Shakespeare writes with the imagery of poisoned chalice to show that that this action is one to begin to poison or corrupt his good spirit. “What hands are here! Ha, they pluck out mine eyes. / Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood / Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather / the multitudinous seas incarnadine, / Making the green one red” (II.2.57-60). The use of the imagery of blood throughout Shakespeare’s play shows Macbeth being haunted by the murders and his guilt affecting his good nature. His regret and guilt are both manifestations of his good conscience fighting his evil deeds. “I am in blood/ Stepp 'd in so far, that, should I wade no more,/ Returning were as tedious as go o 'er” (III.4.136-8). At this point Macbeth says the blood he has spilled is now completely in control of him; Macbeth now knows that he has become a new man, one corrupted by evil around him. Imagery within Macbeth not only adds interest to the story but rather is a clear representation for Macbeth’s nature fighting his evil surroundings around …show more content…
“Is this a dagger which I see before me, / the handle toward my hand?” (II.1.33-4) Macbeth’s first encounter with a ghost is the bloody dagger which appears to be leading him towards King Duncan’s room. However after the murder of Duncan Macbeth fears he hears a voice “Methought I heard a voice cry ‘Sleep no more! / Macbeth does murder sleep," the innocent sleep,’” (II.2.32-3). This voice is symbolic imagery for not only Macbeth’s conscience but also the fact that the evil around him will continue to grow as he becomes corrupt. Once Banquo’s ghost appears Shakespeare’s imagery shows Macbeth’s change from evil to good. “… the times have been,/ That, when the brains were out, the man would die,/ And there an end, but now they rise again,/ With twenty mortal murders on their crowns,/ And push us from our stools: this is more strange/ Than such a murder is.”(III.4.77-82). Through this quote we see Macbeth try to rationalize the ghost, his good morality is still trying to fight the thought of having a ghost there. More importantly the use of this apparition of a murder victim adds to the dark atmosphere surrounding Macbeth which eventually leads him to his transformation into a character of nearly pure evil. The imagery of ghosts increases as Macbeth becomes more and more corrupted. Shakespeare darkens the environment, from a dagger to a full body apparition, throughout the play in order to show readers