In William Shakespeare's Macbeth, the contrasting imagery of light and darkness serves as a powerful symbol for the struggle between good and evil, as the characters' moral descent into darkness is mirrored by the unnatural disturbances in the natural world, ultimately leading to their downfall and the restoration of order and light. From the opening scene of the play, Shakespeare establishes the importance of light and darkness as symbolic forces. The witches, who inhabit a world of darkness and chaos, set the tone for the rest of the play with their ominous and foreboding language. The "fair is foul, and foul is fair" chant, which inverts the traditional values of good and evil, suggests that the natural order of things is about to be disrupted. …show more content…
The light that Banquo's ghost represents is a powerful reminder of the moral code that Macbeth has abandoned, and serves as a harbinger of the downfall that awaits him. The climax of the play, in which Macbeth is killed and order is restored to Scotland, is marked by a return to light and goodness. Lady Macbeth kills herself from the darkness, overcoming her thoughts with guilt. The imagery of the sun rising over the battlefield, and the crowning of Malcolm as the new king, serves as a powerful symbol of the restoration of natural order. The fact that Macbeth's death is accompanied by the destruction of the witches, who are consumed by the very darkness they had unleashed, serves as a final reminder of the dangers of allowing evil to flourish. In conclusion, the contrasting imagery of light and darkness in Macbeth serves as a powerful symbol for the struggle between good and evil. Through the characters' moral descent into darkness, and the unnatural disturbances in the natural world that accompany it, Shakespeare highlights the dangers of allowing ambition and greed to consume