Darkness In Macbeth

In the tragedy of Macbeth, darkness and blackness are recurring images of both internal and external corruption as well as a symbol of life and death. We typically associate darkness with something evil and even a person themselves can be dark based on their personality. William Shakespeare uses darkness and takes it to another level in Macbeth; many characters are portrayed as being “dark” with the three witches/sisters being the most revealing. The setting of the play starts out in Scotland, on a dark stormy night. The thunder rumbling and the lightening crackling immediately set the dark and ominous tone.

Internal conflict can devastate a person inside overtaking there decision making abilities. Lady Macbeth is decisive with the plan

to kill Duncan and you have Macbeth on the other hand, who is hesitant and has second thoughts prior to doing so. This shows the corruption Macbeth is undergoing internally with his mind telling him one thing but with Lady Macbeths voice inside of him essentially saying that if he does not do so he is less of a man he claims to be. “When you durst do it, then you were a man; And, to be more than what you were, you would Be so much more the man” (Macbeth I.vii ) You don’t think Macbeth could follow through with the violent slaying of Duncan since at the start of the play we knew him as the hero and an honorable man. Considering that he is trusted and well loved by Duncan himself, we would think he wouldn’t be able to do such harm to a man who has not done a thing to him. His intentions to disrupt the peace were hidden well within the darkest portions of his soul. That is part of the internal corruption and the darkness trapped inside him, Lady Macbeth is messing with his mind turning him into a person he never was.
The darkness also leads to the external corruption which began in Act I Scene iv when Duncan was thanking Macbeth and Banquo for their good deed and then he announced Malcolm as his heir. You can tell this is the start of the external downfall that’s starting to pan out. Macbeth acknowledges the news from Duncan as a stumbling block to his taking of the throne which with him saying that should point out he’s not okay with that and will take action to get all people whom stand in his way gone. Shortly after we realize that Macbeth was plotting the death of Duncan when he invited him over for dinner and through the letter from Lady Macbeth that she wanted him to act out and kill the benevolent and gracious king. “Stars hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires” (Macbeth I.vi). The external conflict comes with Macbeth doing the vicious killing himself. Macbeth sent Scotland into turmoil when he murdered King Duncan. Shortly after we see the rest of the characters realizing what actually happened that night. As a result, everyone turns on each other and close bonds are broken. We see death and blood appear quite frequently after this first slaying.
The darkness in Macbeth always meant bad news.

With the dark, we would associate death or some type of evil action possibly happening soon. When it was not dark that meant that everything was going well and there was no plan for any tragedy of some sort. Darkness can be represented with the night itself, when all of Macbeth's evil actions take place. Later on in the play we start to see the almost “hopelessness” like tone that Macbeth is portraying by facing all his consequences the darkness has brought him. He starts talking about death as being the only solution to end the pain he is suffering. The darkest characters that you could blame all the death upon were Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth was Macbeth’s wife; she was what lacked in his decisiveness. She has a bloodthirsty lust for power and wealth. She would consistently manipulate her husband to follow through with his bad deeds at night time. The way Shakespeare killed Lady Macbeth is ironic to some degree. One of the lights in the tragedy of Macbeth that signifies life is the candle. Lady Macbeth was basically placed on her death bed and had sleep walking problems; the men that were over seeing her while she was dying lit a candle to put next to her. The candle signified the life she had, as soon as it burnt out that dark night she never awoke again. Lady Macbeth died at the sign of darkness, just like King Duncan whom she forced Macbeth to kill. This changes the whole tone having lost his queen, and seeing

his hopes turn and start to diminish, Macbeth starts becoming a negative person and you can tell his distraught in himself by his words. “To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day” (Macbeth IV.iv) This shows he doesn’t look for the good in days anymore.

It is the progression of life, as Macbeth has lost his only “light” why shall he continue on his life. This negative and dark imagery continues to grow because tomorrow is unrelenting to him " To the last syllable of recorded time,And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!” (Macbeth IV.iv). The darkness has changed the meaning behind life and

death.
In the tragedy of Macbeth, darkness and blackness are recurring images of both internal and external corruption as well as a symbol of life and death. We typically associate darkness with something evil and even a person themselves can be dark based on their personality and we see numerous “dark characters in this tragedy. The dark ominous tone was set at the beginning of the play up until the very end when Macbeth died.