Darkness and the Agents of Chaos in Shakespeare's Macbeth Essay

In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth’s visions and hallucinations play a significant role and contribute to the development of his character. In the play Macbeth, a man is driven to murder his king and his companions after receiving a fairly ambiguous prophecy told by three witches. Although the witches triggered the series of events that later aid Macbeth’s descent into complete insanity, Macbeth is portrayed from the very beginning as a fierce and violent soldier. As the play goes on, several internal conflicts inside of Macbeth become clear. After he performs several bloody tasks, the madness inside of Macbeth is unmistakably visible to everyone around him. As a result of this insanity, he sees visions and hallucinations. Each time Macbeth

A.C. Bradley wrote that about Macbeth: “darkness, we may even say blackness, broods over this tragedy... all the scenes which at once recur to memory take place either at night or in some dark spot.” The Tragedy of Macbeth contains many instances where darkness is represented and portrayed whether it occurs at night or the actions. Many actions that were completed by Macbeth, Lady Macbeth and the prophecies told by the witches, all have corrupt intentions or outcomes.

In lady Macbeth’s argument she holds a seductive and demanding tone. She believes in Macbeth’s ambition and wants him to kill the King once and for all. Lady Macbeth begins to attack Macbeth’s character and provokes him to kill King Duncan by saying, “What beast was ’t, then, That made you break this enterprise to me? When you durst do it, then you were a man; And to be more than what you were, you would be so much more the man,” (Lady Macbeth,1.7,47-51) Through this quote it’s easy to see that Lady Macbeth is aware of Macbeth’s vulnerability so she attacks his manhood making him feel less of a man for going back on his word. In order to put her plans in action she uses a heavy pathos appeal in the following lines, “From this time Such I account thy love. Art thou afeard to be the same in thine own act and valor As thou art in desire… ornament of life, and live a coward in thine own esteem, letting “I dare not” wait upon “I would,” (Lady Macbeth,1.7,39-44) Through this quote Lady Macbeth makes Macbeth feel sympathetic and cowardice for not following his desires, she uses their love and how she will view him to lure him into the plan even more. While Macbeth may still be weary Lady Macbeth uses an ethos appeal by establishing her authority on the topic of killing King Duncan, “We fail? But screw your courage to the sticking-place, And we’ll

Macbeth’s primary sin is his inability to successfully come to terms with his masculinity. When he expresses his doubts about killing Duncan, Lady Macbeth is able to convince him by challenging his manhood. “When you durst do it, then you were a man; and to be more than what you were, you would be so much more the man” (1.7.49-51). In this passage she plays on his masculine sense of ambition. Ironically, at this point she as the “feminine” character seems to be more in touch with her ambition than he is. Lady Macbeth even goes so far as to compare his willingness to kill Duncan with his ability to perform sexually. “From this time such I account thy love. Art thou afeard to be the same in thine own act and valour as thou art in desire?” (1.7.38-41). By emasculating her husband in this way she is able to manipulate him into killing Duncan as a way to prove his manhood.

In Act 1, Scene 7, Lines 56-57, "When you durst do it, then you were a man; And to be more than what you were, you would be so much more the man", Lady Macbeth orchestrates Macbeth’s self-esteem by taunting his manliness when Macbeth doesn’t plan on following through with her plan. Moments later, she tells him how he should act and what he needs to do, in Act 1, Scene 5, Lines 71-75, “When Duncan is asleep...look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t.” She successfully augments Macbeth’s ambition and exhorts him to commit atrocities. After Duncan’s murder, Macbeth no longer values Lady Macbeth’s opinions- his actions are rash and selfish because they are made promptly. Interaction between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth falters since Macbeth is now swept up with erasing his tracks. The two perish as individuals- Macbeth is miserable with guilt caused by cold- blooded Lady Macbeth’s attribution of influence and plan. But instead of comforting her husband and talking him out of murdering more people, Lady Macbeth only gives one feeble attempt.

The conformity to gender roles that Macbeth and Lady follow leads to the destruction of their relationship. At the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth is more masculine than Macbeth and holds the power in their relationship. Lady Macbeth is aware that she is the assertive one in their relationship and uses that to manipulate Macbeth. In act 1, scene 7, Lady Macbeth questions Macbeth’s masculinity saying, “When you durst do it, then you were a man; / And, to be more than what you were, you would / Be so much more the man.”(54-56) in saying this, she is using Macbeth’s fragile masculinity against him because she knows Macbeth will prove his masculinity by killing Duncan. After they succeed and get away with the murder, Macbeth becomes more assertive and decisive. Macbeth begins to hide things from Lady Macbeth, like his plan to kill Banquo, this causes a strain on their relationship. In act 3, scene 2, lines 50 and 51, Macbeth says to Lady Macbeth, “Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck, / Till thou applaud the deed.” about his plan to kill Banquo because he doesn’t want her involved. This furthers the strain in their relationship because Macbeth thinks he, a man, should handle these kinds of things where Lady Macbeth, a woman, should not concern herself with such problems. Furthermore, by excluding Lady Macbeth he has pushed a wedge between them by keeping secrets from her, losing her trust and leading to the downfall of their relationship. Closer to the end of the play, Macbeth assumes his role as a hypermasculine man and becomes violent, killing any possible threat to him. In becoming king, Macbeth becomes obsessed with having power because of the lack of control he had in his relationship with his wife. To Macbeth Macduff appeared as a threat,

In Act One, Scene Seven, Lady Macbeth attacks Macbeth’s pride in order to manipulate his decision. Macbeth doubts the choice to kill the King, but Lady Macbeth wants the power and the title for Macbeth and herself. She asks Macbeth, “Art thou afeard to be the same in thine own act and valor as thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that which thou esteem’st the ornament of life and live a coward in thine own esteem,” (1.7). Lady Macbeth questions Macbeth’s manliness, by asking if he is a coward or a noble king. No man wants to be called a coward by his female companion, or anyone else. In doing this, she mocks his fear of committing regicide, by calling his masculinity into question. Consequently, this affect’s Macbeth’s decision to kill King Duncan. Macbeth believes that men should be violent, cruel, brave, and unremorseful. This viewpoint has been instilled in him by people surrounding him such as his wife. His pride and masculinity were superior to any future punishment for this action. His myopic view prevents him from truly seeing the consequences to come of his decisions. The egotism of some men seems to take over their perspective of right and wrong. Males today do not want to be inferior to women, because they would seem weak.

Lady Macbeth persuades Macbeth to slay the King of Scotland. On Act I, Scene V, Lady Macbeth states,¨Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under ‘t.” We can get an idea that lady Macbeth wants to kill the king but hiding their purpose of killing the king . This scene processes to get darker. In act 1, scene 5, Lady Macbeth quotes,¨Unsex me here.¨ What she means by that she removes all her feminine qualities to make her more evil. This lead to the audience being mortified due to her wanting to asking to be stripped of feminine weakness and invested with masculine resolve.

Macbeth's conscience attempts overthink and re-consider his attention of the murder he is about to commit, it's understood in this scene that Macbeth is warned of his actions and the horror he might face after its results. Macbeth understands that his vision may be a result of overthinking about the situation which means he is aware that the dagger might just be an illusion, it has a great impact on him and feels greatly disturbed by it. Macbeth is afraid to carry out his plan, however, he is not able to get the idea out of his mind. This suggests he will be overwhelmed by the act, he shows that he does not have any power over his own thinking regarding the act. Another Imagery shown in this scene is darkness, which is associated with evil or fear. "Moves like a ghost"51-56, this shows that all evil presences are occurring this night, “There’s husbandry in heaven; Their candles are all out.”4-5, this quote supports that there are no stars in the sky tonight. The imagery of darkness shows that there was no light in the sky that night, therefore, there was an overwhelming amount of evil presence. This imagery could foreshadow the dark and evil act that was about to be committed to the audience. The imagery helps the audience get a better picture of the dark movements they are about to witness, that link into the planned murder of Duncan. Sleep is another major symbol in the scene, there was an interesting quote that Macbeth mentioned: “Nature seems

In Act 1, Scene 7, Lady Macbeth’s response to Macbeth’s declaration that he “will proceed no further in this business” is one of brutality and dominance. In order to persuade Macbeth to pursue the mission at hand, she target’s his insecurity and desire to uphold his masculinity by viciously mocking and attacking his perceived weakness of cowardice. Lady Macbeth constitutes her own definition of manhood through the line “when you durst do it, then you were a man”, inferring that Macbeth can only become a man once he proves his courage by murdering King Duncan. To reiterate the strength and power she has in over her husband, she juxtaposes references to maternal tenderness such as “lov[ing] the babe that milks [her] with the violent and ferocious

At the very beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth is provoked by the letter she receives by Macbeth and starts plotting the murder of Duncan. She also wishes she were a man such that she could commit the murder all by herself saying so in Act 1 Scene 5, “Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full Of direst cruelty” (Macbeth 1.5.36-52). She appeals to these spirits to remove all aspects of her femininity and seeks to gain power through the prophecy of the witches. Her fear about the ability of her husband to commit the murder is subdued in her designated gender. Lady Macbeth manages her feminine power through her sensuality and pretended weakness through her fainting streak at the notice of Duncan’s death. Manipulation, usually through sexuality is often depicted as the source of women’s power still Lady Macbeth uses this power of hers to commit murder, a masculine demonstration of power. Lady Macbeth in her soliloquy about the planning of Duncan’s death refers to her husband as an individual who plays honestly and does not engage in wrongdoing.

As aforementioned the symbolism in the play includes that of both light and darkness. Macbeth's insomnia resulting from the pressing guilt and Lady Macbeth's nocturnal excursions while asleep are examples. Macbeth was unable to hide in the dark from the horrors of his deeds and he was haunted by the fear of discovery. Lady Macbeth, on the other hand, was afraid of the dark and was using the light in an attempt to dispel her demons.

For example, when he is indecisive about the plans to kill King Duncan, Lady Macbeth labels him a coward. When Macbeth defends himself by explaining that he is doing all that can be expected of a man, she replies, "When you durst do it, then you were a man"(1.7.49). She claims that no real man would back down and refuse to follow through with an act he had agreed to, and that, if he does so, she, herself, would be considered more of a man than he. As Max Huhner points out in one of his essays, Lady Macbeth, like many of Shakespeare's other female characters, is presented as being "more vindictive, revengeful, spiteful, and mean. . .than any man would be"(87). She boasts of her own aggression as she states:

However, in scene three, we finally meet this enigmatic character. In this scene, Macbeth and Banquo, Macbeth's closest friend, meet the witches for the first time. The men are both Scottish lords and are in a similar position in society.

The dynamic between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth is clearly shown in 1.7 as Lady Macbeth being portrayed as the more dominant figure, as she repeatedly insults the masculinity of her husband. When Lady Macbeth hears that Macbeth has changed his mind about killing King Duncan, she starts to guilt him about his decision and says “Which thou esteem’st the ornament of life / And live a coward in thine own esteem / Letting “I dare not” wait upon “I would. ” (1.743 - 45). Lady Macbeth is saying that wanting the crown but not doing anything about it, makes Macbeth a coward because he doesn’t have the guts to do the necessary actions to get power. She’s trying to appeal to his sense of manliness by insulting him about his reluctance to kill the king in order to convince him to go follow his word. This tactic reveals how manipulative and cunning Lady Macbeth is