Macbeth Seminar – Light and Dark

Throughout Macbeth there is a lot of imagery that deals with light and darkness. Shakespeare uses light and dark to enhance these images of good and evil. He is very good at making the two distinct opposites. Macbeth allows darkness to enter him and take over his ways. As soon as the first murder occurs, light diminishes. It is gone until Duncan and Banquo are brought to justice. Darkness is squeezed between light and is used to intensify the moment and engage the audience. It is represented by the ambition of Macbeth. Macbeth’s ambition fights

against the truth. Ultimately, light and dark symbolize the classic battle between good and evil.

Darkness is used whenever something terrible is going to happen. Lady Macbeth says “Come, Thick night, And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell, That my keen knife see not the wound It makes, nor heaven peep through the blanket of dark to cry “hold, hold!”.” (1.5.55). This quote means that Lady Macbeth wants the darkness to cover the sight of the knife when she kills Duncan. The darkness also represents the evil deed she has planned. When Lady Macbeth calls for the murderous spirits to prevent "heaven" from "peeping through the blanket of the dark to cry 'Hold, Hold!'" she implies that light, which is associated with God, offers protection from evil and is the only thing that could stop her from murdering Duncan.

Macbeth responds to the news of Lady Macbeth's suicide by saying "…out, out brief candle" (5.5.26). Macbeth considers

his wife’s life to be short. The candle flame is a metaphor for her short life and sudden death. Similarly, Banquo's torchlight, the one that illuminates him just enough so his murderers can see what they're doing, is also blown out the moment he's killed (3.3.27). Both incidents recall an event from the evening King Duncan is murdered. “The night has been unruly. Where we lay, our chimneys were blown down…” (2.3.61) Lennox reports that the fire in his chimney was mysteriously "blown" out.

Macbeth talks about Light and darkness when he plans on killing Duncan to become king. He says “Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires” (1.4.57). This quote means that Macbeth does not want God to know of his evil desire of killing Duncan to become king. Shakespeare uses darkness to cloak or cover the crime that Macbeth is considering. This shows that appearances aren’t always as they seem. Night functions as more than just a time in the day, it becomes an accessory to Macbeth’s crime. 

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