Macbeth Light and Darkness Quotes

And oftentimes, to win us to our harm,
The instruments of darkness tell us truths,
Win us with honest trifles, to betray ‘s
In deepest consequence.

– William Shakespeare

Macbeth, Act 1, Scene 3. Banquo shows himself to be much more cautious than Macbeth in reacting to the Witches’ prophecies. He calls attention to the danger of acting on the predictions of the evil “instruments of darkness,” as he metaphorically describes the Witches. They may be telling a little truth in order to gain their confidence, so that they can deceive and betray them into causing harm, he warns. This is foreshadowing of Macbeth’s fatal decision to kill King Duncan. This passage raises the question: do the Witches control people’s fate, or do people have free will to decide their own fate, regardless of what the Witches prophesy.

Stars, hide your fires;
Let not light see my black and deep desires:
The eye wink at the hand; yet let that be,
Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see.

– William Shakespeare

Macbeth, Act 1, Scene 4. Just after King Duncan names his son Malcolm his successor, Macbeth asks the stars to hide their light so that his disloyal desire to take the throne cannot be seen by anyone. He means to achieve this goal by killing Duncan if necessary. A metaphor is used to describe his evil desires as “black and deep.” In this passage the stars are also personified. Macbeth speaks these lines in an aside, because he wishes to conceal his ambitious intentions from other people. Among the themes in play here is appearance vs reality, also fate and free will. Macbeth is not prepared to leave it to fate for the Witches’ prophecy of him becoming king to come true. He decides to act on his own free will and commit regicide to ensure his ascent to power.

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!”

– William Shakespeare

Macbeth, Act 1, Scene 5. There are many examples of light and darkness symbolism in Macbeth, this passage being one of them. Lady Macbeth calls on the night to cover up the sight of the knife when she carries out the murder of Duncan. The metaphor of a blanket is used to signify the dark. Personification is also employed – “knife see” and “heaven peep.” In her terrifying soliloquy the ambitious Lady Macbeth shows herself to be more ruthless than her husband. Her evil and her link to the Witches is emphasized by her reference to “hell.” Her ambition and desire to be queen know no bounds.

There’s husbandry in heaven;
Their candles are all out. Take thee that too.
A heavy summons lies like lead upon me,
And yet I would not sleep: merciful powers,
Restrain in me the cursed thoughts that nature
Gives way to in repose!

– William Shakespeare

Macbeth, Act 2, Scene 1. An uneasy Banquo observes that the lights of heaven are shut off, foreboding the horrible crime that is about to happen. He uses the metaphor of “candles” for the stars. He also uses a simile to compare sleep to a heavy lead summonsing him, a sleep that eludes him because of “cursed thoughts.” He asks the powerful supernatural spirits to curb these thoughts. He doesn’t reveal what these thoughts are, but they are likely connected with the Witches’ prophecies. Banquo seems suspicious that something bad is about to happen. The passage foreshadows Duncan’s murder.

My hands are of your colour; but I shame
To wear a heart so white.

– William Shakespeare

Macbeth, Act 2, Scene 2. The audience doesn’t see the murder of King Duncan on stage, but Shakespeare employs dramatic genius to convey the horror of the murder to them. He cleverly does this through the use of blood. First Macbeth’s hands are covered in blood. In this passage Lady Macbeth’s are also smeared with it, having covered the faces of Duncan’s servants with blood to make them appear guilty. In contrast to her husband, she shows no remorse or guilt over the spilling of Duncan’s blood. Using a metaphor, she tells Macbeth that she would be ashamed to have a heart as pure as his.

By the clock, ’tis day,
And yet dark night strangles the travelling lamp:
Is ‘t night’s predominance, or the day’s shame,
That darkness does the face of earth entomb,
When living light should kiss it?

– William Shakespeare

Macbeth, Act 2, Scene 4. Scottish nobleman Ross speaks to the Old Man about the unnatural events that occurred at the time of King Duncan’s murder. They include darkness strangling the light of the sun during the daytime. This symbolizes the evil part of human nature overpowering the good side. Personification and metaphor are used effectively to illustrate how the skies reflect the upset in the natural order caused by the King’s murder.

Ere the bat hath flown
His cloister’d flight, ere, to black Hecate’s summons
The shard-borne beetle with his drowsy hums
Hath rung night’s yawning peal, there shall be done
A deed of dreadful note.

– William Shakespeare

Macbeth, Act 3, Scene 2. Macbeth hints to his wife of his plan to kill Banquo and Fleance before nightfall. The passage references the supernatural, a goddess associated with witches, bats and beatles. Hecate was goddess of witchcraft, night, moon and ghosts. She is described as black, a symbol for evil in the play. Macbeth’s “deed of dreadful note” is the murder of Banquo and his son. We also find an example of personification in “The shard-borne beetle with his drowsy hums Hath rung night’s yawning peal.”

Come, seeling night,
Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day,
And with thy bloody and invisible hand
Cancel and tear to pieces that great bond
Which keeps me pale! Light thickens, and the crow
Makes wing to the rooky wood;
Good things of day begin to droop and drowse,
Whiles night’s black agents to their preys do rouse.

– William Shakespeare

Macbeth, Act 3, Scene 2. Macbeth commands the night to come quickly in order to conceal his evil actions and facilitate the murder of Banquo and his boy. Both night and day are personified in the passage. A hawking metaphor is used to describe the night, seeling is stitching the bird’s eyelids shut for training. In another metaphor Macbeth calls on the night to use its “bloody and invisible hand” to destroy Banquo. In his speech there is much made of darkness and light, one representing evil and the other good. Macbeth is calling on the forces of darkness and evil to cancel out the good.

It is myself I mean: in whom I know
All the particulars of vice so grafted
That, when they shall be open’d, black Macbeth
Will seem as pure as snow, and the poor state
Esteem him as a lamb, being compared
With my confineless harms.

– William Shakespeare

Macbeth, Act 4, Scene 3. Malcolm plays a little game of deception with Macduff as a test of his loyalty and to ensure that he is not working with Macbeth. So Malcolm lies, saying he himself is so full of vices that the “black Macbeth” would seem as white as snow, an example of simile. Using another simile, Malcolm says that poor Scotland would think of Macbeth as a lamb, in comparison to him and his limitless wickedness.

Come, go we to the king; our power is ready;
Our lack is nothing but our leave; Macbeth
Is ripe for shaking, and the powers above
Put on their instruments. Receive what cheer you may:
The night is long that never finds the day.

– William Shakespeare

Macbeth, Act 4, Scene 3. Malcolm speaks the last lines of the play’s longest scene. The only scene outside Scotland, it takes place before the King’s palace, England. Malcolm tells Macduff that he wants to go back to Scotland and seize the crown from Macbeth. Backed by an army of ten thousand soldiers, Malcolm says that the time is right with God and right on their side – “the powers above put on their instruments.” In the last line, he expresses the hope that the light of day (goodness) will soon put an end to Macbeth’s reign of darkness (evil).

She has light by her continually; ’tis her command.

– William Shakespeare

Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 1. In this scene Lady Macbeth is seen sleepwalking and carrying a candle. A woman explains to the doctor that Lady Macbeth is so afraid of the dark she keeps a lighted candle with her all the time. This symbolizes Lady Macbeth’s fear of evil. She needs the light, a symbol of goodness, to protect her from it. Her sleepwalking is also a sign of the guilt she feels over the murders carried out by her husband.
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