Macbeth is a tragedy by William Shakespeare and is thought to have been first performed in 1606. The play dramatizes the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those who seek power for its own sake. William Shakespeare, the author uses imagery of nature to convey and create central ideas throughout the play. He does this for a number of reasons; to portray the mood at the time, to foreshadow important events of portray his thoughts clearly and get the right message across to his readers. He shows this through hallucinations Macbeth experiences after each death, the gardens and harvest imagery representing the disorderly acts of the characters throughout the play, and the weather due to Banquo’s death (storms, sun and stars).
Shakespeare explores the idea of nature through a series of hallucinations Macbeth experiences on many different occasions. Every hallucination he experiences is at night, and only when bad things happen. An example of this is in act 2, scene 1 when Macbeth sees the dagger for the first time; 'Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee, I have not, and yet I see thee still, art thou not, fatal vision, sensible, to feeling as to sight, or art thou but a dagger of the mind, a false creation, proceeding from a heat-oppressed brain?' (2.1.40-46), later on in the play, in act 2, scene 2, Macbeth hears warning voices of sleepless days ahead of him as the murderer of King Duncan, “Methought I heard a voice cry “Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep” – the innocent sleep, sleep that knits up the ravell’d sleave of care, the death of each day’s life, sore labour’s bath, balm of hurt minds, great nature’s second course, chief nourisher in life’s feast (2.2.47-52). This quote symbolises innocence, purity, peace of mind and for Macbeth, and guilt. Finally, in act 3 scene 4 Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost at the post-coronation banquet; 'Avaunt! And quit my sight! let the earth hide thee! Thy bones are marrow less, thy blood is cold; thou hast no speculation in those eyes, which thou dost glare with!' (3.4.113-116).
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Another way Shakespeare uses imagery of nature to convey and create central ideas in the play Macbeth, is by using garden and harvest imagery to demonstrate the disorderly acts of the characters. The imagery of seeds is used to convey the witches’ power. Showing how unnatural it would be to tell which seeds will grow and which wont and proving that their prophesies can only bring up more unusual beginnings. “If you can look into the seeds of time, and say which grain will grow and which will not speak, speak then to me” (1.3.61-63). Another example of gardens and harvesting is the symbolism of the Birnam Wood. One of the witches' predictions states that Macbeth will only be defeated when Birnam Wood moves to Dunsinane Hill. This is one of Macbeth's main ways of reinforcing his own belief that he cannot be defeated. However, at the end, Siward's forces disguise hide their numbers by dressing themselves in the branches of the forest.
Finally, in the play Macbeth, William Shakespeare uses weather as imagery to create ideas within his play. The weather symbolises the evil and darkness throughout the play. For example, The King represents the good. If the King is good, then the harvests and weather will be good. When Macbeth kills the King, nature becomes out of control. Storms begin to rage, it is always dark, there are earth tremors, and the animals go mad and eat one another. This represents the Macbeth's horrible acts. Adding on, storm imagery is used to reflect the death of King Duncan; the night had been extremely strange and unnatural, just like the murder of a great king is unnatural. “Our chimneys were blown down, and, as they say, lamenting’s heard i’ the air, strange screams of death” (2.3.59-60). Another use of imagery is the sun which is used to reveal Duncan’s death; nature is unbalanced because the human world is unbalanced. Once everything is brought back to its normal order, capture can continue on its expected course. “By clock, ‘tis day, and yet dark night strangles the travelling lamp/ is’t night’s predominance, or the day’s shame, that darkness does the face of earth entomb (2.4.7-10). Finally, imagery of stars refers to good people, Duncan is giving stars the attributes of being noble and honourable; while using them to say the stars’ light will shine on all the good people. “But signs of nobleness, like stars, shall shine on all deservers” (1.4.47-48)
In conclusion, Shakespeare uses several different ways of imagery to create central ideas of nature in his play, Macbeth. He shows this through hallucinations Macbeth experiences after each death, the gardens and harvest imagery representing the disorderly acts of the characters throughout the play, and the weather due to Banquo’s death (storms, sun and stars).
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