ipl-logo

Theme Of Light And Darkness In Macbeth

1516 Words7 Pages

Lhyra Alves
British Literature
7th Period
December 3, 2017
Light and Dark in Macbeth One of the most distinguished British Literature authors of all time, William Shakespeare, created a gruesome yet astonishing piece of all time; Macbeth. Macbeth is a bloody tragedy that tells a story of a brave Scottish general named Macbeth who receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Induced by his ambition and the actions of his wife, Lady Macbeth, Macbeth brutally murdered King Duncan of Scotland. Following the murder of King Duncan, Macbeth was affected by paranoia and guilt. Driven with suspicion, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth began to commit numerous amounts of murders which led Macbeth to become an oppressing …show more content…

Light and darkness are motifs that are significant to the play and to the characters. Light is usually related to innocence, truth and purity, while darkness is associated with corruption, cruelty and guilt. In ‘Macbeth’, light and dark can be referenced in numerous amounts of acts, however, each light and dark motif is connected to certain symbols. Symbols such as day, night, animals, and plants are forms of the light and dark motifs. Basically, light represents goodness, life, and God while darkness represents death, evil, and the devil. Being two contrasting elements, their associations are also …show more content…

God is the ultimate representation of good and light. Macbeth broke his bond with God and that naturally torments and paranoids him throughout the play. However, he calls upon the night, the time and place for evil, to destroy these thoughts of remorse and to fight of his conscience. Macbeth extended with his corrupt thoughts: “ Light thickens, and the crow Makes wing to the rocky wood; Good things of day begin to troop and drowse, Whiles night’s black agents to their preys do rouse.” (Act 3, Scene 2) Light becomes ‘thicker’ when it gets dark, since it’s harder to see when the sun goes down and when it becomes completely dark. The crow, a symbol of evil and darkness, goes about its night while the good creatures are fast asleep. The crow searches for darkness of the

Show More
Related
234 Words | 1 Pages

The symbolism of light and dark is used to show the reality of the struggles the two brothers face along the way and how they gained the strength

Read More
2506 Words | 11 Pages

LeAnn Van Mr. Brown AP Literature and Composition 17 January 2023 AP Reading Notes - Macbeth Macbeth Author: William Shakespeare Date published: Written in 1606, published in 1623 Period/era: Jacobean Era (1603 - 1625) - literature that tends to be dark, questions social order, and includes tragedies Genre: Tragedy, Tragic Drama Settings (Scotland in the 11th century) Inverness (Macbeth’s Castle) Where Macbeth and Lady Macbeth murders Duncan for the royal crown Irony: Duncan comments on how the castle is pleasant from outside while the Macbeths plot his murder Located on Dunsinane Hill Where Macbeth waits for Macduff and Malcolm’s troops Macbeth dies here in the final battle

Read More
386 Words | 2 Pages

He takes Candy’s dog outside to shoot and kill him. Not only does the darkness foreshadow the murder of the dog, it also foreshadows the future murder of Lennie. After careful consideration of light and dark, one can conclude that light symbolizes pleasurable memories and darkness foreshadows death. The crescent moon is the only light left in the gloomy, dim horizon.

Read More
1724 Words | 7 Pages

After killing Duncan, Macbeth’s mental state changes completely. The difference between the moment before the murder and the moment after is that Macbeth’s lack of determination. He feels personally responsible for the murder and wishes it never happened. Thus, he is afraid to look at the dead body and face what he has done (2.2.54-56). His regret of the murder shows the transformation of Macbeth’s attitude: he lets his remorse overpower him to the point of madness.

Read More
1525 Words | 7 Pages

William Shakespeare is considered as one of the best play writers in history. One of his most well known plays is Macbeth where a Scottish general named Macbeth has a strong desire to be king which leads him to betray and murder his king, Duncan. He also kills the nobles who have been loyal to him in order to maintain his title as king. Throughout this play, Shakespeare uses the motif of ambition, guilt, and fate to characterize the characters, show the different themes present within the play, and how the motifs are still relevant today.

Read More
394 Words | 2 Pages

Macbeth says, "out, out brief candle!/ Life 's but a walking shadow, a poor player/ That struts and frets his hour upon these stage/ And then is heard no more. It is a tale/ Told by and idiot, full of sound and fury,/ Signifying nothing." 5.5.23-28.

Read More
927 Words | 4 Pages

One of the biggest representations of this is the sky going dark. “By the clock ‘tis day, / And yet dark night strangles the traveling lamp,” (2.4.6-7). Darkness is often associated with wrongdoing, and the dark sky in the middle of the day is the world rejecting the abnormality of Macbeth murdering the King. Two of Duncan’s horses - trained to be obedient and gentle at all times - broke out of their stalls despite their usual calm and ate each other. This unbalance in nature affects not only the physical world of birds and horses, but also disturbances in Macbeth’s very human nature.

Read More
637 Words | 3 Pages

Mia Goebel Mrs. Pryor H English I 6 May 2023 The use of the symbol darkness in Romeo and Juliet Why are so many people scared of the dark? Everybody can agree that night and the darkness that comes with it portrays secrecy, and scariness, even Shakespeare. Darkness is a prominent theme in Shakespere’s “Romeo and Juliet”, which ties into themes of secrecy and forbidden love. The author's use of this symbol not only represents the sadness of this story, it also ties into the themes of forbidden love and untimely death.

Read More
854 Words | 4 Pages

For instance, some characters who are considered to be righteous are associated with light. For instance, Malcolm, Duncan and Macduff are portrayed as righteous, and their deeds are performed in light or during the day. The imagery on darkness is associated with the characters that are deemed as evil including Macbeth, Lady Macbeth and the witches. Shakespeare chooses to use this light and darkness imagery to indicate the degree of goodness and badness of the characters. This study, therefore, shows more instances of imagery of light and darkness as used in the poem.

Read More
737 Words | 3 Pages

For human kind in the light the soul is good and clean, in the dark, evil conspires against good and shows the soul dark and unclean. Macbeth proclaims at 1.4.48-51, “Let not light see my black and deep desires,” meaning he wants to contain his good soul but fears his goals demand for evil means to achieve them. He further proves this point by

Read More
778 Words | 4 Pages

In the Scottish tragedy Macbeth by William Shakespeare chaos and disorder are a driving factor in the plot of the play. It is caused by the Weïrd Sisters who trick Macbeth into believing the illusion of their predictions. Macbeth, armed with a dangerous ambition, goes and creates more disorder throughout the play. A motif that can be traced through the play that adds disorder is weather.

Read More
865 Words | 4 Pages

Lady Macbeth uses the light to hide herself from the darkness and evilness that surrounds her as she “she has light by her continually; ‘tis her command” (5.1.20) The same darkness that she used to commit her murders, to hide her conscience that could’ve prevented her from committing the crimes, is now the one she fears, that she needs protecting from. Lady Macbeth knew that her actions and the guilt would be damaging as she told Macbeth, "These deeds must not be thought, after these ways; so, it will make us mad." (2.2.45-6) Light and dark and contrasted to show the decent of their mental health.

Read More
743 Words | 3 Pages

The personality of Macbeth changes over the course of the play as Macbeth murders many innocent people like, Duncan, Banquo and Macduff's family. The death of these characters symbolizes the death and birth of something inside Macbeth and the beginning of his downfall. Macbeth, at the beginning or the play, a brave soldier only protecting his people and his king, to Macbeth a murderous tyrant only looking out for the greater good of himself. The death of Duncan symbolized the death of Macbeth's before anxious and confused self and birthed a Macbeth full of guilt and anxiety. After being led to Duncan by a floating dagger and murdering him, Macbeth returns to his wife crying, "One cried "God Bless us!"

Read More
1013 Words | 5 Pages

Celia Beyers Tinti Period 1/5 12 April 2015 Literary Analysis: Macbeth In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, he presents the character of Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is shown, as a character that schemes into making rebellious plots. She reveals the desire for wanting to lose her feminine qualities in order to be able to gain more masculine ones.

Read More
814 Words | 4 Pages

Tragedy of Macbeth is a story written by William Shakespeare about a man who is power hungry to become king. This story is called a tragedy, a tragedy is a type of story that doesn 't have a happy ending. A tragedy will end up with the protagonist dieing or making a great sacrifice. Shakespeare has made many tragedies such a Romeo and Juliet for example. In every Tragedy there must be a tragic hero and in this story it shows that Macbeth is the tragic hero, is a round character, and also a very dynamic character.

Read More

More about Theme Of Light And Darkness In Macbeth

Related Topics

Open Document