In Shakespeares play "Macbeth," the dagger symbolizes several things, including Macbeths guilt, his impending murder of Duncan, and his moral demise. When Macbeth sees the dagger floating in the air, covered with blood and pointed towards the kings chamber, it represents the bloody course on which he is about to embark. The vision of the dagger is a warning for Macbeth that once he begins this path of violence, there will be more and more blood on his hands and guilt on his conscience. The dagger symbolizes murder, specifically the murder of Duncan that Macbeth is about to commit. The dagger is also a representation of Macbeths guilty conscience, and it attempts to turn his attention to what he is about to commit. The vision of the dagger is ambiguous, and it is unclear whether it is real or purely hallucinatory. However, in both cases, Macbeth reads it as a supernatural sign of his guilt.