Examples Of Imagery In Macbeth

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In this scene of Shakespeare's Macbeth, guilt gets the best of Lady Macbeth, causing her to sleep walk. As the Doctor and Gentlewoman observe the sleeping woman, she says strange things that I have recognized to be examples of imagery and symbolism.

"Since his majesty went into the field, I have seen her/ rise from her bed, throw her nightgown upon her,/ unlock her closet, take forth paper, fold it, write upon ’t,/ read it, afterwards seal it, and again return to bed;/ yet all this while in a most fast sleep. " (5.1. 3-7)
This is not Lady Macbeth but the Gentlewoman who accompanies the doctor. She describes what she witnessed Lady Macbeth do as she was sleep walking. Since this depiction directly appeals to the sense of sight, it is an example
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The depiction of the smell of blood strong enough that many aromatic perfumes cannot mask the odour is a metaphor, an example of figurative imagery. Through this indirect comparison of the two distinct smells, I know that it is a figure of speech.

"Out damned spot! Out, I say" (5.1.31)
This imagined spot of blood on the hands of Lady Macbeth is a symbol. The blood literally represents the murder of King Duncan which she is held accountable for but is also symbolic of her guilt. As she says she wishes for this spot to be removed, she is truly wishing away her culpability. She thinks this guilt can be simply washed away with water but in fact will remain an eternal stain.

Lady Macbeth's Superego is brought to the surface through her somnambulism. Her Id and Ego no longer can be kept within, hence why all her subconscious thoughts and feelings are revealed. According to the article, The Hysteria of Lady Macbeth, by Isador H. Coriat, M.D., the act of washing hands is a compromise of self-reproach and repressed experiences. In the state of sleeping, Lady Macbeth is given the freedom to truly express herself thus she shows pity and remorse to her husband. If she had been awake, Lady Macbeth would not have said or done things that allowed for her inner cowardice to

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