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Darkness Imagery In Macbeth Essay

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Ambition and evil are the basic elements in William Shakespeare"s Macbeth. Macbeth is a tragedy which was written by Shakespeare in the Elizabethan Era. There was much use of Raphael Holinshed"s Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland as it was necessary for creating the environments and situations in the play. Macbeth takes place mainly in Scotland and is a play about an ambitious thane, named Macbeth, and his wife whose flaws lead to their demise. Since Macbeth is a tragedy, probably nothing else would be as suitable for the play than darkness imagery. Imagery is a very important aspect of literature. Many different types of imagery exist and there is at least one dramatic purpose for each image. By analyzing William Shakespeare's …show more content…

Since the imagery creates an ominous atmosphere it would then lead to the second dramatic purpose, to arouse the emotions of the audience. Darkness imagery is a very good tool for arousing the emotions of the audience. It enables people to create a mental picture of what they are reading. For example, Duncan and Macbeth were talking when Macbeth says aside, "Stars, hide your fires! Let not light see my black and deep desires." When words like "black" and "desire" are put in that context it creates many horrible mental pictures about murders and fights which arouses peoples emotions. Ross is later talking with an old man when he states "By the clock `tis day, and yet dark night strangles the traveling lamp." In other words; although, the sun should be out, something is blocking the light. This example of darkness imagery creates an eerie feeling in the reader because it is very abnormal for the sun to be blocked. To help this example of imagery, the sun can also symbolize a monarch or king. Another case of darkness imagery happens when Lady Macbeth and a messenger are talking and Lady Macbeth states, "That my keen knife see not the wound it makes, nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark to cry, 'Hold, hold!'" It creates an sensation of terror in the reader because of the something that is unknown. With night covering the earth like a blanket, no one knows what might happen. Also, Lady Macbeth seems to explain that her attack will be blind. She

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