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Macbeth's Soliloquy: Is this a dagger which I see before me (2.1.33-61).CommentaryMacbeth, after discussing the crime with Lady Macbeth, has decided to go through with the "terrible feat" (1.7.75). Now he sits alone, waiting for the bell which will summon him to murder Duncan, pondering his decision one final time. The focus of the soliloquy, the invisible dagger, is our first glimpse of Macbeth's powerful imagination – imagination that is largely responsible for his mental torment throughout the drama. Although Macbeth knows that the dagger is an optical illusion, and suspects that it could be brought about by his potentially "heat-oppressed brain" (39), he nonetheless allows the phantom dagger, soon stained with imaginary "gouts of blood" (46), to affect him greatly. Enhancing the ominous and eerie atmosphere of the speech is the use of successive allusions to people and practices which conjure up images of satanic and earthly evil. Hecate, the goddess of witchcraft and a strong presence overall in Macbeth, is preparing her sacrificial victims, and Murder himself, summoned by his trusted watchman, the wolf, moves with the power and speed of evil king Tarquin towards his prey. Just as talk of the murder is about to stifle his courage, Macbeth's intense illusion is shattered by the bell, a signal from Lady Macbeth that Duncan's chamberlains are asleep, and Macbeth races away to commit the heinous crime. One can only wonder if a few more moments of deliberation would have changed Macbeth's mind. For information on the metaphors in this soliloquy and in the play in general, please see my article, Biblical Imagery in Macbeth. For general commentary and line annotations for the whole scene, please click here. Back to Soliloquy Annotations. How to cite this article:Suggested Reading Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Ed. W. F. Langford. Toronto: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1966. ______ Related Articles  Macbeth: The Complete Play with Annotations and Commentary Macbeth, Duncan and Shakespeare's Changes Contemporary References to King James I in Macbeth The Royal Patent that Changed Shakespeare's Life The Metre of Macbeth: Blank Verse and Rhymed Lines Macbeth Character Introduction Metaphors in Macbeth (Biblical) Soliloquy Analysis: If it were done when 'tis done (1.7.1-29) Soliloquy Analysis: Is this a dagger (2.1.33-61) Soliloquy Analysis: To be thus is nothing (3.1.47-71) Soliloquy Analysis: She should have died hereafter (5.5.17-28) Explanatory Notes for Lady Macbeth's Soliloquy (1.5) The Psychoanalysis of Lady Macbeth (Sleepwalking Scene) Lady Macbeth's Suicide Is Lady Macbeth's Swoon Real? Explanatory Notes for the Witches' Chants (4.1) Macbeth Plot Summary (Acts 1 and 2) Macbeth Plot Summary (Acts 3, 4 and 5) A Comparison of Macbeth and Hamlet The Effect of Lady Macbeth's Death on Macbeth The Curse of Macbeth Shakespeare's Sources for Macbeth Macbeth Q & A Aesthetic Examination Questions on Macbeth What is Tragic Irony? Macbeth Study Quiz (with detailed answers) Quotations from Macbeth (Full) Top 10 Quotations from Macbeth Characteristics of Elizabethan Tragedy
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