Macbeth: Imagery
A simple definition is ‘the use of images in literature’ (Oxford Reference Dictionary).
In a good play, the dramatist seeks to make the ideas , characters and developments
vivid and memorable. One way of achieving this aim is to make the audience associate
a character or a theme with certain images, qualities or activities so that, when these
occur, the audience remembers the character or theme and comes to a fuller
understanding of them.
An example of imagery in the early stages of the play can be seen in the description of the battle
that was taking place. The two opposing armies were described as:
As two spent swimmers, that do cling together
And choke their art.
(I, ii, 8-9)
The image is clear and shows two swimmers clinging together and both stopping the other from
swimming. The meaning is that both armies were slowly dying with neither able to come out on
top.
A further use of imagery can be seen towards the end of the play:
They have tied me to a stake; I cannot fly,
But bear-like I must fight the course.
At this point of the play, Macbeth is about to fight against the large force of English soldiers and
he pictures himself as a bear tied to a stake ready to be baited by dogs. We understand through
this image that Macbeth sees himself as a powerful soldier, a bear against dogs. However, the
odds are stacked against him and that is why he finds himself restricted: tied to a stake.
How many other examples of striking imagery can you find in the play (or a section of
the play)?
• Pick out some examples and explain how the imagery is being used. Try to say why you think
Shakespeare chose the image. Explain the effect of Shakespeare’s use of imagery on you.
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