The Portrayal of Light and Dark in the Play Macbeth by William Shakespeare Throughout the play many references are made towards light and dark. These references are mainly symbolic of good and bad, the references are made out to emphasise a situation especially the dark, symbolising bad and evil that contrasts to the light, symbolically representing good. Immediately in the play there is a strong example off darkness, the witches. In Elizabethan times many so called witches were persecuted and executed. This was done due to an immense fear of witchcraft by the population, witchcraft was a very serious matter and anybody suspected of being a witch was tortures and killed, it was not a laughing matter. This lead to an introduction of witches into Shakespeare's play, which to an Elizabethan audience would be shocking and terrible leading to a dark eerie presence. This made the play have a bigger impact to start off with, that is why the first scene is of the witches, to get the audiences attention and keep it. The set...
tension and suspense. I found it had greater suspense, especially at the time. the beginning, with Fettes and Macfarlane arguing over something that people do not know about their secret past lives that we have yet to find out about the.
Opening scene - The opening scene is significant because it establishes the tension between Nora and Torvald.
better mood and plot details which made it much more dramatic and by far a
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.
Macbeth: Shakespeare's Comparisons and Contrasts. Throughout Macbeth Shakespeare uses comparison and contrast to bring out characteristics of his main character, Macbeth. Shakespeare uses comparisons with Duncan, Lady Macbeth, and Banquo to bring out aspects of Macbeth's character. After hearing of Macbeth's courageousness on the battlefield, Duncan, a good and honest king, bestows the title of Cawdor on Macbeth.
of Macbeth's evil deeds, we still find him likeable. We see him in the same way
“What goes around comes around.” The decision of the execution of the King Duncan was beyond the concept of being egoistical. The sum of a person's actions in this and previous states of existence, viewed as deciding their fate in future existences. Macbeth, every dreadful deed you take as an action and claim you have committed a wrongdoing; you excavate your own grave. Since, you commit the murder of King Duncan, how do you believe that fortune will come your way. The three Weird witches and your own love, Lady Macbeth are the key players in this game of guilt. Abundantly, Lady Macbeth is the true top dog pulling the strings, you are the puppet, and while she is the puppet master, you’re just a squirrel trying to get a nut in her world. No virtuous outcome comes out a misdeed. You have to conquer her mindset, and be grateful for what you have now. You should not be able to give your own decisions to someone else.
Laurence Sterne once wrote, “No body, but he who has felt it, can conceive what a plaguing thing it is to have a man’s mind torn asunder by two projects of equal strength, both obstinately pulling in a contrary direction at the same time.” This passage embodies one of the over arching themes of Macbeth. The character Macbeth, in Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth, could easily identify with this passage due to the fact that he is pulled in opposite directions by both his desire to do what is right and his desire for power.
There are many symbols used in Macbeth that help us to better understand the play. In the following paragraphs I will explain them in depth. There are four symbols that I will discuss below, they are light and darkness it represents the good and bad things that take place throughout the play. The second symbolism is blood. The blood represents murder and guilt like the blood on the dagger and the blood on Lady Macbeth's hand. The weather represents the different tragedies that take place and another symbolism is the dead children.
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,
Macbeth: Appearance and Reality. The theme of appearance versus reality is very important in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. The characters of Duncan, Macbeth, and Lady Macbeth are unable to differentiate between appearance and reality, resulting in tragic consequences. Poor judgment is evidenced by Duncan, who trusts Macbeth too much; Lady Macbeth, who is fooled by the witches; and Macbeth, who is tricked repeatedly by others.
Shakespeare uses a lot of imagery of night and darkness in Macbeth. This imagery is used to portray an image of a desolate, deranged place, full of tumult and disorder. Darkness and night imagery is also used to create an atmosphere of malevolence and misleading obscurity. Images of night and darkness are often used at times in the play when a death has occurred, or some other tragic event. Shakespeare also uses imagery of night and darkness in scenes with the witches, to make them seem evil and unruly. When someone is doing or thinking of something evil, there is often imagery of night and darkness, which helps to causes it to appear more evil and deranged. The images of night and darkness make the play more entertaining and captivating, which maintains the audience’s attention.
The darkness Macbeth and Lady Macbeth created has not only impacted themselves but also the world and people around them. Banquo knows something terrible has happened due to the sky being dark and holding none of heavens stars. He soon after turns to his son and says, “Hold, take my sword. There's husbandry in heaven;/ Their candles are all out. Take thee that too./ A heavy summons lies like lead upon me,/ And yet I would not sleep: merciful powers,/ Restrain in me the cursed thoughts that nature/ Gives way to in repose!” (II.i.5-11). Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have cast this darkness throughout the world, and people are starting to pick up on it, such as Banquo. Also, since Banquo was with Macbeth when the three witches told their prophecies that turned Macbeth evil, he knows that this darkness has to be because of a wrongdoing done by Macbeth.
Use of Night and Darkness in Macbeth 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.
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.