One metaphor Shakespear uses to demonstrate Macbeth’s conflict is “Thou marshall’st me the way that I was going, and such an instrument I was to use”. Here, Macbeth is referring to the knife he can see in his hand. A Marshall was a person of high hierarchy in a medieval household, so when he says it “marshall’st” him, he means it’s pushing him with authority towards the killing of King Duncan.

Another metaphor Macbeth uses is “Or art thou but a dagger of the mind, a false creation, proceeding from the heat oppressed brain?”. Macbeth is wondering wether the dagger in his hand is but an illusion, a hallucination created in the turmoil of his “heat oppressed” mind. Macbeth could be hoping that this is the case and that it is a figment of his imagination, therefore leading him to believe that he doesn’t have to kill Duncan. The fact that Macbeth describes his brain as “heat oppressed” shows how much pressure he is under, and how he is conflicting with himself. His wife is urging him to commit treason, while he himself, an honourable man, has to fight with his said honour and the prospect of immeasurable riches and the power that comes with the murder of a friend.