Darkness in Macbeth

A detailed Summary of Darkness in Macbeth

In all of his plays, Shakespeare uses an assortment of motifs and symbols that bear vivid imagery, almost bringing them to life, just like a character. In the tragedy Macbeth, Shakespeare does an excellent job in using the element darkness, and words associated to it, to create a type of "force" that has an impact on the characters and the play itself. When we think of the dark, what immediately comes to our minds are feelings of evilness, wickedness, and negativity. Darkness is a tool that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth use to lead them both to execute deadly, murderous acts. At first darkness is simply portrayed as a blanket to cover up a bad deed when needed. As the play progresses, darkness evolves into a personality (creature) that plagues Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. This evolution is evident in the deeds of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in the course of the play.

The plot directly affecting Macbeth starts off when he meets the Three Witches who tell him a prophecy that piques his mind. They tell him that he will soon be the King of Scotland: "All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!" (I.iii.49). This scene takes place in darkness, and it is the first time we see darkness as being natural. There is thunder, and there

The next appearance of darkness is used as a "blanket," a hider of bad deeds. Macbeth says to himself, "Stars, hide your fires, let not light see my black and deep desires" (I.iv.51-52). In other words, he is asking for darkness to hide his evil desires. Just before Macbeth's quote, Duncan names his successor, and it is not Macbeth. Duncan names his son Malcolm. After previous pondering, Macbeth realizes then that he must do something himself in order for the prophecy to come true. He decides to become king through foul play. He instantaneously calls upon darkness to be a blanket to hide his dark, evil desires so that he can preserve his benign outlook. It is noticeable that he went straight to calling darkness instead of dealing with "the instruments of darkness," the three witches. This is an indication of him taking matters into his own hands; perhaps the beginning of his abusing of the power of darkness.

After the murder of Duncan, Macbeth is crowned king. At this point and after, darkness is not just an entity to be used when needed. Before, when Macbeth and Lady Macbeth needed to kill Duncan, they called upon darkness because they needed it. By now, darkness has evolved into an entity that is always there as opposed to being there just when needed. Since he became king in a foul way, Macbeth had to be careful that no one found out the truth. With his crown lay a lingering thought that someone might find out the truth and attempt to crush him. Upon finding out that Banquo would be a threat to his security, he quickly refers to darkness, in this case evilness. There is no other thought in Macbeth's head. It is murder, plain and simple--and dark. Now, in Banquo's words, he is "a borrower of the night [darkness]" (III.i.26). We can see him becoming more

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Approximate Word count = 1205
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English