Macbeth : Lightness And Darkness

     In Shakespeare’s classic tragedy of Macbeth the main character Macbeth is driven from his status as a well respected warrior and lord of not one, but two Scottish regions to a dishonest, unloyal murderer. Macbeth gets caught in a web of lies and vile acts of murder in which he brings about his own demise. His criminal actions lead up to his tragic ending of life. ‘ They have tied me to a stake; I cannot fly, But bearlike I must fight the course.’ His great ambition and gullibility of the witches predictions are two of the biggest factors of his downfall;however, Lady Macbeth was probably the biggest influence in the whole tragedy.

The witches can predict the future, they can add temptation, and influence Macbeth, but they cannot control his destiny. Macbeth creates his own misery when he is driven by the guilt of his actions. Although the witches did have the power to accurately predict significant events in Macbeth's life, the actual ‘carrying out' of those prophecies was undertaken by 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.

“Macbeth” and “Macbeth retold” by Mark Brozel, share many comparisons yet have many vital differences.

In the thrilling tragedy of Macbeth, William Shakespeare uses key devices in order to effectively establish and sustain a suspenseful atmosphere. Shakespeare tells the story of a brave Scottish general, Macbeth, who receives several prophecies from a trio of sinister witches. His positive mind set is soon overcome with ambitious thoughts, leading to a series of selfish murders. The overall mood throughout the play is predominately dark and ominous in which many tragic plays inhabit. The major theme running through the play is the destruction wrought when ambition goes unchecked by moral constraints. Actions carried out without thought have the potential to present undesirable consequences and self-guilt. This argument is particularly concerning for Macbeth as his lust for power seizes control over his sanity, ultimately leading to his tragic flaw. Shakespeare clearly implements three vital devices to further

In the play ‘Macbeth’ by William Shakespeare, light and dark imagery is used throughout the story in order to show the difference and symbolism between good and evil. Light represents innocence, truth and purity while darkness is used to represent cruelty, guilt and corruption. Towards the end of the play, Shakespeare correlates the ideas of both lightness and darkness to portray life and death. Ultimately, they represent good and evil. Shakespeare uses these two themes to drive the plot and story forward in order to create conflict, twists and symbolism.

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.

Shakespeare’s play ‘Macbeth’ is about the leading male protagonist succumbing to his ambition and need for power. Though Macbeth is liable for his own actions, he is not solely responsible for the events that eventually result in his downfall. Macbeth is corrupted by his wife, Lady Macbeth, as well as the three weird sisters. Macbeth’s contribution towards his downfall is his strong ambitious nature. Lady Macbeth is the person who induces Macbeth to assassinate King Duncan. The three weird sisters (witches) play with Macbeth’s ambitious nature and sense of security. Macbeth’s downfall is due to himself and two external factors.

In the play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, the audience is shown the relationship between the character of Lady Macbeth and the character of Macbeth as both a supportive and a destructive relationship. This is because Lady Macbeth supports Macbeth’s destructive ambitions such as killing the King so that he, himself could become the King of Scotland. Not only does she support his ambitions, but she also provokes Macbeth to a point of almost “bullying” Macbeth to submit to his darkest of ambitions and pressuring him into killing the king, a decision that he regrets till the end of his days. The writer, Shakespeare, shows this to the audience to illustrate the point that even the best of us can give in to evils such as avarice, temptation and greed and become a monster because of

A character’s tragic downfall is often influenced by other characters, but this is not the case in Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth. Macbeth conforms to the conditions of a tragic hero because in the beginning of the play, Macbeth is an honourable and trustworthy nobleman to King Duncan and all of Scotland. However, throughout the play, Macbeth commits evil deeds such betrayal, treason, and murder solely because of his ambitions to remain in power. Macbeth murders others upon hearing the witches’ prophecies and even proceeds to return to them to remain in power. Macbeth is influenced and manipulated by his wife Lady Macbeth and The Witches, but he is ultimately responsible for his own tragic downfall. Macbeth’s tragic downfall is caused by his ‘vaulting ambition’ to become king. Thus, Macbeth has no one but his ruthless, cruel, and greedy self to blame for his own tragic downfall.

In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, the main character’s goal is to become the king. Macbeth seeks to gain as much power as he possibly can and this ultimately leads to his demise. He hears the prophecy of the witches and becomes so obsessed with fulfilling the prophecy because it states that he will eventually become king. Having this information, Macbeth goes out of his way to force the prophecy to come true. He becomes so power hungry that he tries to force fate leaving him with an undeniable guilt for his actions, the loss of love from the people who once loved him, and a harsh death in the end.

Although the tragic play, Macbeth and the super hero action film, The Dark Night, were written in completely separate centuries, the characters of Macbeth and Harvey Dent, aka, Two-Face, are both ultimately similar. They share roles as noble characters, then they both experience trauma that awaken their inner demons and finally their downfalls bring out the worst in them. Macbeth and Harvey Dent were not always monsters, they were once noble and admirable figures who had gained power and were heading towards a highly respectable position at the time. In the play, Macbeth has been crowned as the "Thane of Cawdor", for his excellent service to King Duncan. Whereas for Harvey Dent, he was named Gotham's "White Knight" by the Commissioner Gordon for his reliable service as the District Attorney.

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

What makes us afraid of the dark and what makes us feel comforted in the light? In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, evil deeds are committed under the cover of darkness, but good things also happen in the light of day. The motifs used in Macbeth advances the plot, reveal theme, and show character development. One motif that shines through the darkness and illustrates plot, theme, and development is the comparison of light and dark. The motif reveals the theme that too much ambition will cloud judgement and eventually betray the person.

All human beings are capable of the most gruesome crimes imaginable. The customs and controls of civilization stop humans from becoming brute savages. Many of these “gruesome crimes” occur in the dark. In William Shakespeare’s world-famous tragedy Macbeth, many gruesome crimes occur in complete darkness. The motif of darkness and the theme of the corrupting power of ambition cause the downfall of Lady Macbeth and Macbeth in Macbeth.