darkness in macbeth
In our society, darkness tends to be the primary characteristic of evil. A black cat, a "dark and stormy night," and a dark alley, for instance, are all modern day symbols of wickedness and evil. Authors many times will use these and other symbols to describe an evil character or setting. William Shakespeare employs the imagery of darkness throughout his play of Macbeth. He uses dark images often to describe instruments of disorder and the evils which characters act upon. In Macbeth, Shakespeare's use of the night's dark hour's give a sense of evil to the play. The words, actions, and descriptions of people such as the witches, Macbeth shows this, and even of other characters who are thought to be against all evil. Evil is present throughout the play, at a time when there is no light, and Scotland is covered by a shadow of darkness. In Macbeth, the witches are a prime source of darkness. First of all, the place and time of the witch's meetings all take on the feeling of darkness. The only times of their meetings are in the middle of the night, and often in terrible conditions of thunder and lightning. The witches meet in a dark cave. The cave is an appropriate setting for the witches because caves are murky and gloom
Scotland is also described as being a dark place when under the control of Macbeth. Malcom describes it as "shrouded in darkness" in Act IV, after he flees to England to escape Macbeth's tyranny. Under Macbeth's leadership, Scotland is filled with "sighs, and groans, and shrieks, that rent the air," all signs that something horrible has enveloped the country and its leader (Act IV, iii, 168). Macduff describes Scotland as "O nation miserable!" (Act IV, iii, 103). All of these descriptions of Scotland portray it as a place where the agents of darkness have shrouded the land. The dark images in Macbeth portray a sense of evil throughout the entire play. The witches are the epitome of evil, and their appearance and their gatherings show their darkness. Being "secret" and "black hags", their evil nature is also indicated. The time in which the witches meet also shows how darkness represents evil. This is where night comes into play. The witches always and only meet at night, and night is also the time when two murders take place, Duncan's and Banquo's. Because of the darkness of night, it is the perfect time for somebody to hide his works of evil. And because of the evil acts against the king, according to Ross, there was an eclipse. It happened because "the night shamed the day" from the murder of Duncan. Later on, after Macbeth takes the throne, Scotland is once again in darkness. Not from the eclipse or the usual nightfall, but because of Macbeth's tyrannical and evil ways. This is made clear by Malcom and Macduff, but later ended by the pair. y, and tend to represent the ideas of the underworld and hell. From the conditions and the location that the witches meet, a feeling of evil is already created. The appearance of the witches also adds to the feeling of darkness and evil. The witches are describ
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1236
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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