Heightened Imagery in MacbethIn the classic Shakespearean drama Macbeth, it seems that every scene is loaded with abundant imagery - and for a specific purpose. Its purpose is to play a supporting role for more important facets of the piece, for example the theme. In his book, On the Design of Shakespearean Tragedy, HS Wilson interprets the imagery of Macbeth: Macbeth is a play in which poetic atmosphere is very important; so important, in fact, that some recent commentators give the impression that this atmosphere, as created by the play's imagery, is its defining quality. For those who pay most attention to these powerful atmospheric suggestions, this is undoubtedly true. Mr. Kenneth Muir, in his introduction to the play - who does not interpret it simply from this point of view - aptly describes the cumulative effect of the imagery: "The contrast between light and dark is part of an antithesis between good and evil, devils and angels, evil and grace, hell and heaven and the images of illness in IV, iii and in the last act clearly reflect the both evil which is an illness and Macbeth himself who is the illness. from which his country suffers. Magic: Much of the approach and details have been carried over, particularly the clash between religious purity and dark magic. Purity was embodied by Duncan, very infirm (in 1974, he was blind), dressed in white and accompanied by the music of the church organ, facing the black magic of the witches, who even chanted “Double, double au Dies Irae.” (283) LC Knights, in the essay "Macbeth", explains the supporting role that imagery plays in Macbeth's descent into darkness: Listening to witches, it is suggested, is like eating "the mad root, which takes reason prisoner” (I .iii.84-5); for Macbeth, at the moment of temptation, the “function” or intellectual activity is “stifled by conjectures”; and everywhere, the imagery of darkness suggests not only the absence or withdrawal of light but – “the light thickens” – the presence of something positively oppressive and troublesome. (101) In Fools of Time: Studies in Shakespearean Tragedy, Northrop Frye shows how the playwright uses imagery to reinforce the theme.: