Symbols certainly exist in Shakespeare's works. Each symbol adds a certain value to the work and significantly enriches the game. The main problem with interpreting symbols is some people's belief that symbols almost or always represent a one-to-one relationship. For the purposes of this article, the relationship would be represented as milk = nourishment. Children = innocence, etc. I plan to examine how characters in the Tragedy of Macbeth use and change the meaning of the following symbols: breastfeeding, children, and milk. By examining how characters use and alter the above-mentioned terms as symbols (rather than how these symbols are traditionally interpreted) I will show that standard interpretations of symbols are insufficient and often inaccurate, and that the three symbols are used and perverted by Lady Macbeth to satisfy her own needs. After receiving Macbeth's letter, Lady Macbeth declares: “Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt thou / That which is promised thee” (Iv14-5). However, Lady Macbeth automatically recognizes and articulates a problem. He uses the first milk metaphor in the play: “Yet I fear thy nature / Is too full of the milk of human kindness” (Iv15-6). We already encounter the symbol of milk in an original and therefore unknown metaphor. Interestingly, Lady Macbeth does not extend or explain the metaphor. The reader is left with the task of interpreting what “the milk of human kindness” is (Iv16) and why its possession by Macbeth causes such disturbance in Lady Macbeth. Two interpretations prove problematic for Lady Macbeth. Or Macbeth is too full of a nourishing substance that endears him to be kind t...... middle of paper......, idea, or "visit" (Iv44) make her feel guilty enough not to want it Do. t complete what he promises to do in the next few lines. We can therefore easily understand why Macbeth's resort to a natural image had no remorse of guilt on Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth, by "virtue" of the spirits, could not let herself be influenced by references to natural archetypes. Lady Macbeth, through her invocation of spirits, not only obfuscates but firmly rejects seemingly “correct” interpretations of natural images such as newborns, milk, and breastfeeding. Lady Macbeth uses, corrupts and inverts these images to change Macbeth's “milk of human kindness” (Iv16) into a gall that justifies infanticide, regicide and indeed genocide. Works Cited Shakespeare, William. The tragedy of Macbeth. Boston: D.C. Heath and Company, 1915. Google Books. Network. 3 September. 2015.