Tragedy? Check. Horror? Check. Evil? Check! Macbeth, a book written by William Shakespeare in 1599, which is based on a true story, incorporates these emotions and more through subtle yet complex visuals.
The contrast between light and darkness within the play symbolizes good and evil. Duncan, the king of Scotland, confirms this theory when he says to Macbeth that good things happen to those who deserve it, “signs of nobleness, like stars, shall shine/On all deserves.” (I.iv.42-43). This lets us know early on in the play that once evil begins there will no longer be anything delightful. Banquo, one of Macbeth’s “friends”, uses darkness to suggest evil when he had been talking to Fleance about the sky, “There’s husbandry in heaven;/Their candles are out.” (II.i.4-5). This emphasizes Duncan’s point about light contributing to good things because by this point in the play, Macbeth is in the middle of planning out Duncan’s murder, thus no light will shine because evil lurks in the air. Another great point that highlights the contrast between light and darkness is when Macbeth is talking to his wife after she tells him to move on from the murder, and mentions “good things of day begin to droop and drowse;/ Whiles night’s black agents to their preys do rouse.” (III.ii.54-55). Not only does that quote reiterate that light means good, but also that Macbeth was as innocent as all other humans until he ignored his conscience and followed his ego. Therefore light and darkness represents good and evil.
Another visual that emphasizes evil in Macbeth is the constant focus on blood. Blood is always a good indicator that something bad has happened because in order to physically see blood, someone must have been cut, scraped or stabbed. When ...
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...n she talks about murdering Duncan, …to express the position he uses the same metaphor of clothes: “I have bought Golden opinions from all sorts of people, which would be worn now in their newest gloss,”(Spurgeon, The Imagery of Macbeth). This relates back to paragraph one where good things happen to goo people, because Macbeth is thane of Cawdor and has been nothing but nice everyone rewards him with respect and kindness.
In conclusion, Shakespeare used both subtle and complex visuals to further illustrate the central theme of Macbeth, evil.
Work Cited
Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Ed. Betty Bealey. Mississauga: Canadian School Book Exchange. 1996. Print
Spurgeon, Caroline. “The Imagery of Macbeth.” The Tragedy of Macbeth. Ed. Dom Saliani, Chris Ferguson, Dr. Tom Scott. London: International Thomson Publishing. 1997. 123-126. Print.
Shakespeare used imagery to present the idea that violence will always come back to haunt us. Throughout Shakespeare’s Macbeth imagery is used to help provide a visually descriptive understanding on his literary work. Images of Hallucinations help to back up the idea of violence and how it comes back to haunt us, these ongoing visions of the dagger and the sound of the execution bell play on Macbeths awareness of the situation put into plan. Whether used to emphasise each tragedy present throughout Shakespeare’s Macbeth and it was also used to portray the witches as a character, Storms were used to present all the violence that corrupted throughout the play.
Shakespeare is well known for including symbolism in his plays to increase interest to those who watch or read the plays. Blood imagery is essential to Macbeth; it portrays guilt for various reasons, regret and remorse and the evil thoughts of characters, can all be observed through blood imagery. Blood imagery signifies all the emotions and thoughts of the characters in Macbeth, proving that we must think before we act.
Imagery is any piece of language that provokes the readers mind to form a mental picture or image. Shakespeare’s plays are well known for the richness of their imagery. Macbeth in particular has numerous vivid examples. Macbeth is also particularly rich in repeated images, such as the image of blood. In the beginning of the story, blood is symbolic of bravery, how he fought bravely, and how he won. Bloodshed for a noble cause is good blood. However, Macbeth's character changes throughout the play. The changes are characterized by the symbolism in the blood he sheds. As these images of blood occur frequently, they often portray the horror of the central action, Duncan’s murder. The brilliant images of blood and water also symbolize the unrelenting guilt of the two protagonists, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. The blood and water represents their inability to erase the memory of Duncan’s murder. The blood of King Duncan clings to their hands and makes them unable to forget the repulsive crimes they committed.
At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is showed as a noble Scottish General in King Duncan’s army. The Captain and King Duncan praise Macbeth for his bravery “For brave Macbeth-well he deserves that name-/Disdaining Fortune, with his brandish’d steel” (1.2 16-17). But when Macbeth meets three witches, his mentality completely changes. The witches predict that Macbeth is now the Thane of Glamis, but he will ...
If a picture tells a thousand words, than imagine the importance of an image upon a play such as Macbeth. In any literary work, it is extremely important that the author can effectively manipulate a reader's feelings towards a character. In Macbeth, that feat is accomplished magnificently by Shakespeare. Through his skillful use of imagery, Shakespeare shows us a deeper look into the true character of Macbeth. Though imagery is widespread throughout Macbeth, it is most dominant in clothing imagery, light and darkness imagery, and blood imagery. Through these images,
William Shakespeare's Macbeth is an ominous tale that illustrates the danger in violating the Great Chain of Being, the hierarchy of things in God's ordered universe. The Chain ranked all of creation and human society as well. It ranked kings above nobles and nobles above the poor. When Macbeth murdered King Duncan and assumed the throne, the Chain was violated and chaos resulted. The atmosphere of the play symbolized this resulting turmoil. Specifically, light and darkness were used to exemplify the unnatural chaos and ominous tone of the work. The role of light and the role of darkness relates to the chaos resulting from the violation of the Great Chain of Being.
Shakespeare often uses darkness and will frequently set the scene as a dark and stormy night. This depicts that evil happenings are occurring or are about to take place. There are at least three examples of this in "Macbeth". "The night has been unruly: where we lay,/Our chimneys were blown down; and, as they say,/Lamentings heard i’ the air; strange screams of death,..." (Act 2 scene 3 line 54-56). "Three score and ten I can remember well;/Within the volume of which time I have seen/Hours of dreadful and things strange, but this sore night/Hath trifled former knowings." (Act 2 scene 4 line 1-4). Both these quotes are talking about the night of Duncan’s death. They are showing the comparisons between the natural unruliness and the anomalous disaster. "And yet dark night strangles the travelling lamp." (Act 2 scene 4 line 7) is a metaphor for both the murder of Duncan and the night in which it transpired. A dark and stormy image is also portrayed when pernicious characters (ie. the witches, Macbeth and the murderers) meet.
Shakespeare uses a lot of imagery of night and darkness in Macbeth. This imagery is used to portray an image of a desolate, deranged place, full of tumult and disorder. Darkness and night imagery is also used to create an atmosphere of malevolence and misleading obscurity. Images of night and darkness are often used at times in the play when a death has occurred, or some other tragic event. Shakespeare also uses imagery of night and darkness in scenes with the witches, to make them seem evil and unruly. When someone is doing or thinking of something evil, there is often imagery of night and darkness, which helps to causes it to appear more evil and deranged. The images of night and darkness make the play more entertaining and captivating, which maintains the audience’s attention.
William Shakespeare’s play, (if indeed he did write it) Macbeth is rife with killing, and is probably only second in bloodiness to his earlier play, Titus Andronicus. Not only is blood a key part of the plot for obvious reasons, it is also an example of imagery, representing several different symbols throughout the play. In the beginning, blood represents honor. Later, blood seems to show treachery. A the end of the play Shakespeare uses blood to show Macbeth’s guilt for all his evil and greedy acts.
William Shakespeare uses many techniques to liven the intensity, and the excitement in his plays. In the play of MacBeth, Shakespeare uses blood imagery to add a sense of fear, guilt, shame, insanity, and anger to the atmosphere. The use of blood imagery allows the audience to vision in their minds the crime scene where Duncan was murdered, as well as the scene where Lady MacBeth tries to cope with the consequences of her actions. The talk and sight of blood has a great impact on the strength and depth of the use of blood imagery.
Light and darkness represent the tragedies that took place throughout the play. Light represents the good things that happen and darkness represents bad or evil things. One example of light is when Macbeth was given the thane of Gladis he was very elated and there was sunshine at that time. But for darkness its the opposite all the bad events took place during the night for example when Macbeth goes to kill king Duncan because of greed he wasn't happy with the position he received he wanted to be king so he can have more power . Another example of Darkness is when the witches come to tell him his prophecy (I, iii, 125). This is a type of tragic situation because if the witches hadn't appeared and told Macbeth that he would be king he wouldn't have so much lust. In this scene Macbeth describes the witch as an ugly old lady dressed in black. The color black represents the witch’s evil nature. Shakespeare used this traditional symbol through the play to focus on the Elizabethan concept of the Great Chain. When the chain is in order everything is good and there is light. When the chain is violated bad things happen and there is evil and darkness. When Macbeth committed the act of killing Banqu...
Shakespeare is known for his descriptively rich plays. He also ways does an excellent job of describing both the characters as well as the setting. One specific area of the play MacBeth is the use of night and darkness to show evil or happening that are not right. Examples of this are the many appearances of the witches, the murders that occur, and the conflicts that MacBeth faces with his mental health. The following three paragraphs will further discuss these topics.
Macbeth, the shortest and perhaps darkest play by Shakespeare, is a tale of over-riding ambition, human nature, and supernatural meddling. Macbeth is the main character in the play, and although he begins the story a loyal subject and brave hero, the power bestowed on him poisens and corrupts him until he eventually turns evil and seeks more, to his downfall. As the central figure of the play, Macbeth sets in motion a sequence of events that brings about the destruction and eventual rebirth of Scotland, giving the play an essentially dark tone. There are, however, varying degrees of evil, subtly different in texture and context. One way Shakespeare indicates the styles of evil throughout the play Macbeth is through the use of sounds. Sounds in the play fall under four categories: nature, man-made, the sounds of battle, and human cries.
In William Shakespeare's Macbeth, symbolism plays a prominent role to emphasize the theme of corruption of power. Throughout the play there are several main symbols repeatedly used to emphasize this theme. The contrast of light and dark representing good and evil, blood representing guilt, murder, and pain, and the archetypal pattern of purification by using water represents removal of guilt, cleansing and peace. Symbolism is used repeatedly to emphasize the theme of corruption of power.
Shakespeare uses many forms of imagery in his plays. Imagery, the art of making images, the products of imagination. In the play Macbeth Shakespeare applies the imagery of clothing, darkness and blood. Each detail in his imagery contains an important symbol of the play. These symbols need to be understood in order to interpret the entire play.