“Come, thick night, and pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell, that my keen knife see not the wound it makes, nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark to cry ‘Hold, hold!'” This chilling invocation, spoken by Lady Macbeth in Act 1, Scene 5 of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, stands as one of literature’s most powerful expressions of premeditated evil. The line reveals not just character, but offers profound insight into the human psyche’s relationship with darkness, guilt, and moral transgression.
The Context of Darkness
Lady Macbeth utters these words immediately after reading her husband’s letter describing his encounter with the witches. Her immediate turn to darkness reveals her instinctive understanding that her murderous ambitions cannot bear the light of scrutiny. The invocation of night serves multiple purposes – it seeks to hide the physical deed and to shield her conscience from the moral implications of her planned actions.
The Language of Concealment
Shakespeare’s choice of words in this passage demonstrates his masterful command of language. “Thick night” suggests more than mere darkness; it implies an oppressive, almost tangible blackness that can physically prevent visibility. The word “pall” carries particular significance, referring to a cloth that covers a coffin – foreshadowing the death to come while also suggesting the complete concealment Lady Macbeth desires.
Hellish Imagery
The reference to “dunnest smoke of hell” creates a vivid picture of supernatural darkness. “Dun” refers to a dark, grayish-brown color, but Shakespeare uses the superlative “dunnest” to emphasize the extremity of the darkness Lady Macbeth seeks. The hell imagery suggests she knowingly embraces damnation, willing to sacrifice her soul for earthly power.
The Symbolism of the Knife
The mention of the “keen knife” provides a stark contrast to the darkness she invokes. The knife’s keenness suggests both its sharpness and Lady Macbeth’s eager anticipation of the murder. The desire for the knife to “not see the wound it makes” reveals a complex psychology – she wants the weapon itself to be blind to its actions, as if even inanimate objects might bear witness to her crimes.
Heaven’s Gaze
The image of heaven peeping through “the blanket of the dark” presents a powerful metaphor for divine judgment. Lady Macbeth’s desire to prevent heaven from witnessing the deed suggests her awareness of the moral magnitude of her planned actions. The repetition of “Hold, hold!” imagines heaven’s desperate attempt to prevent the crime, giving voice to the conscience she attempts to suppress.
The Psychology of Darkness
This soliloquy reveals deep psychological insights into how humans cope with immoral actions. Lady Macbeth’s attempt to cloak her deeds in darkness reflects a universal human tendency to seek concealment when contemplating evil. The darkness she invokes serves as both physical concealment and psychological shield, protecting her from having to fully face the implications of her actions.
Supernatural Elements
The invocation itself carries ritualistic overtones, positioning Lady Macbeth as a practitioner of dark arts. Her command to the night suggests she believes she can control natural forces, placing her in a similar realm as the witches who open the play. This connection to the supernatural emphasizes the unnatural nature of her ambitions and actions.
Gender and Power
Lady Macbeth’s embrace of darkness also relates to her earlier plea to be “unsexed.” Both invocations suggest her belief that she must transcend her feminine nature to achieve her ambitions. The darkness she calls upon represents not just physical concealment but a transformation of her very being into something beyond normal human constraints.
Theatrical Impact
From a dramatic perspective, this soliloquy serves multiple purposes. It builds tension, reveals character, and creates a supernatural atmosphere that pervades the rest of the play. The vivid imagery provides directors and actors with powerful visual and emotional elements to work with in staging the play.
Literary Technique
Shakespeare’s use of alliteration (“pall thee”) and assonance throughout the passage creates a hypnotic quality that enhances its ritualistic nature. The rhythm of the lines suggests a spell or incantation, reinforcing the supernatural elements of the speech.
Historical Context
In Shakespeare’s time, night carried even more ominous connotations than it does today. Without artificial lighting, darkness presented real dangers and limitations. The audience would have viscerally understood the significance of invoking such complete darkness.
Moral Implications
The soliloquy presents a crucial moment in Lady Macbeth’s moral descent. By actively calling upon darkness to hide her deeds, she moves from ambitious thinking to active conspiracy. This marks her conscious choice to embrace evil, making her subsequent guilt and madness more psychologically compelling.
Classical References
The imagery in this passage draws on classical traditions of associating darkness with evil and concealment. Shakespeare builds on these traditional associations while creating new and more complex meanings through Lady Macbeth’s personal relationship with darkness.
The Role of Conscience
Despite her attempt to shroud her actions in darkness, Lady Macbeth’s awareness of heaven’s potential witness suggests she cannot completely suppress her conscience. This early indication of moral awareness makes her later descent into guilt-ridden madness more psychologically convincing.
Prophetic Elements
The darkness Lady Macbeth invokes foreshadows the physical and psychological darkness that will eventually consume both her and her husband. Her request for concealment ironically predicts her own inability to live with the knowledge of her crimes.
Modern Relevance
The psychological insights in this passage remain relevant to modern audiences. The human tendency to seek darkness when contemplating evil, the desire to hide from moral consequences, and the relationship between concealment and guilt continue to resonate with contemporary experiences.
The lasting power of this soliloquy lies in its combination of vivid imagery, psychological insight, and moral complexity. Lady Macbeth’s invocation of darkness serves as more than just a dramatic device – it provides a window into the human psyche’s relationship with evil and guilt. Through this single passage, Shakespeare illuminates universal truths about morality, conscience, and the psychological cost of embracing darkness.
In exploring this famous passage, we find Shakespeare’s genius in creating language that works on multiple levels – poetic, psychological, dramatic, and moral. The soliloquy’s enduring impact demonstrates how a few carefully crafted lines can capture complex human experiences and emotions that remain relevant across centuries.