A word in every book, play, or conversation has the power to take on a different meaning based on context. In Macbeth, written by Shakespeare, a word worth tracing is “night.” In the play, “night” is a huge motif and symbolizes many things. Three major connections throughout are comparing light and dark, heaven and hell, and living versus dead. When comparing these ideas, Shakespeare uses the word “night,” almost as a code, to make connections that wouldn’t normally be made or expressed in everyday language. In the first act of the play, Lady Macbeth uses “night” after she reads Macbeth’s letter, which expresses his plan to kill Duncan. In her entire soliloquy from lines 45-61, she seems to have gone insane, talking about turning into a man
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Act three is intense where Banquo is killed and all Macbeth wishes if for Lady Macbeth to “be innocent of the knowledge” (3.2, 51). When Macbeth says, “Come, seeling night,/Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day” (3.2,52-53), in scene two we clearly see Macbeth is trying to keep his wife innocent and blind. This is ironic because Macbeth was the one, just two acts ago, who didn’t want to murder. Macbeth realizes that in order to keep what he wants, his desire much outweigh his morals. The night plays a huge role in this case when he is trying to protect his wife and keep her innocent. In the act one, Lady Macbeth wanted night to cover up her actions, however, in act three we see Macbeth using night in that way and protecting Lady Macbeth’s innocence, or “tender eye”(3.2,53). The opposition of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth is interesting at this point in the play because Macbeth seems to have completely changed directions in his mindset. On line 62, Macbeth says, “Things bad begun make strong themselves by ill.” What Macbeth is trying to say is that once bad things start happening, people are somewhat forced to keep committing those dreadful deeds. When under the blanket of night, people are protected and have the ability to do what must be done. In this passage, the words surrounding “night” are especially
Act three is intense where Banquo is killed and all Macbeth wishes if for Lady Macbeth to “be innocent of the knowledge” (3.2, 51). When Macbeth says, “Come, seeling night,/Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day” (3.2,52-53), in scene two we clearly see Macbeth is trying to keep his wife innocent and blind. This is ironic because Macbeth was the one, just two acts ago, who didn’t want to murder. Macbeth realizes that in order to keep what he wants, his desire much outweigh his morals. The night plays a huge role in this case when he is trying to protect his wife and keep her innocent. In the act one, Lady Macbeth wanted night to cover up her actions, however, in act three we see Macbeth using night in that way and protecting Lady Macbeth’s innocence, or “tender eye”(3.2,53). The opposition of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth is interesting at this point in the play because Macbeth seems to have completely changed directions in his mindset. On line 62, Macbeth says, “Things bad begun make strong themselves by ill.” What Macbeth is trying to say is that once bad things start happening, people are somewhat forced to keep committing those dreadful deeds. When under the blanket of night, people are protected and have the ability to do what must be done. In this passage, the words surrounding “night” are especially