Reread MB’s speech very closely. What is real and what is not? What do visions usually mean in a Shakespearean play? (Act2 Scence1)

After Banquo and his son Fleance leave the scene, Macbeth imagines that he sees a bloody dagger pointing toward Duncan's chamber. Frightened by the apparition of a "dagger of the mind," he prays that the earth will "hear not [his] steps" as he completes his bloody plan (38, 57). The bell rings—a signal from Lady Macbeth—and he sets off toward Duncan's room. The dagger is indeed an illusion that Macbeth is seeing. It represents Macbeth's inner conflict over killing Duncan. His temptations and his fears are personified by the floating dagger.