Symbolism Of Food In Macbeth

The works of William Shakespeare are often considered timeless pieces of art. There are many factors as to why this is true, some of them being that his story lines are relatable to many generations or the way readers get fully immersed into his writing and screenplay. This immersion can be attributed to different causes. Three different ways that Shakespeare kept his audience engaged during his play Macbeth was through symbolism of food to help give insight on the mood of a scene, intense language and peculiar imagery, and the symbolism of hands. Symbolism, by usage of food, is not only used in Shakespeare’s writings but in many works of art throughout time. Diet, in forms of art, can represent a whole household. Especially in the time of

Intense language occurs often especially in scenes of massacre where the words of the characters involved strikes a chord of emotion in the reader. Peculiar imagery helps the reader understand and interpret a situation or a character a little more. A prominent example of language is Macbeth’s famous soliloquy where he states, “…Is this a dagger which I see before me…I have thee not, and yet I see thee still…mine eyes are made the fools o’ the other senses…(Macbeth 198)”. In this quote, Macbeth is depicting his perspective and confusion that is materializing. He visualizes a dagger but he is not sure if it is a hallucination and he doesn’t know whether or not to trust his eyes when all his other senses are saying something different than what his eyes are saying. This quote exemplifies usage of language to convey a character’s emotions because it can easily be interpreted that Macbeth is experiencing delusion and confusion due to guilt and fear. An example of imagery is used in the quote, “…hear not my steps, which way they walk, for fear thy very stones prate my whereabout… (Macbeth 198).” The stones “speaking” is a metaphor and usage of imagery to help convey the sense of guilt and suspicion that Macbeth is feeling even before the murder has happened. The peculiar imagery is simple enough to understand and helps the audience get a sense of just how scared Macbeth is

So what is it that keeps readers engaged? Symbolism of food provides an air of suspense since the audience knows that intentions of the Macbeths are not pure no matter how much they hide behind their lavish banquets. There is the mystery in whether or not they characters will be found out. Their tainted thoughts manifest in the form of how others view their hands and how they themselves view their hands which adds a beautiful depth that is easy to be immersed in. Language and imagery help establish and move the story along while adding more emotion and more depth to the characters and plot line. These are all techniques used by Shakespeare to keep the audience engaged and