Macbeth imagery
Macbeth imageryMacbeth Imagery
In all of Shakespeare’s plays he uses many forms of imagery. Imagery is the art of making images, the products of imagination. In the play “Macbeth”, Shakespeare applies the many images, most of which are of clothing, blood and darkness. Each one seems to contain an important symbol of the play. Symbols that the reader must understand if they are to interpret either the passage or the play as a whole.
The second, most important chain of imagery used to add to the atmosphere is that of the imagery of darkness. In a Shakespearean tragedy a special atmosphere must be created to show the darkness and blackness in a tragedy. In ‘Macbeth’ darkness symbolizes many things. First, and most important, it stands for the evil and death in the play. The darkness partially blinds out all of the horrible things that occur in the night. Only in darkness can such evil deeds be done. Secondly, the darkness shows one of Lady Macbeth’s weaknesses: her fear of dark. In the play, phrases of fear escape from lips even in her sleep. She believes darkness to be the place of torment.
Within the whole play, the sun seems to shine only twice. The first is in the passage when Duncan sees the swallows flirting round the castle of death. The second time, at the end, when the avenging army gathers to rid the earth of its shame. Therefore, the reader can conclude that Shakespeare uses darkness to establish the evil parts of the play. On the other hand, daylight is employed to define victory or goodness in the play.
In Macbeth, Shakespeare uses the design of the witches, the guilt in Macbeth’s soul, and the darkness of the night to establish the atmosphere. All of the remarkable scenes take place at night or in some dark place; for example, the vision of the dagger, the murder of Duncan, the murder of Banquo, and Lady Macbeth’s sleep-walking, all occur at night. Darkness is the time when the traveler hastens to reach safety in his inn, when Banquo rides homeward to meet his assassins. It is the time when the wolf howls, the owl hoots, and when murder steals forth his work.
Darkness in our society is indicative of evil. For instance, a black cat, a dark night, and a dark place are all symbolic of diablerie. Authors use these symbols to describe an evil character or setting. William Shakespeare employs the imagery of darkness in Act 4 of...
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