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  • Essay / The fundamental elements of ambition and evil in The Story of Macbeth by William Shakespeare

    Ambition and evil are the fundamental elements of William Shakespeare's Macbeth. Macbeth is a tragedy written by Shakespeare during the Elizabethan era. The Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland by Raphael Holinshed was used extensively as it was necessary in creating the environments and situations of the play. Macbeth is set primarily in Scotland and is a play about an ambitious thane, named Macbeth, and his wife whose flaws lead to their demise. Since Macbeth is a tragedy, nothing else would probably suit the play better than dark imagery. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay Imagery is a very important aspect of literature. There are many different types of images and there is at least one dramatic purpose for each image. When analyzing William Shakespeare's Macbeth, it is evident that the imagery of darkness is used for three dramatic purposes. These three objectives are to create a mood, arouse the emotions of the audience and contribute to the major theme of the play. The dark images of Macbeth contribute to its disturbing atmosphere. At the very beginning of the play, the three witches speak and the first says: "When will the three of us see each other again?" Under thunder, lightning or rain? This is a good example of imagery of darkness, because when we think of thunder, lightning, and rain, thoughts of ominous things arise. Later, the sergeant is speaking with Duncan and Malcolm when he says, “Storms of ship destruction and terrible thunders break out. » Again, these dark images contribute to the eerie atmosphere of the piece, referencing thunder and dark storms. Finally, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth speak in the scene just before Banquo's murder and Macbeth says, "The light grows thicker, and the raven flies to the mad wood: the good things of the day begin to droop and slumber , while the black agents of the night fly away. their prey wakes up. This example of darkness imagery says that day turns to night, all good things go to sleep and bad creatures come out. The evil in this and the previous two quotes adds to the foreboding atmosphere. Since the images create an ominous atmosphere, they would then lead to the second dramatic objective, arousing the audience's emotions. The imagery of darkness is a very good tool to evoke emotions in the audience. This allows people to create a mental image of what they are reading. For example, Duncan and Macbeth were talking when Macbeth said aside, “Stars, hide your fires!” Let the light not see my dark and deep desires. » When words like “black” and “desire” are placed in this context, it creates many horrific mental images of killings and fights that stir up emotions in people. Ross is later speaking with an old man when he says, "It's daylight on time, and yet the dark night chokes the traveling lamp." » In other words; even though the sun should be out, something is blocking the light. This example of darkness imagery creates a strange feeling in the reader because it is very unnatural for the sun to be blocked. To help this imagery example, the sun can also symbolize a monarch or king. Another instance of dark imagery occurs when Lady Macbeth and a messenger are talking and Lady Macbeth states: "Let not my sharp knife see the wound it makes, nor let heaven look through the cover of the darkness to cry: “Wait, wait! » This creates a feeling of..