The Importance of Night in 'Macbeth'

After Macbeth kills the king, he hears voices say to him “Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep” (2.2. 47-48). This shows the beginning of Macbeth’s eventual mental deterioration. After Macbeth takes the throne, unnatural events occur in Scotland and these unnatural events occurred because the Elizabethan Great Chain of Being was broken. This is another example of light and darkness.

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 has now turned into this man who is self-centered, evil and people turn against him. Macbeth is now disturbed from his own mind. Because of this guilt and corruption of killing Macbeth, he is completely destroyed and his life starts to turn for the worst. The technique sleep imagery is being used when Macbeth says “Ere we will eat our meal in fear, and sleep in the affliction of these terrible dreams that shake us nightly”. This imagery here represents that Macbeth's sleep is troubled due to the guilt he feels due to the heinous crimes he has committed and the fear that disturbs his inner peace. The lack of sleep that Macbeth has had represents again his guilty conscience that still worsens during the time after murdering Duncan. Macbeth’s sleep is disturbed by his “terrible dreams” and nightmares that convey his mind is tortured and disturbed, causing this insomnia that he has. Also when Lady Macbeth says “This is the very painting of your fear; This is the air-drawn dagger which you said led you to Duncan” shows that she realises Macbeth’s visions are caused by fear and guilt, “a painting of your fear” and links his behaviour and hallucination here to his earlier version of the dagger before he killed King Duncan. Macbeth has turned into this person who is suffering from severe guilt

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.

Shakespeare’s play Macbeth integrates many different motifs, sleep being a crucial one to help develop the tragic story. Sleep emblematizes innocence and purity at the start of the play, progressing into a much darker meaning, changing from sleep to sleeplessness. One of the meaningful quotes in the story, “Fair is foul and foul is fair” (I.i.11), has many different interpretations.When looking at the motif sleep, “fair” shows the innocence and purity representation, while on the other hand, “foul” shows sleeplessness.

Macbeth, by William Shakespeare explores the theme of power, sleep and guilt. For Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to be able to be on the throne and fulfill the prophecy, they need to murder Kind Duncan. Unfortunately, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth didn’t think of the unanticipated consequences of committing the murder. The consequences that they are faced with include guiltiness, lack of sleep and broken relationships.

Without the creation of the three witches by Shakespeare, Macbeth’s downfall would have happened more gradually, and possibly completely differently.

When you think of sleep, you think about great time, bedroom, and rest. But in the act 2 of Macbeth, Shakespeare use the sleep motif to describe Macbeth’s sense of guilt. This motif is also used to create a dark and evil theme.

In Act 2 of Macbeth, the “dream” and “sleep” motifs are used to assist in setting an anxious mood in the text.

Firstly, in the beginning, Macbeth appears as a valiant soldier with a good and clear conscience. His ability to sleep at night symbolizes his clear conscience. However, as the play progresses, his conscience is severely disturbed, and he experiences sleeplessness. The imagery in this quote shows after murdering Duncan, Macbeth is unable to sleep because he is hearing an unnatural voice stating that the guilty do not sleep. In addition, the voice is referring to the titles of Macbeth to say that he is not going to sleep anymore. His insomnia is a result of his fear and guilt. His guilt forces him to think further of the act that he has committed rather than the rest he needs. Further in the play, Macbeth realizes that the only way to make his fear and guilt vanish is by killing anyone who threatens his kingship. This makes Macbeth's inner conscience believe that killing people is right. Therefore, it proves that Macbeth forgets the taste of fear and guilt as the play continues. This is because by murdering so many innocent people he has killed his true conscience that was able to sense guilt. Consequently, when he did have a clear conscience, he felt that by murdering Duncan, he has murdered his sleep. Secondly, Lady Macbeth is the complete opposite of her husband. She experiences no guilt after the murder of Duncan. However, as the play continues, Lady Macbeth's conscience begins to develop. Close to the end of the play, it is seen that her inner conscience has become guilty as she sleepwalks at

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.

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:

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.