Shakespeare borrowed all his stories; they were not original, although the language itself was. The story of ‘Macbeth’ was actually written by Raphael Holinshed and came from a book, ’The Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland’.
Throughout ‘Macbeth’ Shakespeare displays a number of different uses of imagery. Light and dark are closely linked to good and evil as they depict the mood of the varying situations throughout the play. In 'Macbeth' darkness symbolizes many things. First, and most important, it stands for the evil and death in the play. The darkness could partially blind out all of the horrible things that occur in the night. For, only in darkness can such evil deeds be done. Secondly, the darkness shows one of Lady Macbeth's weaknesses: her fear of dark. In the play, phrases of fear escape from lips even in her sleep. She believes darkness to be the place of torment. Macbeth is a play where atmosphere and setting plays a very important part in the play. The play starts with the Witches, which is at a desolate place with thunder and lightning. This is first of all a pathetic fallacy because of the weather being so bad and the hideous appearance of the witches. This scene also gives us the first sign of the supernatural. The witches are the main source of the evil and supernatural in the play and they also give an impression of fear, horror and mystery. It is important of them to start the play, as they are the catalysts for all Macbeth's decisions, so obviously they affect the play quite a lot. They can foretell the future, defy the laws of nature and change the weather. But their powers are ambiguous; they have to answer to Hecate. they also can't make Macbeth kill Duncan; they just create an atmosphere, manipulating him, which makes him want to kill him. Shakespeare draws upon the design of the witches, the guilt in Macbeth's soul, and the darkness of the night to establish the atmosphere. All of the remarkable scenes take place at night or in some dark spot; for instance, the vision of the dagger, the murder of Duncan, the Murder of Banquo, and Lady Macbeth's sleep walking. Darkness is the time when the traveller hastens to reach safety in his inn, when Banquo rides homeward to meet his assassins; furthermore, it is the time when the wolf howls, the owl screams, and when murder steals forth to his work.
‘A wild heath land. Thunder and Lightening. Enter three Witches’
‘Fair is foul is fair:
Hover through the fog and filthy air.’
Macbeth´s strive for power affects every aspect of his life, and this motivation eventually leads to his demise. Many different factors play a pivotal role in deciding his ill-fated future. With his wife´s cajoling, and the three witches´ foretelling of his future Macbeth, will stop at nothing to gain position as King of Scotland.
The witches and their prophecies are the first major influence on Macbeth´s actions. Macbeth, Thane of Glamis is content with his position, until the three witches tell him,
"hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor, thou shalt be King hereafter."
After hearing this, Macbeth and Banquo, his loyal friend, find out that King Duncan has named Macbeth "Thane of Cawdor." They contemplate about how the rest of the prophecy will come true. The witches also advise them that Banquo´s son would be King one day. Macbeth writes a letter to Lady Macbeth explaining what has happened. Lady Macbeth powers his ambition for him. This is how Shakespeare portrays women, at this time. He describes them to be temptresses and that women are the route of all evil their to trick men. This is closely referred to from Adam and Eve, when Eve tempts Adam into eating the apple.