Shakespeare Often Employs the Imagery of Darkness Throughout Macbeth

"And yet dark night strangles the traveling lamp." (Act 2 scene 4 line 7) is a metaphor for both the murder of Duncan and the night in which it occured. A dark and stormy image is also portrayed when the characters meet.

If upon hearing the prophecy, Macbeth was just suspicious and slightly moved, his heart was quickly poisoned when hearing the news of him being made the Thane of Cawdor. In his astonishment of realizing that the first part of prophecy had come to reality, the idea of regicide has germinated in the depth of his mind. Macbeth was utterly shaken of the “fantastical murther”, while the ambition inside him was like a beast woken by the weird sisters, tiering his conscience apart. At the end of Act1 Scene 4, the King, who was utterly ignorant of Macbeth inner struggle, announced his son Malcolm as successor at same time heartily praised Macbeth as noble and deserving. The stars, representing high virtue and heavenly power, was used in such an ironic way, for Macbeth with his dark thoughts currently had nothing to do with these qualities, but need to evade their watchful eyes. At this point, Macbeth already had it in his mind to murder the King, yet he still unsettled, thinking about the trust and glory he had received from beloved Duncan. In the next scene, Lady Macbeth would push him onto the doomed

In the first act of Macbeth, Malcolm is given the title as King Duncan’s successor meaning he is next in line to the throne. The imagery of light is first used to portray the bravery and

Macbeth sent Scotland into turmoil and dark night when he murdered King Duncan. In response to the announcement of the Prince of Cumberland as the successor to the throne of Scotland, Macbeth said, "... Stars, hide your fires, let not light see my black and deep desires [to murder both King Duncan and the Prince of Cumberland]". (I.4.29)His murderous desires were evil and therefore sought to hide from the

This imagery is typical in a Shakespearean tragedy, where a dark atmosphere is important in developing character and understanding the play. Darkness is used in both a natural and metaphorical sense and symbolizes many things such as death, obfuscation, and evil. Through the use of the mysterious witches, and the natural darkness of night, Shakespeare effectively creates a dramatic atmosphere for the play. The witches are seen by Banquo and Macbeth to be unnatural and evil. Banquo describes them, “wither'd and so wild in their attire,That look not like the inhabitants o' the earth” (A1, S3). These witches appear in darkness at the beginning of the play and Macbeth calls the day, “so foul and fair a day I have not seen” (A1, S3). This is the atmosphere in which the “unnatural” witches tell of a prophecy which goes against the natural laws of the world. Some very key scenes where great evil is done, happen under the cover of night, in a naturally dark environment. It is dark when Macbeth has the vision of a dagger, Duncan and Banquo are both murdered under cover of darkness, and Lady Macbeth sleep walks in the middle of the night even though she has a fear of darkness. Darkness is used to cover up guilty crimes, and to accentuate the sense of danger. Duncan is first murdered while he sleeps. Macbeth was hesitant to do this, until Lady Macbeth presented a way in which it could be done, and blamed on someone else. Macbeth murders Duncan in the middle of the

This vividly illustrates the imagery used in MACBETH and is interpreted to mean that night equals evil, as does Hell, which is not necessarily correct. This also implies that darkness is necessary for the carrying out of Duncan's murder. Meaning the blanket that covers him affords no protection in the darkness against the evil deed and the cry envisions the imaginary voice which MACBETH hears as he 'murders Sleep'. This encompasses the central action of the play, murder.

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.

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

The heaven vs. hell motif of Macbeth is made very apparent also. All throughout the play, King Duncan is seen as a saint. Duncan is portrayed as an almost perfect man that has done nothing evil to deserve an early death. After Macbeth murders Duncan and Macduff finds Duncan, Macduff makes the metaphor that someone has broken God's anointed temple and stole the life from the building. This

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

Good and evil are symbolized by light and darkness in the play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare. When there is peace and good, Shakespeare mentions light; whether if it is the sun shining brightly or merely a candle giving light. On the other hand, when there is evil and disorder, he mentions darkness; a shadow or a horrible thunderstorm. Witches are known for evil, chaos, and conflict. Since Witches are known to be evil, whenever they appear, the weather is usually horrible. Shakespeare utilizes light and darkness in order to portray when good or evil will take place.

Macbeth and his wife seem convinced that under the cover of night, their abhorrent act of murder will be disguised. Killing the King while asleep it disloyal and represents hurting the innocent and vulnerable. After Lady Macbeth allied herself with the darkness and evil, Macbeth is his speech in Act 2, scene 2 refers to “The curtained sleep” which indicates being under cover. Also, eyelids cover the eyes like curtains to prevent from seeing anything at night. The next lines are as follows:

Throughout Act I, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth begin to devise a plan to kill King Duncan. Nearly half the time night is used during this act, it has something to do with the assassination of the King. If it has no relation to him, then it is used in a way that suggests vile actions. The following line spoken by Lady Macbeth is a great example of how the word night is typically used throughout the play: “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

lady Macbeth asks the spirits "Make thick my blood." In this quote she wants to make

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.