macbeth5

Disease as Imagery in Macbeth Imagery plays a predominant role in Shakespeare’s play Macbeth. This stylistic device appears in several different forms throughout the play. Imagery of animals, nature, and darkness help create a foreboding atmosphere. In particular, the imagery of disease acts as a metaphor for evil and corruption. The idea of corruption spreading in Macbeth like a disease first appears in Act 1, scene 3, in one of Macbeth’s first soliloquies. He states …showed first 75 words of 694 total…

…showed last 75 words of 694 total…metaphor for evil and corruption is appropriate for several reasons. Firstly, Macbeth’s slow descent down the moral ladder is similar to a disease slowly spreading through an organism. Secondly, just as Macbeth is unable to rid himself of the thought of killing Duncan, a disease is often uncontrollable. Finally, the metaphor is extended, as Malcolm (and to a lesser extent Macduff) is seen as medicine or a healer who cures Scotland of its infirmity.