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All Site ContentMacbethAct 3Scene 4
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"overcome us"
Simile
Act 3,
Scene 4
Lines 113b-119a

An explanation of the summer cloud simile in Act 3, Scene 4 of myShakespeare’s Macbeth.

Macbeth

                                                         Can such things be,
And overcome us like a summer's cloud,
Without our special wonder? You make me strange
Even to the disposition that I owe,
When now I think you can behold such sights,
And keep the natural ruby of your cheeks,
When mine is blanched with fear.

​The simile equates the strange appearance of Banquo’s ghost to a summer thunderstorm appearing in the sky.