How is an atmosphere of evil created in Macbeth?

‘When the hurly-burly’s done,

When the battle’s lost and won.’

They also mention a future meeting with Macbeth and familiar spirits such as Graymalkin and Paddock. I don’t think this sounds scary but the way the witches speak make it sound scary. They all speak in chants and riddles. The most famous being ‘Fair is foul and foul is fair.’ Later on in the book Macbeth says ‘So foul and fair day I have not seen.’ This is basically a repeat of the witches chant. The 3 witches meet in all weather such as ‘In thunder, lightning, or in rain.’ Storms used to be believed that they released forces of evil and were omens of unrest for individuals and countries as a whole. Another weather type mentioned is ‘fog and filthy air.’ This atmosphere seemed to be only related to the witches but has no link with thunder and lightning. This influences the supernatural rather than the evil aspect though. The witches had a very large impact on Macbeth after the first meeting. It is apparent that Macbeth and banquo seem to repeat the words of the witches’ prophecies. The witches tell Macbeth of the future in rising to power and banquo’s son to become king eventually but Banquo himself not becoming king. When the witches disappear the 2 men try and figure out the meaning of these riddles.

  Imagery plays another large part in creating the evil. It is very imaginative and complex to understand. Many statements are repeated throughout the play. The ideas of Macbeth’s new role hang like ‘a loose and badly fitting garment.’ This appears throughout the story. Macbeth says it this just after Ross gives him his new title of Thane of cawdor, just as the witches said he would. When Lady Macbeth joins Macbeth he tells her the prophecies and his plans to kill the king, she is very willing to help him. He gives 3 reasons why he shouldn’t kill the king but she is adamant that the deed must be done. Three seems to be a very important number throughout the story. To express these feelings in a soliloquy he continues to use the metaphors about clothes ‘Which would be worn now in their newest gloss.’ Lady Macbeth still sticks to the clothes imagery when replying ‘was the hope drunk wherein you dress’d yourself?’ Macduff also mentions clothes in his way of speaking. The imagery of light and dark was used from the very first line. There is a theory that the light stands for goodness, ‘Angels are bright’ and darkness stands for evil and death ‘secret, black and midnight hags.’ Many characters refer to the theme of light and dark in their speech. ‘…Like stars, shall shine on all deservers.’ From this point it seems that only evil can be created in darkness never in light especially with lady Macbeth and Macbeth in the plot of murder. The intentions of these 2 characters are very different. She is very forceful and from the first few lines she speaks you can tell she can be evil and is very determined and always gets what she wants. He seems to be a very weak character that is scared of his wife and obeys her every command even if it’s not what he wants. There are many parts through the play that play with your imagination in different ways. A main one is the killing of Duncan. The things involving the murder are very tormentitive for Macbeth. Whilst Lady Macbeth is drugging the guards Macbeth says a soliloquy based on pure evil. Such as ‘They summons thee to heaven or to hell.’ Macduff speaks of this murderous deed as ‘the sacrilege of breaking open the Lords appointed temple.’ The events to follow the kill are very unnatural such as horses eat each other and the earth becoming feverish and beginning to shake.

Macbeth feels like he has murdered sleep. He says ‘Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep.’ This gives the impression that he thinks sleep could help remove his stress and guilty conscience. A line that sums up the deed and the witches is ‘Good things of day begin to droop and drowse’. These phrases all give an atmosphere of evil and raise certain emotions of the characters and their reactions to what has happened. Animals appear throughout the story as symbols. Most of the animals add to the suspense and unpleasantness of the story, animals such as; a nest of scorpions, devouring vulture and the bear tied to the stake fighting savagely to the end. All of which are quite terrifying images if thought about. The build up of characters seems to have a great effect on the impact of the story. Lady Macbeth is a very strong and willing person who will do anything she thinks is possible to make her husband king. She picks on him throughout the story especially when he is having doubts about murdering the king in their house and after the deed is done when he feels so guilty. She makes fun of him saying ‘My hands are of your colour; but I shame to wear a heart so white’ and ‘Be not lost so poorly in your thoughts.’ He is very scared of his wife and follows her every command even if it isn’t what he wants. A strange character with an air of evil about him is Ross, his intentions throughout the play are never made clear, he seems to be playing a large part in killing Banquo and Fleance but also has a part in the killing of Macbeth.