Light is a common symbol for good tidings and order, so it is with Shakespeare's "Macbeth". At the announcement of his successor, his son, King Duncan said, "Which honor must not unaccompanied invest him [The Prince of Cumberland, King Duncan's son and successor to the throne] only, but signs of nobleness, like stars, shall shine / on all deservers" (Shakespeare 189). King Duncan pledged his throne to his son as would be compatible with the Great Chain of Being. The light that was mentioned suggests that all was right with the world; the Great Chain of Being was in proper order. The idea that light signifies the natural order of things is enforced when the nobleman Ross says, "And yet dark night strangles the traveling lamp [the sun]" (Shakespeare 206). The sun is the symbol of the Great Chain of Being and God's order in harmony because it is the source of all natural light. Macbeth's act of regicide disturbed the natural order of things and so subdued the sun.
In "Macbeth", light is a symbol of harmony and order, but darkness is just the opposite.
Darkness is the chaos and evil that results from a broken Great Chain of Being. Macbeth sent Scotland into turmoil and dark night when he murdered King Duncan. In response to the announcement of the Prince of Cumberland as the successor to the throne of Scotland, Macbeth said, "... Stars, hide your fires, let not light see my black and deep desires [to murder both King Duncan and the Prince of Cumberland]" (Shakespeare 189). His murderous desires were evil and therefore sought to hide from the truth, which is revealed by light. His intentions to disrupt the Order were hidden well within the darkest, deepest, and blackest portions of his soul. Ross the noble Scott mused on the predominance of the night over they day after the murder with the words, "... Is't night's predominance, or the day's shame, / That darkness does the face of the earth entomb/ When living light should kiss it" (Shakespeare 206). After Macbeth broke the Great Chain of Being, light was obscured and darkness was ever-present. The unnatural condition of the atmosphere was result of Macbeth's unnatural and ill-gotten place on the Great Chain of Being.
Shakespeare used traditional symbolic concepts of light and dark to accentuate the Elizabethan concept of the Great Chain of Being in his play "Macbeth". When the Chain is in order everything is good and light is dominant. When the Chain is violated, darkness and evil reigns supreme. When Macbeth killed King Duncan and assumed his thrown, the Great Chain of Being was shattered. With his sinful act, Macbeth brought darkness that could only be righted when the balance was restored.
