Theme Of Good And Evil In Macbeth

In the play ‘Macbeth’ by William Shakespeare, light and dark imagery is used throughout the story in order to show the difference and symbolism between good and evil. Light represents innocence, truth and purity while darkness is used to represent cruelty, guilt and corruption. Towards the end of the play, Shakespeare correlates the ideas of both lightness and darkness to portray life and death. Ultimately, they represent good and evil. Shakespeare uses these two themes to drive the plot and story forward in order to create conflict, twists and symbolism.

In Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”, words and actions have a dichotomic relationship that one would not expect. This is illustrated through the use of the theme, fair is foul and foul is fair. In the English language, the verb to be is used as an equal sign. The word that precedes the verb is defined as being equal to the word that follows the verb; therefore, fair and foul should be synonyms. In ‘Macbeth”, Shakespeare uses this theme to show the coexistence of good and evil that occurs within the same time frame. Examples of fair is foul and foul is fair often have similar elements, including, weather, celestial references, living things in nature, and appearance compared to feelings.

One of the most important themes in the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare comes from one of the last lines in Act 1, Scene 1 of the play. The three witches speak this simple line ‘Fair is foul, and foul is fair,’ shortly before they disperse and it becomes a prophecy and an underlying warning for the rest of the play. The connotations of this one line becomes significant as the play unfolds beginning even with Macbeth’s opinions at the beginning of the story and lasting throughout the play with the constant recurring themes of deception, doing evil in the name of good,

The supernatural elements presented in The Tragedy of Macbeth each demonstrate hints of wickedness or evil. For example, the three witches. When presented in the story, their presence always gives off bad vibes. In the exposition of the tragedy, the First Witch asks, “When shall we three meet again? / In thunder, lightning, or in rain?” (I:I, 1-2). The use of “thunder, lightning, or in rain” indicates to the reader of the malicious nature of the three witches. Upon encountering the three witches, Macbeth is astounded. Their prophecies alarm him, causing him to ask what they mean by “All hail Macbeth, that shalt be King hereafter!” (I:iii, 50). Many times, the paradoxes used by the witches confusing. In one scene, the witches appeal in favor of Banquo. The use of their paradox, “Not so happy, yet much happier,” indicates their intention of portraying things not as they really seem. (I:iii, 66). Meeting the three witches is Macbeth’s first step in losing his sanity. He struggles to differentiate what is real and what is not.

The Renaissance play The Tragedy of Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, truly demonstrated a compelling tale of greed, power, and jealousy. The play revealed the turn of a good nobleman into a powerful and greedy king. It showed audiences how one crime led to another and eventually to a gruesome melee. Throughout the tragedy there appeared to be a reoccurring theme stated finest as appearances are deceiving. The audience is first introduced to the theme in the first scene of the play where the witches said the profound phrase, "Fair is foul, and foul is fair" (I, i, 10). The Tragedy of Macbeth continued to present the idea of images being deceivingly different from the actual appearance.

The mysterious Macbeth is also mentioned in this scene. However, we hear a different view of this character. Shakespeare uses the structure of his play as well as his characters to show the contrast between good and evil. This is done by the juxtaposition of a scene with evil characters in it before one with only good characters.

of the light or dark. "The King comes here tonight", this is said by a

The tragic hero’s downfall can easily be paralleled against the idea of darkness encompassing the haunting and negative tolls taken on Macbeth due to bloodshed and fear. Toward the beginning of the play, Macbeth asks, “Let not light see my black and deep desires” (1.4.53). By this, Macbeth is begging that the stars and light be gone in order to disguise his true desires of power, bloodlust, and murder. Shakespeare uses darkness throughout the play to illustrate Macbeth’s inner turmoil, but uses light to depict Banquo’s inner peace, thus making them foils. Banquo is in desperation for lightness when stating, “Hold, take my sword. There’s husbandry in heaven;/ Their candles are all out” (2.1.4-5), unlike Macbeth who is desperate for complete darkness. The pair’s requests mirror the depths of their true personalities of Banquo’s good verses Macbeth’s evil. In a critical article, L.C. Knights determined that “The main theme of the reversal of values is given out simply and clearly in the first scene—’Fair is foul, and foul is fair’; and with it are associated premonitions of the conflict, disorder and moral darkness into which Macbeth will plunge himself.”(Knights). This analysis of the characters’ shifts in personality traits and points of views is supported numerous times within examples of Shakespeare’s darkness imagery. The blurred line between what

The one thing that Shakespeare has always mastered in his play productions is contrast. This may be between moods, characters, or even the idea of light and dark. This is no different in the play Macbeth. The contrast between light and dark in this play goes from moral and goodness down to progressively evil. This is all circling around Macbeth. Though this is shown by his actions, the world around him, and his character. In this play we see the this exact change of a person from good to evil this is life.

Shakespeare’s use of imagery throughout Macbeth shows the reader, in detail, the tragedy of a man, hungry for power, yet powerless to stop his inevitable downfall. Fair is foul is a theme used by the play that displays the contrast between appearance and intention and the double sidedness of multiple characters’ personalities. Several times in the play, imagery and theme merge together to further the themes and plot of the play, as well as immerse the reader further into the story. Shakespeare furthered the theme of fair is foul with imagery several times throughout Macbeth, through Macbeth’s first introduction to the three witches, through the juxtaposition of King Duncan’s comments of Macbeth’s castle versus how awful the owner of the castle actually is, and through Lady Macbeth’s character throughout the play.

One should always be careful with what they wish for, because they just might get it… Around in 11th century medieval Scotland a once brave Scottish nobleman/general named Macbeth is told his future by a trio of wicked witches. They essentially tell him that he will become the “King of Scotland” and his friend, Banquo, will have his children be of royalty. Macbeth is then consumed with deep ambition and a dark desire to be king. Spurred on by his wife Lady Macbeth he murders King Duncan and takes the throne himself. Macbeth also kills Banquo and others and causes a cosmic imbalance within the universe. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth is then forever wracked with extreme guilt and paranoia. It causes the death of Lady Macbeth by her own hands and it

Today, I will be talking about the good vs. evil throughout the play. Some characters play the good role in the play and some characters play the bad role in the play. There are three main points dealing with good vs. evil in the play. Macbeth is trying to become King of the Thane. The witches predicted that Macbeth should kill Duncan. In the play what happen to Duncan? Macbeth is one of the confused characters in this play.

Good and Evil. These ideals have been at war with each other since the beginning of time. When people think of good, they usually think Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, or Martin Luther King Junior. When they think or bad or evil, they usually think of Adolf Hitler, Osama Bin Laden, or even Maximilien Robespierre. All of these people are very different from one another, one side rooting for peace, equality, and justice while the other causes terrorism, genocide, and innocent murders. While the stereotypical comparison between good and evil is that they never get close to one another, however, it isn’t always this way. Sometimes good and evil can be found in the same, normal people. A wise woman by the name of Maisie Williams once said “No one is born evil; it’s just the choices that they make.” Babies don’t know how to hate or be evil, so it’s hard to know who will become a malevolent person when they grow up. Some of the reasons why or how, though, can be interpreted from William Shakespeare’s Macbeth.

How many people can be thought of that have gone through extreme challenges to get what they want? Their ambition to want something can often cloud their judgment. Yet it is all a part of humans achieving their state of nature. In the beginning of the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare the main character Macbeth had no intensions of being evil yet when more power was given to him he was influenced into doing bad and wanting all the power by forcing fate.

Suzy Kassem, once said, “Everybody has good and bad forces working with them, against them, and within them.” In “Macbeth Play,” Macbeth is telling Lady Macbeth, “I can’t go back. I’m afraid even to think about what I’ve done. I can’t stand to look at it again.” (Shakespeare 1611). In the beginning of the play Shakespeare introduces you to Macbeth a good, and admirable man, before he turned to the dark side, to show that he had good in him once before all the ambition took over him. “On the battle-field he maintained a natural cheerfulness; under the power of evil forebodings he becomes weak” (Gervinus 1849). “So this man in whom evil wars with good, callous desire with moral sensitivity; in whom moral vitality still flickers for a moment”