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Theme Of Light And Darkness In Macbeth

1516 Words7 Pages

Lhyra Alves
British Literature
7th Period
December 3, 2017
Light and Dark in Macbeth One of the most distinguished British Literature authors of all time, William Shakespeare, created a gruesome yet astonishing piece of all time; Macbeth. Macbeth is a bloody tragedy that tells a story of a brave Scottish general named Macbeth who receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Induced by his ambition and the actions of his wife, Lady Macbeth, Macbeth brutally murdered King Duncan of Scotland. Following the murder of King Duncan, Macbeth was affected by paranoia and guilt. Driven with suspicion, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth began to commit numerous amounts of murders which led Macbeth to become an oppressing …show more content…

Light and darkness are motifs that are significant to the play and to the characters. Light is usually related to innocence, truth and purity, while darkness is associated with corruption, cruelty and guilt. In ‘Macbeth’, light and dark can be referenced in numerous amounts of acts, however, each light and dark motif is connected to certain symbols. Symbols such as day, night, animals, and plants are forms of the light and dark motifs. Basically, light represents goodness, life, and God while darkness represents death, evil, and the devil. Being two contrasting elements, their associations are also …show more content…

God is the ultimate representation of good and light. Macbeth broke his bond with God and that naturally torments and paranoids him throughout the play. However, he calls upon the night, the time and place for evil, to destroy these thoughts of remorse and to fight of his conscience. Macbeth extended with his corrupt thoughts: “ Light thickens, and the crow Makes wing to the rocky wood; Good things of day begin to troop and drowse, Whiles night’s black agents to their preys do rouse.” (Act 3, Scene 2) Light becomes ‘thicker’ when it gets dark, since it’s harder to see when the sun goes down and when it becomes completely dark. The crow, a symbol of evil and darkness, goes about its night while the good creatures are fast asleep. The crow searches for darkness of the

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