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Light and darkness in macbeth's character
Analysis the character of lady macbeth
Analysis the character of lady macbeth
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The Tragedy of Darkness Amid the Light in Macbeth In Shakespeare's Macbeth, the topic light versus dark anticipate a demonstration of malevolent or a demonstration of good. Although the play, Macbeth, is a tragedy showed a sense of light in their characters, Lady Macbeth and King Duncan best portrays light by indicating great deeds. In the play, Lady Macbeth showed sympathy by using a heart so white that it represents an innocent soul. “My hands are of your color, but I shame to wear a heart so white” (II.iii.82-83). She utilizes the light symbolism to demonstrate shortcoming and delicacy and demonstrates that she is embarrassed that of such an honest and pure heart. Despite Lady Macbeth, King Duncan showed a noble heart in him by announcing his son’s excellent deeds. “...signs of nobleness, like stars, shall shine / On all deservers" (I.iv.45-49). King Duncan declares that is eldest son, Malcom, is beneficiary to the position of the throne, he says …show more content…
Just after the horrifying murder of King Duncan done by Macbeth, Lennox reported that his fire in his chimney was suddenly blown out. “Our chimneys were blown down and, as they say, lamenting heard I’ th’ air, strange screams of death” (II.iii.50). The morning after King Duncan was murdered Lennox reported to Macbeth how strange the night was for him and how dark and terrifying it was for him. Similarly, Banquo’s torch light that was assisting him going through the dirt path with his child Fleance. “Who did strike out the light?” (III.iii.20). The torchlight helped the murderers go on with their plans and murder Banquo and shortly after his death the torch light faded. Even though both light and dark play a big role in the play, the theme showed a lot of changes on how characters can act such as
The human mind has been made for joy and peace, yet when acts of greed have been committed, the mind resorts to pain and depression as a consequence. Light and dark symbolize the mental storms that result in greed, as shown in Act 1 Scene 2. After a bloody battle, the Captain of Duncan's army begins to feel discomfort and sadness as he says, "Shipwracking storms and direful thunder break,/So from that spring whence comfort seemed to come/Discomfort
Following this murder, Macbeth sees Banquo's ghost at the banquet. He is filled with feelings of regret and, as a result of his troubled mind, sees Banquo's ghost.
He says “Stars, hide your fires; let not light see my black and deep desires: The eye wink at the hand; yet let that be which the eye fears, when it is done, to see” (Act I, scene iv, ll.50-53). This is demonstrated again after the murder of Banquo when Macbeth says to Lady Macbeth “Come, seeling night, scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day, and with thy bloody and invisible hand cancel and tear to pieces that great bond which keeps me pale”(Act III, scene ii, ll.46-50). This quote from the play also shows the importance of night and darkness to Macbeth’s plot of killing Banquo. He is asking the night to come and hide and cover up the things he has done to Banquo. These examples from Macbeth show that throughout the play, Macbeth wants the darkness to conceal his evil deeds.
After hearing the prophecy from the witches, Macbeth met King Duncan at the king’s palace at Forres. Here, he learns that Duncan has given his eldest son, Malcolm, the title of the Prince of Cumberland, meaning that Malcolm will
Shakespeare is known for his descriptively rich plays. He also ways does an excellent job of describing both the characters as well as the setting. One specific area of the play MacBeth is the use of night and darkness to show evil or happening that are not right. Examples of this are the many appearances of the witches, the murders that occur, and the conflicts that MacBeth faces with his mental health. The following three paragraphs will further discuss these topics.
William Shakespeare's Macbeth is an ominous tale that illustrates the danger in violating the Great Chain of Being, the hierarchy of things in God's ordered universe. The Chain ranked all of creation and human society as well. It ranked kings above nobles and nobles above the poor. When Macbeth murdered King Duncan and assumed the throne, the Chain was violated and chaos resulted. The atmosphere of the play symbolized this resulting turmoil. Specifically, light and darkness were used to exemplify the unnatural chaos and ominous tone of the work. The role of light and the role of darkness relates to the chaos resulting from the violation of the Great Chain of Being.
Before the murder of King Duncan, Macbeth was a brave, noble warrior. “For brave Macbeth well he deserves that name… Till he unseamed him from the nave to th’ chop and fixed his head upon our battlements” (Act I, Scene 2, lines 2). He was one of the last people anyone would expect to kill King Duncan. Shakespeare chooses a noble character such as Macbeth, to emphasize how greed and power can alter a person’s good morals. In Act one we start to see Macbeth’s desire for more power rise. “Stars, hide your fires; Let no light see my black and deep desires. The eye wink at the hond yet let that be which the eye fears, when it is done to see” (Act I, Scene 4, lines 52- 55). His desire for power is at war with his good morals. He wants to become king but does not want to kill Duncan.
of Macbeth's evil deeds, we still find him likeable. We see him in the same way
Shakespeare's Macbeth presents more than the simple tale of a murder and revenge. Macbeth wants to be king, and Duncan stands in his way. However, Macbeth hesitates. His wife, Lady Macbeth, must urge him on strongly, like a rider whipping a horse. Macbeth does not want to commit the murder because it creates a conflict in his unconscious mind. Specifically, the act of plunging a knife into Duncan's breast is like the sex act, making the murder a homosexual act for Macbeth. For Lady Macbeth, on the other hand, it is a reversal of the normal sexual roles. She has plays the dominant, male role, forcing her husband and Duncan both to take the submissive, female role. She is much stronger than her husband, and she uses her strength to force him into the act of murder.
Shakespeare often uses darkness and will frequently set the scene as a dark and stormy night. This depicts that evil happenings are occurring or are about to take place. There are at least three examples of this in "Macbeth". "The night has been unruly: where we lay,/Our chimneys were blown down; and, as they say,/Lamentings heard i’ the air; strange screams of death,..." (Act 2 scene 3 line 54-56). "Three score and ten I can remember well;/Within the volume of which time I have seen/Hours of dreadful and things strange, but this sore night/Hath trifled former knowings." (Act 2 scene 4 line 1-4). Both these quotes are talking about the night of Duncan’s death. They are showing the comparisons between the natural unruliness and the anomalous disaster. "And yet dark night strangles the travelling lamp." (Act 2 scene 4 line 7) is a metaphor for both the murder of Duncan and the night in which it transpired. A dark and stormy image is also portrayed when pernicious characters (ie. the witches, Macbeth and the murderers) meet.
When I thought about the role that the word "night" would play in the tragic play "Macbeth," I found that there were a variety of possibilities. Immediately, I thought of the nighttime as a period of rest and revitalization. I expected that this would allow characters to recover from the day's many demands. Secondly, I connected the night to the unknown. In the night's cloak of darkness, many more things could go undiscovered than in the revealing light of day. Next, I thought that the night would mean vulnerability. As the evening closes in, everyone begins to wind down, not expecting any real action until the breaking of the dawn. In addition, while one is sleeping, they are susceptible to almost anything. The most logical time to make an attack would definitely be after nightfall. Lastly and perhaps most importantly, is night's correlation with evilness. As children, we were all afraid of nasty monsters that lurked in the darkness of night. The night has long been believed to host supernatural beings and occurrences. As I read the play and came upon the word "night," I was surprised to discover that all four aspects of my hypothesis were correct. First, in act I, we see the first usage, night as a period for rest and revitalization. In scene iii, lines 19-23, the First Witch says,
... a dark setting used which involved supernatural events, while the light setting was used for last battle, when Macbeth was slain at the end to show the restoration of peace and honesty. Thus the symbolism of light and darkness representing good and evil in the play emphasizes the theme of corruption of power.
Linked with colour is the important use of light and dark ni the play to
But for darkness its the opposite, all the bad events took place during the night, for example when Macbeth goes to kill king Duncan because of greed, he wasn't happy with the position he received, he wanted to be king so he can have more power. Another example of Darkness is when the witches come to tell him his prophecy (I, iii, 125). This is a type of tragic situation because if the witches hadn't appeared and told Macbeth that he would be king, he wouldn't have so much lust. In this scene, Macbeth describes the witch as an ugly old lady dressed in black. The color black represents the witch’s evil nature.
In Macbeth there are many examples of light verses dark imagery. In Macbeth light is represents peace. Darkness represents horrible events or death. In the beginning of the play Macbeth started out as a friendly guy that would not kill someone who does not deserve it. He started out in light by killing the traitors to the king. Later on in the play he becomes greedy and kills King Duncan to take his place. Once he kills Duncan he turns into this killing machine. Lady Macbeth started out the play on in the dark side, she wanted to have no feeling for anything that she did, and she just wanted power. Later on she became guilty and started sleep walking; she became insane and committed suicide. In the beginning of the play all of the murders were committed in darkness. This changes once the three murders kill Banquo, he is killed in torch light.