What is the role of darkness and light in Macbeth?

In Shakespeare's Macbeth, darkness vs
light is one of the play's themes. This refers to the darkness that fights the light,
thematically, in the play.

First, the
witches set a tone of darkness in Act One, scene one. The witches are evil, and evil is
associated with darkness. The light is seen in Duncan, a good and just King. When
Macbeth kills Duncan, it seems for a time that darkness has won, and the light is
lost.

The theme of darkness vs light is seen several times
throughout the play. Lady Macbeth calls on the clouds to cover her in darkness so the
stars cannot shed light on what she plans with the murder of Duncan. By the end of the
play, she has lost her mind, is sleepwalking, and is trying to shed some light on her
path with a candle, which must remain lit next to her bed all night
long.

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DOCTOR:

How
came she by that
light?

GENTLEWOMAN:

Why,
it stood by her. She has light by her

continually; ’tis her
command. (V.i.18-20)

Banquo
is representative of light, but Macbeth also has him killed because Banquo suspects that
Macbeth may have been involved with Duncan's death. Banquo is the only other person who
heard the witches predict that Macbeth would be king.

After
Duncan's death, there is a report of an eclipse taking place, in Act Two, scene four, so
that darkness covers the light, a sign of unnatural occurrences. The following quote
refers to darkness covering the sun.

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...yet dark night strangles the
travelling lamp.

It is not
until Macduff, who is also a character surrounded by light, kills Macbeth, a character
of great evil and darkness, that light reigns again. The opposites of darkness and light
represent a battle between good vs evil. It is because Macbeth turns his back on the
light and follows the darkness that he is destroyed in the end.