Imagery in Macbeth

Imagery Of Clothing

This is, in a way, associated with the imagery of Appearance and Reality, but it has a specific relevancy of its own. Macbeth's new honours do not all fit him, as they belong to someone else. Some critics say that he is being pictured as a 'small', dishonourable man, degraded and hindered by garments unsuited to him. Others say that he is magnificently great, but not noble, and is, at times, a poor, vain, cruel man, climbing over the dead bodies of friends and kinsmen to a power he is unfit to hold. However, whether the clothes are large or small, the point is that they do not fit him, because they are not his; they have been stolen. A hypocrite is one who hides his real nature under a disguise. It is said that Macbeth hates to show himself as a hypocrite, and that he does it badly. In Act I,Sc.iii, he asks Angus, who has addressed him as Thane of Cawdor, "Why do you dress me in borrowed robes?" At this stage he is reluctant to accept any honour to which he is not entitled. This underlines the change that will come over him later when he murders Duncan for the Crown. In the same scene Banquo says, "New honours come upon him Like our strange garments, cleave not to their mould But with the aid of use." Perhaps he is complimenting Macbeth in suggesting that new honours make Macbeth feel awkward. It is ironical that the Crown never really 'fits' him. In Act I,Sc.vii, Macbeth says "...and I have bought Golden opinions from all sorts of pe ...