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Light And Darkness In Macbeth Essay

535 Words3 Pages

A lone dark murderer premeditates the death of another, fueled by the personal hatred and deceived of the deep desire of wealth rewarded after the done deed. As each day gets ever so close to the day, the anxious assassin is overtaken by both the thoughts of paranoia and guilt. The killer makes a split decision to finish the job, undertaking in what will be the horror of murder. This was the case of Macbeth in Macbeth, consumed of worldly ambition and personal gain, had consequently led him down the grisly path of killing in order to hide his guilt and attain provisional happiness. Shakespeare effectively captures the audience through the use of vivid imagery of darkness and nature that sets up the play’s atmosphere of deception …show more content…

The comparison of light and darkness represents the contrast of good and evil, shedding light on a character’s actions, words or thoughts hinting at a tragic event that will happen soon after. Macbeth’s true intentions are revealed, “Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see black and deep desires” (Shakespeare 15). Stars usually represent hope and illuminate what is hidden beneath. Unknown gruesome acts commonly occur in middle of a silent night. Macbeth deems that committing the murder at night, will allow him not be to see or stop what his murderous hand will be doing. This deceivement of the mind, will temporarily free him from guilt and of a stained conscience. In reality, the execution of the king will lead Macbeth to extreme guilt to the point of no sleep and of delusional visions. Under much stress and lack of sleep Macbeth discerns, “A dagger of the mind, a false creation...Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain” (Shakespeare 26). Macbeth becomes mentally ill to where his mind has deceived him into seeing a fake yet real-like dagger, a symbol of the final choice Macbeth has made to kill Duncan and under no circumstance he will be able to turn

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Macbeth’s jump to murder illustrates the depth of his greed clouding his rational judgement. Shakespeare spotlights the hold greed can take on a righteous individual to emphasis the need for self control. Secondly, Macbeth, jealous of the prophecy stating Banquo “Shalt get kings” Macbeth fears he wears a “fruitless” crown, Macbeth orders the murder of his friend to

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“Stars, hide your fires! Let not light see my black and deep desires” (Shakespeare I. iiii. 52-54). Macbeth says this right before he kills King Duncan. Macbeth asks for darkness, which represents evil, because he knows what he is about to do is morally wrong.

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The voices he hears that threaten: “Macbeth shall sleep no more” indicate a relationship between guilt and madness. Therefore, the manifestation of the dagger suggests that he feels guilty because of his attempt to murder Duncan. There are three major transitions of thought. First, he contemplates about the dagger’s existence; the second is the invocations of dark images; finally, there is the bell that cuts off Macbeth’s contemplations. The transitions between topics indicate that while Macbeth feels guilty for the murder, his determination makes him ignore

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In Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth there are multiple themes portrayed throughout the story, one of which being light and dark. In Macbeth there are numerous ways light and dark unravels in the play one of which being how nature portrays the light or dark deeds taking place in the story. One of the very first examples you see is in act one, scene one in which we first meet the witches, it begins to storm. The connotation around thunderstorms is scary and dark, for example, in basic horror films it will thunder and the murderer will slowly progress towards the victim during a thunderstorm. The witches can be seen are dark, therefore the thunderstorm would further represent the darkness of the witches.

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Macbeth 's renowned declamation at the opening of this act familiarizes a vital theme: visions and hallucinations caused by guilt. The "dagger of the mind" that Macbeth perceives is not "ghostly" or supernatural so much as a demonstration of the internal brawl that Macbeth feels as he envisages the regicide. It "marshal[s] [him] the way [he] was going," swaying him toward the gruesome action he has determined to obligate, haunting and possibly also provoking him (II i 42). The identical can be said for the ghostly voice that Macbeth hears after he kills Duncan. Indeed, practically all the supernatural elements in this play could be, and habitually are, read as psychological rather than ghostly incidences.

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Consequently, Macbeth hallucinates and this event represents his guilt before even committing the act. Macbeth is wracked with guilt over what he is about to do, and his mind races with thoughts of such evil action. Because of his own ambition, the decision to murder Duncan is supported by the prophecies of the Witches as well as the encouragement of his wife. He first sees a dagger hanging mid-air, “Is this a dagger which I see before me” (2.1.41) and with “gouts of blood” (2.1.54) dripping from it. Even though guilt and insanity are weighing him down, he still decides to kill Duncan and follows his

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However, Lady Macbeth has an inordinate desire for power. As a result, in the decision-making of committing the regicide, Lady Macbeth prevails and becomes the dominant side, also Lady Macbeth plays a fast catalyst to Macbeth in the crime. After committing the regicide, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth lose their passion to the authorities, and they can’t sleep at night. In addition, the use of sleep as a motif in ‘Macbeth’ symbolises the innocence and rest of the mind of sleep. Therefore, Macbeth could never sleep neither night nor day, and continuously experiences his guilt and emotional toll as a result of his

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Macbeth would envision a dagger before him asking himself “is (that) a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand”(act.2 scene.i). The dagger was a metaphor for his ambitions and motivation to make himself king with the help of his wife, Lady Macbeth. After King Duncan was killed, Macbeth felt he was evil at that point where he “belief(ed) he (was) to evil to blessed by god”(act.2 scene.ii). The guilt he felt would drive him to the point of madness and brought into question if he was human after that or something that could not be redeemed.

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Prior to Duncan's murder, Macbeth experiences a powerful hallucination in the form of a floating dagger, which he sees as a manifestation of his desire to kill the king. The dagger represents Macbeth's internal conflict and his delusional state, as he cannot distinguish between his fantasies and reality. This delusion heightens his anxiety and serves as a precursor to the violent act he is about to commit. Also prevalent to this idea, an individual with delusions becomes “unable to accept that their delusions are irrational or inaccurate, even if they recognize that other people would describe their delusions this way” (Cleveland 7). A final idea regarding the concept of Macbeth suffering from delusional disorders comes in the form of his mood throughout the play.

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He speaks of "the dunnest smoke of hell" and "the very stones prate of [his] whereabouts," which creates a sense of foreboding and suggests that Macbeth is aware of the moral ambiguity of his actions. The dagger itself is described as being "a false creation / Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain," which suggests that Macbeth is struggling with his conscience and is not entirely convinced that his actions are justified. However, the fact that the dagger is illuminated by the moonlight suggests that there is still a glimmer of light within Macbeth, a sense of doubt that he is unable to ignore. Another significant use of light and dark imagery occurs in Act II, Scene 3, when Macbeth returns to his chambers after killing Duncan.

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Macbeths guilty conscience makes him unable to play the ‘true’ role of a villain of the play. Macbeth begins to see ‘false creations’ before murdering Duncan; the image of a floating dagger taunts Macbeth’s senses. Macbeth is devoured in his anxiety he starts to hallucinate the crime before going through with it. Macbeth is unable to dispose thoughts of his guilt and doubt, which prevents him from being stuck at the point where it is too late to turn back, yet the fear of his nature prevents him from turning completely into a ruthless coldblooded

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Similarly, Macbeth 's own mental state initiates a rivalry within itself. The thought of killing Duncan brings Macbeth 's brain into turmoil, causing him to hallucinate. He then questions his own sanity by asking if the imaginary dagger is physical " Or art thou but // A dagger of the mind, a false creation // Proceeding from the heat-oppressèd brain?"

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In the past scene Macbeth is being hesitant in going through with the assassination of King Duncan. Macbeth has a moment where he talks to himself after he sees a floating dagger and says “Is this a dagger which I see before me/ The handle toward my hand?/Come, let me clutch thee./I have thee not, and yet I see thee still./Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible/ To feeling as to sight?or art thou but/A dagger of the mind, a false creation,/Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?.” (II.I, 44-49).

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The author uses numerous darkness images in the poem as well as night images. In addition to this, he also indicates some of the sinister deals that are usually performed in places where there is darkness or at night. All this imagery is seen throughout the poem starting from the Act 1. To begin with, the popular play Macbeth reinforces the imagery of the good and bad in the world.

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In Shakespeare’s Macbeth lightness and darkness are used to create the key ideas throughout the play of good and evil. Unnatural events in nature were accompanied by darkness often following evil deeds, where light has been overcome, shown through a metaphor and symbolism. Night is used as a motif, with characters frequently calling upon it to assist them in their crimes. Symbolism of light and darkness are used to show how Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are consumed by guilt which leads to their eventual downfall, and goods return to power. Shakespeare successfully compares ideas of light and dark to convey important themes.

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