Macbeth Research Paper

No reason was found in Macbeth’s hallucination of the dagger. The fact that Macbeth is even envisioning a dagger in which he would use to kill Duncan is irrational. Many would argue that the dagger is a painting of his guilty conscience, but as he continues to commit more heinous tyranny in Macbeth, Macbeth sees the dagger once more. It is important to note that later in the play, Lady Macbeth scolds Macbeth, “This is the very painting of your fear;/ This is the air-drawn dagger which, you said,/ Led you to Duncan” (Shakespeare 52). The vision of the dagger controls Macbeth’s life before and after King Duncan’s death. This shows a lack of reasoning in Macbeth’s head, and he grasps for illogical reasons why Macbeth is feeling the way he does. Another instance that shows Macbeth’s lack of reason and abundance of irrationality taking over his life is the banquet

Or art thou but a dagger of the mind, a false creation, proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?” (2.1.36-40). When envisioning the dagger, Macbeth questions the meaning behind such object. The daggers portrays fate in the way that it is handed to him. He receives this dagger which can signify his gain of power and cruel choices he will make.

Pointing towards the king’s chamber covered in blood, Macbeth acknowledges the dagger’s presence and communicates with it. With mixed feelings, Macbeth encounters contradicting thoughts on executing the king in effort to gain power. The dagger symbolizes Macbeth’s bloody destiny, and Macbeth’s vision of this dagger is one of the many hallucinations and visions that creates a motif of deception throughout the play.

If the dagger is a hallucination, then Macbeth has some subconscious urge to take Duncan's life. If the dagger is from the witches, then the witches want to entice Macbeth with a little something to make him contemplate beforehand what he may be doing. The witches know that Macbeth will not talk himself out of killing Duncan until after the fact.

Macbeth dismisses his vision of the dagger with the statement, “there’s not such thing”. The fact that Macbeth knows the dagger is not real shows he is still sane at this point. He is, however, beginning to ignore signs that his actions are morally defective. Macbeth begins to deny the effect murdering Duncan will have on his conscience. He refuses to use the word “murder”, instead using the euphemism of “the bloody business”. He is not facing up to what he is about to do. Shakespeare then has Macbeth begin to personify murder. The statement “wither’d murder… towards his design moves like a ghost” also distances Macbeth from his actions. It is murder instead of Macbeth that is striding down the hall to kill the King. This is very different from Macbeth’s earlier soliloquy, where he carefully ways up both sides of the argument. The audience can already see the effect his actions are having on the way he is

In Act ii, Scene 1, Macbeth says during a soliloquy in lines 33 – 64: ‘Is this a dagger I see before me/…let me clutch thee…/I have thee not, and yet I see thee still’. Is the dagger a ‘dagger of the mind’ (l.38), or a prank from the witches? It is impossible to know, however, the sight of this mysterious blood- covered dagger causes Macbeth to delve deep into evil thoughts and rumours: ‘ Wicked dreams abuse/…pale Hecate’s off ‘rings, and

As Macbeth prepares to kill King Duncan, he gets an image of a dagger that looks very similar to his own. He thinks to himself that this hallucination cannot be true. Macbeth can see the dagger but cannot touch it. The dagger in front of Macbeth is identical the dagger that he is planning on using to kill the king. In Macbeth’s fantasy, the dagger leads him toward the king’s room as planned already by Macbeth himself.

During Shakespeare’s time, there were only a few curses that had occurred. The curses that had happened were the Macbeth Curse and the curse that was written on Shakespeare’s grave. The Macbeth Curse was a very dangerous curse because their were many famous occurrences of the play that led to disaster, the curse on Shakespeare’s grave would curse anyone that had dug up his grave and moved his bones. There may not have been many curses during Shakespeare’s time, but the few were curses you would not want to mess with. There have been many famous occurrences of the Macbeth play throughout time and each occurrence has led to disaster.

Macbeth’s inability to tell if the dagger is real or not and being unable to recognize the reason for its appearance, clarifies his ability to distance himself from his actions. The lines, “Witchcraft celebrates Pale Hecate’s offerings, and withered

Macbeth hallucinates the bloody dagger he will use to kill Duncan, right before he kills him. “Is this a dagger I see before me,/The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch/thee/… Thou marshall’st me the way I was going,/And such instrument I was to use” (2.1.34-44). Duncan’s murder is just one of many murders that will occur, which Macbeth commits to gain power. In Macbeth, Shakespeare uses murders to develop the theme of violence throughout the play.

Macbeth, a popular Jacobean tragedy, follows the (later) King of Scotland’s pathway of destruction- caused by ambition and greed- resulting in his death. Throughout the play, Shakespeare features and makes reference to many supernatural elements- be it the witches (formerly known as the “weird sisters”), the ghost of Banquo, or a piercing image of a dagger. Via supernatural elements, not only does Shakespeare appeal to a superstitious Jacobean audience, but also aims to portray themes of anarchy, ambition and greed- and I will be exploring the way in which Shakespeare does this through the supernatural.

Macbeth knows that he is hallucinating that there is a bloody dagger, but he can't seem to let the vision go. Macbeth knows the guilt will be haunting him for a while even before he has killed the king. The dagger is put before him as a warning that he will feel guilty about killing Duncan after it is too late. Macbeth is very weak and inexperienced around murder, so he is

Macbeth sees a bloody knife before he kills Duncan and it is pointed toward Macbeth’s chambers. This is an example of the supernatural and it “pushes” Macbeth to commit the violent murder. He wishes he had never built himself up to kill him. Lady Macbeth encouraged the murder. Macbeth sees a hallucination of the bloody knife when he says, “Is this dagger which I see before me/

As Macbeth is getting ready for the deed to be performed, we read: “Is this a dagger which I see before me,/ the handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee” (Macbeth. 2.1. 40-41). When reading this, we realize that Macbeth has a vision of a dagger floating in the air before him, its handle pointing toward his hand and its tip aiming him toward king Duncan indicating that he will go through the killing of Duncan. With all of this happening, the plot begins to advance.

By investigating the witches prophecies, the three apparitions and their effect on his intelligence, it is evident that their influence on the plot is pivotal. In the play Macbeth, the supernatural have a monumental impact on his thoughts