Light And Darkness In Macbeth Essay

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Light and darkness are contrasted in William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Macbeth, and are the premise of the play. Light is thought of as pure, innocent, and truthful; but darkness is described as sinister, immoral, and negative. The play focuses on the idea of darkness, blood, unholy actions, and vile ideas. Macbeth, whom the play is centered around, is portrayed as foul and dark. Starting out as a “light” character, virtuous and honorable, he quickly escalates into a character of fiendish deeds. Macbeth twists into an evil monster, and destroys all relationships and much of Scotland in the process. The immorality of darkness is shown through Macbeth’s murderous action of slaying King Duncan, killing his friend, Banquo, and murdering Macduff’s family. Macbeth begins his dark and destructive path by deciding to commit regicide, the murder of a king. Three witches predict Macbeth will become the king of Scotland, all in due time, but Macbeth takes it into his own hands to make make the prophecy a reality. At first, he is uneasy about killing King Duncan, as murder is a sin, but Lady Macbeth, as manipulative as she is, convinces her husband to commit the worst form of treason. In Lady
His demise occurs when he commits one murder and hires hitmen for two more. Sinister motives of killing King Duncan go through his head, which, ultimately lead to the deaths of many more people. Daunted by fear that another character would discover his what his thirst for power leads to, he kills these people. The three separate murders indicate that the light is non existent in this play. Banquo’s, King Duncan’s, and the family of Macduff’s murders are all unjustified, caused by Macbeth’s unhealthy ambition for authority and dominance. Darkness, in this play, illustrated through the deaths of King Duncan, Banquo, and Macduff’s family represents the turpitude in

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