Riann Markel
ENG 12
Ms. Golden
February 18, 2015
Many authors tend to use figurative language to enhance the mood of their writing. Imagery is used when an author wants his/her audience to use their senses while reading to imagine a scene or picture in their head or to further understand a mood or underlying theme in their writing. With Shakespeare’s intentional use of imagery it impacts and describes the tone and makes the play more intensifying, this is often seen in Macbeth by Shakespeare’s excessive and skillful use of imagery with darkness and blood throughout the entirety of the play.
Darkness is often and most commonly associated with evil and deception. In our society, darkness tends to be the primary characteristic of evil. A dark stormy night, a black cat, a dark alley, or a spooky dark old vacant house, are all great examples of wickedness, bad luck, or evil. Authors will use often these types of symbols to describe an evil character, theme, or setting. Darkness is the backdrop from the very start of the play when the three creepy witches gathered…show more content… In the beginning of the play blood is viewed as honorable and symbolizes victory when Macbeth comes back victorious from battle with his enemies blood on his sword and body but bloods honorable title is only short lived before it becomes a symbol of guilt and betrayal with the murder of king Duncan, "With 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.II.61-64). Blood also represented a lot of guilt on Lady Macbeth near the end of the play when she begins to sleepwalk due to her overwhelming guilt "Here's the smell of blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia could not sweeten this little hand"(V.I.37-39), once again using blood to symbolize guilt and