkness so that she might not be seen in the act of murder. Before the murder of Banquo, Macbeth calls on the "seeling night" to "Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day" (Act III,Sc.ii). He says, too, "Good things of the day begin to droop and drowse While night's black agents to their prey do rouse." In Act II,Sc.i Banquo tells Fleance, "there is husbandry in heaven, Their candles are all out." This suggests that Lady Macbeth's and her husband's call to darkness has been answered, that darkness covers their evil deeds. After Duncan's murder Ross asks the Old Man why "darkness does the face of earth entomb, When living light should kiss it." This may imply that Evil temporarily dominates Good. Macbeth, in Act v,Sc.v, speaks of light as a "brief candle" and of life as "a walking shadow", and admits, "I gin to be aweary of the sun". This may be a reflection of his awareness that Good (the sun) is gaining the upperhand in its struggle with Evil. This imagery is not strikingly new, but it is consistently used in the play and aptly emphasises the Theme of Good versus Evil.

Imagery of Disease and Corruption

This imagery comes late in the play but is then extensively used. It applies to Scotland and to Macbeth and the agents of Good are seen as an antidote to the sickness that Evil has brought, or as the Doctors who will overcome it. In Act I,Sc.vii Macbeth speaks of the "Bloody instruments which, being taught, return to plague the inventor". He realises that violence is a disease the that it feeds upon itself. In Act IV,Sc.iii Malcolm referring to Scotland, says, "It weeps, it bleeds, and each new day a gash Is added to her wounds". In the following scene the Doctor speaks of the King of Scotland who can cure the 'evil' (the King's evil). There may be a notion that Scotland needs a physician - Malcolm himself perhaps. In the Sleepwalking scene (Act V,Sc.i) the Doctor says of Lady Macbeth's illness, "This disease is beyond my practice" and of "infected minds" that tell their secrets to their pillows. He considers that she needs a spiritual physician to cure her. Here the agents of Good are her only hope. In Act V,Sc.ii Caithness points to Macbeth's "distemper'd cause" (unhealthy cause) and urges Menteith to march to meet "the medicine (doctor or antidote) of the sickly weal (state), And with him pour we, in our country's purge, Each drop of us." In the following scene we learn that Macbeth is "sick at heart" and later in the scene he asks the Doctor, in reference to Scotland to "find her disease, And purge it to a sound and pristine health". Ironically, Macbeth does not recognise that it is he who is Scotland's disease.

Imagery Of Clothing

This is, in a way, associated with the imagery of Appearance and Reality, but it has a specific relevancy of its own. Macbeth's new honours do not all fit him, as they belong to someone else. Some critics say that he is being pictured as a 'small', dishonourable man, degraded and hindered by garments unsuited to him. Others say that he is magnificently great, but not noble, and is, at times, a poor, vain, cruel man, climbing over the dead bodies of friends and kinsmen to a power he is unfit to hold. However, whether the clothes are large or small, the point is that they do not fit him, because they are not his; they have been stolen. A hypocrite is one who hides his real nature under a disguise. It is said that Macbeth hates to show himself as a hypocrite, and that he does it badly. In Act I,Sc.iii, he asks Angus, who has addressed him as Thane of Cawdor, "Why do you dress me in borrowed robes?" At this stage he is reluctant to accept any honour to which he is not entitled. This underlines the change that will come over him later when he murders Duncan for the Crown. In the same scene Banquo says, "New honours come upon him Like our strange garments, cleave not to their mould But with the aid of use." Perhaps he is complimenting Macbeth in suggesting that new honours make Macbeth feel awkward. It is ironical that the Crown never really 'fits' him. In Act I,Sc.vii, Macbeth says "...and I have bought Golden opinions from all sorts of people, Which would be worn now in their newest gloss Not cast aside so soon." Here he is proud of his new clothes and happy to wear what he has really earned. He does not wish to replace them with clothes stolen from Duncan. But Lady Macbeth replies, implying that he has already worn them in anticipation, "Was the hope drunk Wherein you dress'd yourself?" The point she is making is that the drunken hope is a poor and ill-fitting garment.

The clothes images are paralleled by a series of 'masking' or 'cloaking' images which are changes of the garments that hide his evil side. Before Duncan's murder, "False face must hide what the false heart doth know", also, before Banquo's murder, "Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day". In Act I,Sc.v, Lady Macbeth, in her invocation to the powers of darkness, repeats Macbeth's 'aside' in the preceding scene when she says, "Come thick night, And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell". After Duncan's murder Banquo says, "And when we have our naked frailties hid, That suffer in exposure, let us meet ". Macbeth takes up this in an ironical sense, "Let's briefly put on manly readiness" (which for him, is the hypocrite's garment). In Act II,Sc.iv, Macduff says in reference to the coronation of Macbeth "Well, may you see things well done there; Adieu Lest our old robes sit easier than our new." Here may have a premonition of the tyranny of an unlawful King. In Act V,Sc.ii, Angus says of Macbeth, "Now does he feel his title Hang loose about him, like a giant's robe Upon a dwarfish thief". There are other similar references.

Sleep Imagery

Sleep is an important image in the play because part of the punishment of the Tragic Hero and Lady Macbeth is a deprivation of sleep. In Act I,Sc.iii, the Witches spitefully plan to punish the sailor's wife by depriving her husband of sleep, "Sleep shall neither night nor day Hang upon his pent house lid". Perhaps this is a foreshadowing of what will happen to Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. In Act II,Sc.i, Banquo says, "A heavy summons lies like lead upon me, And yet I would not sleep." because when he is asleep, the temptations that arise from the Witches' predictons torment him. In his soliloquy in the same scene Macbeth refers to "wicked dreams" that tempt the sleeper in his bed.

Imagery Of Nature

A few examples should be sufficient to show the way to the student in studying the predominant imagery in the play - the Imagery of Nature. This is linked with many other types of imagery in the play, e.g. light and darkness imagery, sleep imagery. Like all the other imagery it is a live part of the play.

Plant Imagery

A feature of Nature imagery is the regular use of the plant image. In Act I,Sc.iii, Banquo asks the Witches to "look into the seeds of time, And say which grain will grow and which will not." In the following scene, Duncan tells Macbeth, "I have begun to plant thee, and will labour To make thee full of growing". The planting is a failure as in Act V,Sc.ii, Lennox refers to Macbeth and his followers as 'weeds'. In Act I,Sc.v, Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth to "look like the innocent flower, But be the serpent under't". In Act III,Sc.i, Banquo, reflecting on the Witches' predictions, considers that he may be the "root and father Of many kings". In Act V,Sc.iv Malcolm orders every soldier to "hew him down the bough And bear't down before him". The branches from Birnam Wood explain the equivocal prophecy of the Apparitions and perhaps symbolise nature's victory over the unnatural - the murders of Duncan, Banquo, Lady Macduff and her family,and the Grooms. In the final scene of the play Malcolm uses his father's planting imagery to signify a new start for Scotland. In Act II,Sc.iii, Lennox tells of the 'unruly' night and the dreadful storm on the night of Duncan's murder, and in Act II,Sc.iv, Ross and the Old Man speak of the unnatural happenings of the night. Perhaps these incidents symbolise Nature's protest at the murder of a lawful King. Perhaps the Doctor's words in Act V,Sc.i bear this out, "...unnatural deeds Do breed unnatural troubles." To describe his disillustionment Macbeth uses Nature imagery, "...my way of life Is fallen into the sere, the yellow leaf;" You should note, too, that there are many examples of animal and bird imagery in the play e.g. the Captain, to show Macbeth's and Banquo's bravery, compares them to eagles and the lion.