Light And Darkness In Macbeth

“And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.” Genesis 1:3-5. Light and darkness from the beginnings of time itself have beed used to represent the goodness and evil that permeates the world. As Shakespeare penned the tragedy of Macbeth, he deliberately included this representation of a present good and evil to produce an atmosphere that separated the characters from their actions. But is its how Shakespeare wrote the play that conveys a certain amount of doubt on the characters immunity from their actions. Wether it was the

The obscure bird clamored the livelong night. Some say the earth Was feverous and did shake.” (Act 2: Scene 2, Lines 60-70)

Now instead of the air being pleasant and sweet it is dark and full of death. This change from holly to un-holly shows which is more powerful. If darkness is left unattended and light is left unguarded, darkness will prevail. During their first encounter with the witches Macbeth and Banquo are both given prophecies into the future but while the witches tell of Banquo’s descendants becoming king they also tell of Macbeth taking the throne of Scotland. However, Banquo warns Macbeth to be weary of the witches foretelling saying “But tis’ strange. And oftentimes. to win us to our harms, The instruments of darkness tell us truths, Win us honest trifles, to betray ’s In the deepest consequences.” (Act 1: Scene 3, Lines 134-137)

Even though Banquo has listened to the witches foretelling he still believes they are an instrument of darkness and evil and even thought believes that the prophesies are in his favor they could be a ruse for something darker. Nevertheless Macbeth was swayed and became expectant of the throne. This contrast between the reactions of Banquo and Macbeth illustrates the different ways darkness influences the