Shakespeares Macbeth - Deep Darkness Essays -- Macbeth essays

Macbeths Deep Darkness In Shakespeares tragedy Macbeth there is a dark aspect which hangs over most scenes in the play. Let us examine this quality in this essay. In Macbeth as the Imitation of an swear divulge Francis Fergusson states the place of dimness in the action of the play It is the phrase to run the pauser, reason 2.3, which seems to me to describe the action, or motive, of the play as a whole. Macbeth, of course, literally means that his love for Dun slew was so strong and so swift that it got frontwards of his reason, which would dupe counseled a pause. But in the same way we have seen his greed and ambition outrun his reason when he committed the transfer and in the same way all of the characters, in the irrational darkness of Scotlands evil hour, are compelled in their action to strive beyond what they can see by reason alone. Even Malcolm and Macduff, as we shall see, are compelled to go beyond reason in the action which destroys Macbeth and ends the play. ( 106-7) L.C. Knights in the essay Macbeth describes the moralistic darkness into which Macbeth lowers himself The main theme of the reversal of values is given out simply and clearly in the first scene - Fair is harmful, and foul is fair and with it are associated premonitions of the conflict, disorder and moral darkness into which Macbeth will submerge himself. (95) Charles Lamb in On the Tragedies of Shakespeare comments on the images of night and their impact on the audience The state of sublime emotion into which we are elevated by those images of night and horror which Macbeth is made to utter, that solemn prelude with which he entertains the while till the bell shall strike which is to call... ...are The Tragedies. A Collectiion of Critical Essays. Alfred Harbage, ed. Englewwod Cliffs, NJ Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1964. Knights, L.C. Macbeth. Shakespeare The Tragedies. A Collectiion of Critical Essays. Alfred Harbage, ed. Englewwod Cliffs, NJ Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1964. La mb, Charles. On the Tragedies of Shakespeare. N.p. n.p.. 1811. Rpt in Shakespearean tragedy. Bratchell, D. F. New York, NY Routledge, 1990. Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Macbeth. http//chemicool.com/Shakespeare/macbeth/full.html, no lin. Warren, Roger. Shakespeare Survey 30. N.p. n.p., 1977. Pp. 177-78. Rpt. in Shakespeare in the Theatre An Anthology of Criticism. Stanley Wells, ed. England Oxford University Press, 2000. Wilson, H. S. On the throw of Shakespearean Tragedy. Toronto, Canada University of Toronto Press, 1957.