Macbeth´s dagger soliloquy

Macbeth´s famous soliloquy given in Act 2, scene 1 seemingly concurs with the gothic genre. In the former, Macbeth is anticipating the horrible feelings and thoughts of the planned murder of Duncan beforehand and in anguish.

Fitting into the horror aspect particular to the gothic, Shakespeare portrays Macbeth´s psyche at a borderline with terrifying madness. Macbeth´s hallucination of an inexistent “dagger” directly reflects to the audience the levels of anxiety, oppression and obsession that the upcoming murder involves to the main character. The “dagger” is a clear motif of violence, becoming an image of further tangibility for the audience to appeal to the horror and sense of danger and threat.

Relating to the luminal in gothic – threshold beyond which a sensation becomes too faint to be experienced, the dagger holds a further symbolic nature to it, not only is it the reflection of a troubled conscience but also has it an association with the power of the supernatural. The hypnotic power and control of evil is guiding Macbeth, “thou marshll´st me” as if the dagger itself where a ghostly apparition conducting him towards perdition. Such conductor, we could relate to the manipulation of the three witches over Macbeths soul and not only the manipulation of Lady Macbeth over his mind and feelings. Specialy within a religious, God fearing society such as the Jacobean, would this be a major threat and concern- being sold to the deeds of the devil.

Oppression is transmitted to the Audience as Macbeth is compulsively unable to discard the evil thoughts possessing and invading his whole being. He describes the dagger as “fatal vision” suggesting a future fate of perdition to him and also the imminent murder to be accomplished and expresses such dagger comes from “the heat oppressed brain”- heat of hell. It is as if he has no choice and is poisoned such by the evil, that he is entrapped with no freedom of mind- relating to the themes of terror and entrapment of the gothic genre. The audience is invaded by the overwhelming sense of confusion Macbeth experiences as he realises the dagger is not real but in his imagination and doesn´t disappear, “ I see thee still”.

Macbeth uses the soliloquy as a form to express himself at the edge of madness as he affectedly inquires to himself alone in a sign of such.  The dagger can be also, a symbolic portrayal of the guilt before taking the deed further. Characteristically to Shakespearean tragic heroes such as Macbeth or Othello, sense of guilt and anguish comes before murdering accompanying the internal oppressive battle with confusion as they become conscious or subconsciously stricken. Shakespeare prepares a night time, obscure setting for the soliloquy in which Macbeth´s displays an internal battle of threatening oppositions to the soul such as to “heaven or to hell” matching such construction strongly with the gothic genre.

The theme of the supernatural and religion are also characteristic to the gothic genre. Towards the second half of the soliloquy these are portrayed in further extent, where Macbeth expresses a whole semantic field of witchcraft, dreams, death and evil invading him; “Wicked dreams abuse”, “witchcraft celebrates”, “nature seems dead”. His mind and senses have been completely altered of peace and harmony, shown by evil taking over a “celebration” and him feeling an “abuse” connected to the typical feelings of entrapment related to gothic.

Gothic bloody imagery isn´t to be missed as the blade of the hallucinated dagger carries “gouts of blood” not only droplets but violent “gouts”, together with a euphemism of the murder said “bloody business”, portraying his fear to name the deed by its name and the horror and guilt it may already cause him to commit it as he acknowledges it is “bloody”.

Shakespeare names the mythological Goddess of night and witchcraft- “pale Hecate” whom is frequently depicted in triple form carrying such, a correlation with the three witches. The naming of Hecate is followed by the imagery of death as “withered murder alarumed by his sentinel, the wolf”. Murder here is personified and accompanied by the figure of the wolf as a symbol of the threatening dark nature restrained within. Macbeth´s dark nature is coming out in this soliloquy as a final result to his several invocations to evil and dark spirits done previously in the play.

Then again, Shakespeare draws a reference to Roman mythology and his poem “The Rape of Lucrece” associating Macbeth´s steps towards murder with “Tarquin´s ravishing strides”, moving like a “ghost”. Murder is compared to the deed of a rapist with violent “ravishing” approach because both violate the right of a person to live. The sensation of shock of such images which would have been familiar to the Jacobean society would appeal to the terror and threat of the gothic genre. “Hear not my steps, which way they walk, for fear” Macbeth sais, portraying a sigilous behaviour going against nature. He ignores the huge impact of his actions for the fear it causes him and in the same way he asked “stars hide your fires”, he encloses himself into a tunnel of evil and darkness. An honest approach would make noise in its steps but in his cowardice he ignores the treacherous, underhand behaviour, killing his conscience. In this soliloquy, Macbeth shows his corruption and downfall, as characteristic to tragic heroes from initial loyalty in his character to becoming “the serpent beneath”.