Light And Dark Motif In Macbeth

In Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “The Raven” the speaker says “Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, / doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.” Representing what Macbeth, in The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare, was like. Furthermore, the quotation mentions darkness along with the play. The play exhibits the light and dark motif, by Shakespeare putting this motif in it adds another layer of depth into the story. With every story told there is good, through the play light is shown as good because of the light and dark motif. It is seen when Lady Macbeth is sleepwalking; with the stress of killing the king becomes so much that “she has light by her / Continually” (VI. i. 19-20). Consequently,

Light and dark can be compared, Macbeth does this when he is thinking about killing the king, “Let not light see my black and deep desires” (I. IV. 51). Macbeth is actually saying do not let the good see my evil, his secret wishes. The light is being put higher above than black, and by doing this one gets a deeper feeling to the story. However, when stories are told one side tends to overpowers the other. In The Tragedy of Macbeth the darkness seems to be the lead, because the “dark night strangles the traveling lamp” (II. IV. 7). This is talking about how the sky is becoming darker, and ominous even though it is midday. Even though the darkness overpowers the light it needs light to work to show its greatness. One can see these fighting roles in the quotation because the traveling lamp is small compared to the entire sky. In brief, light and dark are shown through Macbeth. Light is good, and darkness is bad. Why they are being compared another layer is added into the story, it creates interest and depth. Also with two contrasting elements one is a lead and one is a supporting actor. All in all, with the dark and light motif in Macbeth it adds a needed element, to help describe the in depth