Shakespeare’s plays have demonstrated the battle between good and evil in various ways. Macbeth, one of his most famous works, has been heralded as a prime example of this battle between good and evil through the use of imagery of light and darkness. Firstly, light imagery illustrates the nobility of person. Next, one’s purity can be easily stained by darkness. Finally, the use of dark imagery symbolizes the true and final stage of evil.
Duality in Macbeth Light and dark are often thought about as great symbols for good verses evil. In television and movies, one will often notice that when the bad guy is pursuing some sort of evil crime or succeeding in beating the good guy, the scene will be dark to add some more intensity to the plot. While on the other hand when the good guy is doing something good and winning the action scenes, light may be reflected on them. Light verse dark is also one of the oldest known dualities, dating back to the time that God created the world. The bible states “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.
Images of involvement and action oppose images of paralysis and fear and such is the conflict that defines the thinker whose musings we share. An educated and highly intelligent man, he precedes his monologue with a quotation from Dante's Inferno. Dante, while journeying through hell, encounters Guido da Montefeltro, who is wrapped in flame and suffering eternal torment for sins he committed on earth. He confesses his sins on the assumption that Dante, a fellow prisoner of hell, cannot return to earth with the damning information he is hearing and besmirch Guido's reputation. Prufrock's "song" is a similar confession of a soul in torment, though Prufrock's sins are errors of omission and inaction rather than of commission.
From the outset, Richard makes his evil intent clear, noting cynically and declaratively “Since I cannot prove a lover … I am determined to prove a villain,” revealing that power itself has not corrupted him, but the desire for it. It is clear that Richard is aware of his destruction of the Great Chain of Being, when he alludes to the concept, euphemistically noting “God take King Edward
In the play there is a huge contrast between the God like figure of the Duke and the ‘fallen Angel’ or ‘Satan’ character of Angelo, again as mentioned above on a simple level as ‘good and evil’. Throughout the start of the play Angelo is shown to be ‘saintly’ like an Angel. Near the beginning we see Angelo talking about how he would never be tempted to do bad things as he says ‘Tis one thing to be tempted, Escalus, another to fall’. The use of punctuation here seems to direct this phrase of speech at Escalus and is effective because its suggest to us that the character of Angelo would never do anything bad, it also gives a sense of Angelo being patronising toward Escalus. Also the word ‘fall’ in this case could be here to symbolise sin, how to Angelo if he was to fall it would be like he was sinning.
The character called “Death” is meant to be God's messenger who the main character Everyman is afraid of. The English morality play Everyman uses characterization and allegory to portray human values, human choices and the consequences of both at the time of death. In Everyman, all of the allegorical characters believe that good deeds get them into Heaven. They also view the death of Jesus Christ as a means to gain God’s ticket into Heaven, instead of seeing the death as Christ
"I am satisfied in nature, / Whose motive, in this case, should stir me most / To my revenge: but in my terms of honour / I stand aloof" Act V sc. ii. What Laertes calls honor is actually the desired vengeance, which he needs as a way to seal the death of his father and carry on with his life. Hamlet, on the other hand, acts, or better said, refrains from acting because of the conclusions he draws from his reflections and speculations. A great example of Hamlet’s complicated and elaborate ways of obtaining what he wants is the plot of the “Mouse Trap” for catching the King’s conscience.
Mr. Utterson explains quite often, “I incline to Cain’s heresy,” he used to say quaintly: ‘“I let my brother go to the devil in his own way,”’ By referring to the tale in the Bible of Cain and Able, the reader can easily understand Mr. Utterson for who he really is. The second allusion describes the relationship of Dr. Lanyon and Dr. Jekyll. Dr. Lanyon explains to Mr. Utterson, “such unscientific balderdash,” added the doctor… “would have estranged Damon and Pythias.” He refers to the
He is most famously referred to as the “faithful martyr, where Satan dwells” in the book of Revelation (Revelation 2:13). It is very likely that if Antipas did not meet the apostle Luke who inspired and prepared the businessman for a life changing experience, Antipas would have remained the materialistic
How Is Imagery Used to Conclude the Tragedy of Othello in Act V, Scene II Shakespeare uses different types of imagery in Othello. In this particular scene, he uses religious, environmental and mythological imagery to conclude the tragedy in Act V, Scene II as well as the opposing ideas of light and dark. These themes are used to foreshadow the downfall of Othello and to create a more established atmosphere of hopelessness and tragedy for the audience. Shakespeare uses religious imagery a use of dramatic irony to help prove that Desdemona is pure and true, and because of this, will go to heaven, even if Othello believes her to be untruthful. It is introduced in this scene in Othello’s soliloquy where he says “flaming minister”.