Darkness in Macbeth

In "Macbeth", Shakespeare projects an atmosphere where darkness holds the protagonists' secrets. The use of darkness "runs parallel to the idea that the deeds of Macbeth (and in some cases Lady Macbeth) are too terrible for human eyes to look at" (Spurgeon 17). That is, when Macbeth realizes that the Prince of Cumberland "is a step on which I must fall down , or else o'erleap , for in my way it lies. Stars , hide your fires! Let not light see my black and deep desires" (Shakespeare 187). Next, Lady Macbeth calls upon darkness to ask for the power to carry out the deed in order for her husband to become king. She pleads "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!'" (Shakespeare 188). Therefore, her plea proves that she trusts the darkness with secrets she does not tell her "partner." In addition, after sending the murders after Banquo, Macbeth believes that he can let lose his built up guilt by confiding in the darkness. "Come seeling night scarf up the lender eye of pitiful day, and with they blood and invisible hand cancel and tear the great bond which keep me pale" (Shakespeare 213). In fact, Macbeth begins to believe that he can hide his murders from daylight, but can't even try to, from the darkness. In short, the darkness serves as a tool to symbolize the terribleness of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth's actions and how the dark is the only thing they can use to try and hide themselves from what they have done.

Work Cited

Shakespeare, William. "Macbeth." Focus on Literature Ideas. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1981. 177-255.

Spurgeon, Caroline. Shakespeare's Imagery and What It Tells Us. Cambridge: University Press, 1958. 17.