Animal imagery plays a pivotal role in Shakespeare's play, the tragedy of Macbeth. The images of drastically varying animals can be found throughout the play's Acts. Each animal is attached to a certain meaning and create a certain tone for the audience. Macbeth contains animal images as dissimilar as night and day, which is concurrent with the mood of the play, which changes utterly from beginning to end. The use of animals is key to the play because it attaches such strong and potent imagery to particular parts of the play. Shakespeare ultimately uses animal images for their contribution to the play's characterization, theme and structure.

Animal images prove to be extremely accurate and logical way to characterize the various persons that are entwined in the play. As Macbeth is the dominate figure, the play revolves around, hence a majority of images contribute to his characterization. Towards the...