The honourable and ethical nature at the beginning of the play is however also mirrored by a description from good King Duncan as he pronounces his son Malcolm as the heir to the throne: “But signs of nobleness, like stars, shall shine/ On all deservers.” [I, iv, 41-42] This also refers to the fact that King Duncan also says that Malcolm will not be the only one receiving a new authoritative title as Macbeth is also granted with the title: Thane of Cawdor. Moments later however, a different use of starlight is used to convey a completely contradictory message as Macbeth’s terrible desires start to grow to such an evil extent that he does not even want to look at them for himself: “Stars, hide your fires/ Let not light see my black and deep desires/ The eye wink at the hand; yet let that be/ Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see.” [I, iv, 50-53] Macbeth is also hardly ever seen in the light after he commits his first murder or first sinful act, which ultimately evolves Macbeth into a dark play full of evil and murders, all of which occur at night. Since murder is directly one of the most sinful acts and the fact that they all take place at night, this directly ties the issue of evil with darkness.
“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 the dark/ To cry Hold, hold!” [I, v, 48-52). This excerpt from Macbeth simply cannot get any closer to the imagery of darkness, an application that is so intensively utilized. At this point in time, Lady Macbeth is presenting a soliloquy in a murderous mental state and pleads that her wicked deeds be hidden from heaven and herself by the darkness. There are many more soliloquies in this manner from Lady Macbeth and even Macbeth himself, which are all based along the same line of principles and forms of imagery as they plot the worst murders possible.
On the night that Macbeth kills Duncan, a scene between Fleance and Banquo is employed to illustrate the state of luminosity. As you could imagine, the night is unbearably dark: “There's husbandry in heaven/ Their candles are all out” [II, i, 5-6]. This refers to the fact that there is not a star in the sky and the moon is completely down, leaving behind nothing but darkness. If we look back, this is exactly the kind of night that Macbeth called for in Act I because he knows that it is the most concealing time to carry out his evil deed. Momentarily, night time and darkness help Macbeth to hide his evil undertaking.
Evil at work is also shown through the reference of other characters, such as the old man and Ross on the night of King Duncan’s demise. “By the clock ‘tis day/ And yet dark night strangles the travelling lamp” [II, iv, 5-6] speculates that the night is stronger than the day and therefore is ‘strangling’ the ‘travelling lamp’, which is a symbol of the sun. Both Ross and the old man also conjecture that the day is ashamed of itself, which is a very good speculation as we later find out that the King has been murdered. At this point in time Ross hints that the night is attempting to crush the actions that occurred. “The night would be strong because in that night the good King was murdered and the day would be ashamed to shed light on the bloody scene of the murder.” [Click notes]
Banquo and Fleance are the next victims of the night, as they leave to Scone for one day, scheduling to be back in time for the banquet that Macbeth hosts. Upon this Banquo says: “As far, my lord, as will fill up the time, I must become a borrower of the night, For a dark hour or twain” [III, i, 26-27] This states Banquo’s intention of coming back at night to be present at Macbeth’s dinner banquet, however this gives Macbeth a completely opposite intention, a perfect opportunity to kill. Macbeth commissions two murderers and tells them that “the moment on’t for’t must be done tonight…Of that dark hour, Resolve yourselves apart” [III, i, 138]. This is intended to leave Banquo and his son Fleance dead in the dark night so that no one else should come to witness it. Once again, this is a direct reference to darkness from the wicked act of murder as Banquo is consequently killed according to the agreement.
Locations are also very significant in the theme light vs. dark, as Scotland under the rule of Macbeth is also transformed from a bright and light place to a land “shrouded in darkness”. Malcolm and Macduff refer to this gloomy transformation with long soliloquies in Act IV, where they cry: “O nation miserable” [IV, iii, 104] All these descriptions portray how the intense agents of darkness in Macbeth have come to spread over even the country that he reigns. This also unravels another striking occurrence: “The Castle that Macbeth lives in, Dunsanine is also indicative of darkness. Dunsanine is similar to the word dungeon a dark and dirty place.” [Field of Themes] The imagery plainly does not cease, from character development, to happening events and locations.
The abundant references to light and dark images complete the sinister and overall evil feeling right the way through the play. Imagery is plentifully used to intensify the overall theme of murder and evil versus goodness and innocence. This imagery is so widely used because it not only achieves to portray the general theme of the play, however also plays a role in the progression of malevolent events.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Heinemann Books: 1962, Oxford, UK.
