How Does Shakespeare Present A Sense Of Darkness In Macbeth

William Shakespeare's Macbeth is an ominous tale that illustrates the danger in violating the Great Chain of Being, the hierarchy of things in God's ordered universe. The Chain ranked all of creation and human society as well. It ranked kings above nobles and nobles above the poor. When Macbeth murdered King Duncan and assumed the throne, the Chain was violated and chaos resulted. The atmosphere of the play symbolized this resulting turmoil. Specifically, light and darkness were used to exemplify the unnatural chaos and ominous tone of the work. The role of light and the role of darkness relates to the chaos resulting from the violation of the Great Chain of Being.

In order to gain the crown, the Macbeth’s have to go against their nature to kill the king; they turn to darkness to get the strength needed to murder Duncan. This goes against human nature. In order to commit this act, Macbeth and Lady M go against everything they believe in. Macbeth believes he has to give up God, going so far as not being able to say ‘amen’ when praying(II.ii.28-29). Lady M turns from a loving wife to a power hungry temptress, she turns to darkness to gain the strength they need to murder King Duncan. We see this transition to darkness in her soliloquy in act I scene v, she calls upon the darkness to shed her womanhood so she can be strong enough to carry out the deed. When Macbeth has doubts and guilt over the idea of killing the king, Lady M snaps him out of it by calling him a coward(I.vi.48-59). She convinces him to commit the heinous act and that is when all hell breaks loose in the Macbeth household.

laugh to scorn / The power of man, for none born of woman / Shall harm Macbeth."

Light and dark plays a big role in imagery as it sets the mood; darkness where evil deeds occur and the light as revealing the deeds. Macbeth is speaking to himself on the side after Malcolm is crowned Prince of Cumberland. “Stars, hide your fires! Let not the light see my black and deep desires”(I.iv.50-51). Macbeth is so greedy that he does not want anyone to see his dark desires to capture the throne:”The idea that only in darkness can such evil deeds be done is ever present”(Spurgeon 124). Macbeth is telling his wife how Banquo and his son, Fleance, need to die. “Come, seeling night, Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day And with thy bloody and invisible hand Cancel the tear to pieces that great bond which keeps me pale! Light thickens and the crow Makes wing to the rooky wood.(Shakespeare, III.ii.46-57). He is calling for the night to cover the daylight so that Banquo can be killed. Macbeth is telling the murderer to kill Banquo and his son.

In William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth evil is conveyed in many ways through characters, themes and settings. Many themes are explored in detail contributing hugely to the sense of evil with characters being used along with these themes to create evil within the characters. These themes and characters are shown in different settings at different times consequently affecting the mood and atmosphere of the play.

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 Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the connection between light and dark mirroring morality and vision is thoroughly explored through the evolving madness that is Macbeth’s mind. He enters wave after wave of inner turmoil, at times being cast in the dark and other times aware of the cruelty of his acts. The concept of lightness in the play serves to symbolize innocence, purity, and truth while darkness shapes the blossoming corruption and guilt that runs parallel to the superficial action of the play. Shakespeare utilizes the poetical mechanism of contrasting elements to emphasize the characters’ actions that lead to their psychological downfalls as well as to link the idea of lightness to vision and conscious well-being.

of the light or dark. "The King comes here tonight", this is said by a

In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the theme of light versus dark is shown throughout the story. In the play, Duncan's role, King of Scotland, was quickly taken from him by Macbeth, when the three witches prophesied his future of becoming the next King. At the beginning of the plot, Lady Macbeth convinces her husband to kill Duncan. However, as the play progresses, Macbeth starts to take on her evil role, continuing to kill others, especially those who are his friends. The conflict between light and dark is displayed through the characterization of Lady Macbeth portraying dark to light, Macbeth’s numerous murder scenes, light and dark in literary devices, and through the weather. In the book Macbeth, light versus dark plays a role in shaping the characters and influencing the true meaning of good versus evil.

In The Tragedy of Macbeth William Shakespeare uses the motifs of blood and darkness to dramatize the Macbeths’ loss of humanity as they choose dominance and their own ambitions over light and a prosperous life.

In preparing herself, Lady Macbeth asks: “’…Come, thick night, / And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell, / That my keen knife see not the wound it makes, / Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark to cry ‘Hold, hold!’’” (1.5.57-61) Lady Macbeth uses night’s assistance to hide her evil deed. The darkness of the night lends itself to the darkness of Lady Macbeth’s soul and is sought only when evil is abounded. The use of night is used by Shakespeare to show that Lady Macbeth wants to use night so she would not be able to see the wound when she kills the King; she wants to use night as a mask to hide her evil intentions.

It is also why Shakespeare uses the images of darkness, night, and blood when the sinister deeds are taking place. William Shakespeare wrote many astonishing plays during his lifetime. The well known Romeo and Juliet is one of his many dark plays, but Macbeth is known to be the "darkest play" because of the dramatic elements he uses in Macbeth. Symbolism and imagery are the two main dramatic elements he uses in the play: blood, darkness, and the night is the most utilized in creating the dark atmosphere in this play. Darkness and blood are usually associated with and tends to be the primary characteristics of evil in our society.

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.

Shakespeare uses lightness and darkness in Macbeth to represent contrast between good versus evil. Society tends to picture daytime as joyous and safe, while perceiving night as scary and dangerous. The contrast is pivotal in the play. For example, Shakespeare includes lightness and darkness, or more specifically day and night, after Macbeth murders King Duncan. Macbeth’s cousin Ross notices that “by th’ clock 'tis day, and yet the dark night strangles the travelling lamp”. Observing the conditions, he wonders “is’t night’s predominance or the day’s shame that darkness does the face of earth entomb when living light should kiss it?” (Act 2, Scene 4 7-12). While it is daytime, darkness fills the sky. In Shakespeare’s

The highly acclaimed play called Macbeth often uses many literary devices and imagery to come to a conclusion about a topic. One of the frequent uses of imagery in this play is the imagery of sleep and death. Shakespeare often uses the sleep and death imagery to set a tense and eerie tone in the play. This is seen in the actions of Lady Macbeth in act 5 of the play, the actions of the character Macbeth, and the scene of and following Duncan’s death.