Macbeth starts off by saying “Is this a dagger which I see before me”. Macbeth has already started to question his mental state and wether this is actually real, it’s showing us how he is starting to ‘lose the plot’.
He then moves onto saying “The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee”. His vision of the dagger has been placed with the handle of it pointing straight to him, almost beckoning him over to go and grab it, like it was supposed to be there at that specific place, time and for a reason. After that, he says “Come, let me clutch thee” At this point I feel like he has been hypnotised by his madness, the witches words and his Lady Macbeth’s manipulation, I feel like he has no control over his body and that he is being pushed against his will towards grabbing the bloodstained dagger.
Towards the end of his soliloquy a bell rings, and he says “I go, the bell invites me. Hear it not, Duncan; for it is a knell that summons thee to heaven or hell” I felt that the ringing of the bell was significant, as it was almost perfect timing of the moment. Again, the handle of the dagger pointing towards him and the bell ringing is like it was his fate for all of this to happen, like it was set in stone. But who is making this happen? The witches? Or is it his mind playing games and really believing that it can happen without the witches fateful intervention? Whatever it is, its due to spill blood all over the path which leads him to his final destination.
November 15, 2016 at 4:18 pm
This is a much stronger effort at deconstructing Shakespeare’s use of metaphors. To take it further, it’s a good idea to pursue the details – for example, did you notice that the clotted blood appeared on the blade of the knife halfway through – and also, do you think he was really hallucinating the knife, or do you think he’s just speaking metaphorically?