The Destruction Of Imagination In Macbeth By William Shakespeare

Imagination can open many doors but it can just as easily slam them in your face. Throughout William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth is destroyed by his imagination, not his ambition. Macbeth sees daggers and ghosts and makes himself vulnerable all the while committing crimes because his imagination is showing him he can do anything. The thought that no man can hurt him makes him lower his guard and ultimately leads to his death. Although his ambition led him to kill for the first time, his imagination caused him to continue to kill. Imagination can be a great thing but for Macbeth all it does is hurt him.
Although Macbeth’s ambition causes him to kill Duncan, his imagination shows him possible threats that push Macbeth to continue killing. …show more content…
Macbeth is fine after killing Duncan and ok after killing Banquo. It is when he imagines his future and the foes he will face that Macbeth runs into a problem. From what he already knows from the witches, he should not have any more competition for his crown. But the only future Macbeth can see is one where his crown has been taken, so he says, “I will tomorrow and bedtimes I will to the weird sisters. More shall they speak for now I am bent to know” (Shakespeare III.iiii.164-166). If Macbeth knew how to function without knowing his future he could have had a longer reign. When he says he is “bent to know” he may as well be saying he is desperate to know. It is that desperation and the image of himself in ruins that leads to Macbeth’s destruction. If he had not gone to the witches he would never have seen the images that he misinterpreted, causing his downfall. After Lady Macbeth dies Macbeth starts to realize what he has done and starts to unravel. He realizes how much time he will have to spend alone for he no longer has anyone who knows the horrible things he has done. Macbeth describes time as something that, “Creeps in this petty pace from day to day To the last syllable of recorded time” (V.v.23). Macbeth feels the guilt. “Creeps in this petty pace” refers to time and how slow it is going. Time is going slow because everyday he is being dragged down by the guilt. He is imagining the tick tick tick of a clock but it never strikes the hour. Time does not stop and he has to live forever with the guilt he feels for murdering all those people. Macbeth’s imagination made him kill more people and lead to his