Theme Of Darkness In 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.

Through the use of Dark and Light Motifs, Shakespeare highlights Macbeth’s change from a noble mental state to a reflective mental state throughout the play Macbeth.

In the beginning of the tragedy, Macbeth, there are three witches who only appear when darkness, thunderstorms, and lightning occur. Such as when the darkness arises evil things begin to happen. The three witches in the play first appear saying “When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning, or rain” (1.1.1-2). This signals how the witches only appear when bad weather is occurring, this presents how the beginning of how the tragic play begins.

A lone dark murderer premeditates the death of another, fueled by the personal hatred and deceived by the deep desire of wealth rewarded after the done deed. As the anxious assassin gets ever so close to the day, he is overtaken by both thoughts of paranoia and guilt. The killer makes a split decision to finish the job, in what will be the horror of murder. This was the case of Macbeth, a man of worldly ambition and selfish desire, who is consequently led down the grisly path of killing in order to assume the throne and attain provisional happiness. The vivid imagery of murder in Macbeth, creates the atmosphere of tension and anxiety in the natural world. Macbeth effectively uses imagery of darkness and nature to create the atmosphere of treachery.

In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, an effective technique is the use of symbolism throughout the text. This technique helped me to understand the important message of; evil over good and the lust for power. The weather, symbolism of blood and of light vs dark helped me to understand the main idea of evil. This play discusses the idea that all of us have evil inside of us, although unlike Macbeth most of us don’t choose to act upon such evil, and that committing evil will always turn out bad for you.

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.

Macbeth’s is so overwhelmed by guilt that he isn’t able to difference what’s real and what’s not. He goes as far to hallucinate the bloody dagger and this feeling follows him all trough the book even before he kills his first victim.

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.

The symbol of darkness is vividly portrayed throughout the play Macbeth that is written by William Shakespeare. Darkness played an important role towards the tragic ending of the play. It transformed many characters in this play into dark and evil roles. Macbeth is certainly not an exception. Darkness transformed Macbeth into a completely different person. This is proved through his actions, Lady Macbeth’s persuasion and his supernatural beliefs. The play starts off with Macbeth being portrayed as a magnificent war hero. He is even given the title of Thane of Cawdor, but by the end of the play karma has caught up to Macbeth and he is killed because of the cloud of darkness that he was surrounded with. Throughout the play, Macbeth’s actions,

Guilt is another theme in this story. There are instances of guilt through out the entire story. After Macbeth kills Duncan he feels so much guilt that "I'll go no more: I am afraid to think of what I have done; look on't again I dare not" (2/2/48-50). Macbeth knows that what he did was wrong because after he says that not even the water in all the oceans can wash the blood off of his hands. Lady Macbeth has the same feelings when she begins to sleepwalk. She tries to wash all the blood off of her hands bit no matter how hard she scrubs she can’t get it all off. Also she says that all the perfume in Arabia couldn’t get rid of the smell of the blood. Lady Macbeth felt so guilty that it led her to sleepwalk and eventually kill herself. When Macduff confronts Macbeth, Macbeth says he does not want to kill Macduff because he already killed his family. This shows that he feels guilt for what he has done. Guilt can drive someone crazy if they do not fix what they have done.

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.

This quote is an indication that the noblemen have begun to leave Macbeth’s service and have defected to the English army, which is something that contributes to Macbeth’s anger. While the forms of loyalty may be different to those found in the Tragedy of Macbeth, this virtue is still very important today. A large majority of the population will admit that someone who is loyal and honest is more likable. It is a trait that is admired and respected in today’s society; from friendships, to marriages and even

Macbeth is a character with self downfalls such as insanity, insomnia, corrupt fate, and madness. Although he started off as a noble and loyal character, his actions were what led him to his overall character trait of madness. He is in a continuous negative path with many factors increasing his self-destructing character. It is human nature to experience all of these characteristics except for madness which is shown as a character flaw in Macbeth. Many motifs in this play portray the overall theme of madness. In The Tragedy of Macbeth, William Shakespeare uses the mind versus face, time, and sleep motifs to delve deeper into the other side of humanity into Macbeth’s corrupt fate and his descent into madness.

“Fair is foul, and foul is fair. Hover through the fog and filthy air” (Shakespeare Act I Scene I 12-13). The Weïrd Sisters utter these lines in unison in the first scene of the play. Shakespeare thus establishes the backdrop for a story full of paradoxes and mysticism. Not all is how it appears to be. Deceit and betrayal take center stage in the play, paving the way for Macbeth’s ascendancy to kingship, and eventual downfall. Good versus evil is present in nearly every scene. As in most literary works, the author develops different themes expressed in various ways. Symbolism is often the most effective way to express central themes. In Macbeth, Shakespeare creates contrast to effectively strengthen the overriding message of good versus evil.

Macbeth is a great play that has a lot of violence in it. The character Macbeth has a little evil side to him throughout the play. This is easy to tell because Macbeth has plenty of people killed, who he believes will challenge him for the crown of King. Shakespeare in his career on wrote play writes, so I wouldn’t consider him an author; however, the plays he did write are some of the best-known pieces of literature ever written. Although I don’t know of many Shakespearian pieces I feel that he was a popular man and that lots of people wanted to meet him just how people want to meet famous authors in today's world. Shakespear in all of his writing adds a lot of themes and throughout the play Macbeth, Shakespear has five themes that are talked about a lot. These themes include: Ambition, Guilt, Things are not what they seem, Fate versus Free will, and nature versus the Unnatural.