Macbeth Night Analysis

Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth, where characters have high expectations and abandon their morals to fulfill ambitions, shares many similarities to a failed party. During the festivities of the early night, the guests anticipate greater opportunities for fun and fame, disregarding their possible consequences. In reaching for their goals, they change the feelings at the very core of the event. Unfortunately, their sacrifices amount to nothing, and seeing their failure to satisfy themselves makes the party torture. Finally, the promise of new chances and satisfaction manifests in the form of the end of the party and a new day. Shakespeare uses the night in Macbeth to reveal the blackening moods of the characters and the play as a whole.
Act 1 represents …show more content…
Killing Duncan and Banquo gained nothing for him, and he now lives in “fear.” He expected the deaths to bring him "peace" and satisfaction, but they only give him sleepless nights full of "restless ecstasy;" he cannot prevent guilt from consuming his mind. “Terrible dreams” fill his nights, and guilt fills his mind and thoughts. The night develops into a time of inescapable “torture” for Macbeth, and he would rather be “with the dead” than continuing to endure panic and guilt; he wants nothing more than the night to end. After the appearance of Banquo's ghost, which only occurs within his head, Macbeth deteriorates into a babbling mess. After rambling, he asks Lady Macbeth, “What is the night?” (3.4.157). He wants to know the time. The “night” and the appearance of Banquo’s ghost destroyed any remaining shreds of his sanity, and he remains tormented by guilt. The agony of the night makes him wish for nothing more than its end, and it currently makes life almost too painful for him to bear. Asking the time of night reveals Macbeth's desire for it to be over. To reinforce the suffering that the characters live through, Shakespeare changes the meaning of the night, making it gloomier and more miserable.
In Acts 4 and 5, other characters feel ready to end the night and Macbeth’s reign of evil and bring in a new day and time of peace. Malcolm, the son of Duncan and the rightful heir, calls …show more content…
Malcolm and his troops have the “power” to end the evil of the night and Macbeth, and they will not hesitate to use it; they even have the support of "powers above," since even the heavens abhor Macbeth and his rule. Ending Macbeth’s "long" reign of evil will bring in a new “day” of harmony and restore the "cheer" and pleasure present throughout the kingdom before he took over. Willing to die rather than give up, Malcolm and his army enter the battle. Siward, the commander of the English army who allied with Malcolm, leads his army alongside Malcolm's. He says, “Do we but find the tyrant’s power tonight, / Let us be beaten if we cannot fight” (5.6.8-9). If they cannot win, they prefer to lose rather than give up. The troops want to find Macbeth, the “tyrant,” so that they can end the misery that hangs over all of Scotland. "Fight[ing]" against malevolence and despotism, their desire is to bring in a new day and therefore a new mood of peace and happiness. Through the rebellion and the new desire for peace, Shakespeare makes the night irrelevant, signifying its end and the beginning of a new era and feelings of joy.
As the mood of the play and the characters’ emotions dim, Shakespeare darkens the meaning of night. At any party or evening event, the night suffocates people’s minds: they begin to abandon their morals and only focus on what they want. However, this phenomenon often only leads to disappointment. After making