Definition/Summary:
Macbeth
- Shakespeare play
- King of Scotland 1040–57. He came to the throne after killing his cousin Duncan I in battle and was himself defeated and killed by Malcolm III
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“Is this a dagger which I see before me,The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.Art thou not, fatal vision, sensibleTo feeling as to sight? Or art thou butA dagger of the mind, a false creation,Proceeding from the heat-oppressèd brain?I see thee yet, in form as palpableAs this which now I draw.”
Expanded info:
Shakespeare used the image of a dagger in many of his plays
- Symbolic of treachery
- Macbeth has a vision of a dagger, pointing toward the King Duncan’s chamber
- This indicates that he should use it to follow through on his and Lady Macbeth’s plan of murdering the King