Light And Dark Imagery In Shakespeare's Macbeth

“Evil is bad that believes it is good” are words that Karen Marie Moning wrote in a book about a girl hunting down her sister’s murderer after a horrible childhood of being abandoned by their parents and banished from Ireland. The book is titled “Shadowhunter”. This connection between shadows/ darkness and evil is a form of imagery called light vs. dark imagery. Light and dark being contrasted shows the thoughts of controlling evil and shame of ambitions. The declining use of light imagery shows corruption of oneself and others. Meanwhile, the increased use of light imagery shows a want for good and regret for past evil. Shakespeare uses light and dark imagery throughout Macbeth to outline that people who believe that they can control evil
Lady Macbeth demonstrates this when she says,“Come, thick night, / And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell”(1.5.49-50) When convincing herself that her thoughts of murder are not inhuman, Lady Macbeth uses being hidden in the dark as a justification for her ambitions. Inviting darkness into herself while knowing that it is bad instead of pushing it away shows that Lady Macbeth is allowing and wanting to corrupt herself. Lady Macbeth not using light imagery (telling light to go away) and choosing to use dark imagery (inviting darkness in) highlights this. Persuading other characters to follow their ambitions regardless of what means they must use to reach a desirable end is how characters corrupt other characters. When speaking to Macbeth about her thought-out plan to kill Duncan, Lady Macbeth says,“O, never shall sun that morrow see!”(1.5.59-60) The sun is nature’s biggest source of light. Lady Macbeth describes cutting off the most important source of light to all living things excitedly. (the use of the exclamation mark serves to show Lady Macbeth’s excitement) Lady Macbeth’s choice to use light imagery instead of dark imagery shows that she thinks what she is doing is good. Decreasing use of light imagery reveals the purposeful corruption that character impose on themselves and others. Ultimately, this leads to regret and