The dagger

Question 1

Hallucination of the dagger

Answer 1

• Before he kills Duncan Macbeth sees a dagger “before me” that he wants to
  “clutch”. He believes it to be real at first, before realising it is a hallucination. It
  symbolises the bloody course Macbeth is about to embark on
• Highlights how little control he has over his life now

Question 2

Symbolism of the dagger

Answer 2

• references to ‘seeing’ the dagger in his soliloquy - “I see”, “I see
  thee still”, “I see thee yet”, “I see thee still” - reinforces how he is constantly
  assaulted by the vision
• The dagger can also represent Macbeth’s state of mind; he recognises it is a “false
  creation” of a “heat-oppressed brain”.