Vol. 08 · Shakespeare ·Macbeth, Act II.i ·Macbeth

"Is this a dagger I see before me?"

Not exactly. The full line is "Is this a dagger which I see before me, / The handle toward my hand?" — from Macbeth, Act II.i.

Not quite the line.

How it's usually quoted

"Is this a dagger I see before me?"

What Shakespeare actually wrote

"Is this a dagger which I see before me, / The handle toward my hand?" Macbeth — Macbeth, Act II.i

Why it matters

The second clause — the handle offered — turns a hallucination into an invitation. Shakespeare's dagger beckons; the paraphrase's dagger just floats.

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