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In Macbeth, identify and analyze the language devices in the quote "Let light not see my black deep desires."

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This quote is spoken by Macbeth and contains two instances of alliteration in the repeating sounds of "let light" and "deep desires," which emphasize the passion behind his words. Macbeth also uses metaphor in his depiction of light as symbolic of goodness, while black symbolizes the evil he is about to commit. This juxtaposition of light and dark emphasizes Macbeth's tumultuous mental state.

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Shortly before the passage in which Macbeth says "let not light," Duncan has named his oldest son, Malcolm, as his heir to the Scottish throne. However, Duncan is so overjoyed at his victory over the rebels that he wants to reward everyone, and he says to all his loyal followers:

But signs of nobleness, like stars, shall shine

On all deservers

As Macbeth absorbs the news that Malcolm will be the next king, despite the witches' prophecy that he, Macbeth, will be king, he says in an aside:

Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires. The eye wink at the hand, yet let that be Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see.

Macbeth is saying that doesn't want the "stars" that will shine on "all deservers" to shine on him and illuminate his evil desire to murder Duncan and become king. Some language devices Shakespeare uses to heighten the intensity of Macbeth's feelings are rhyming couplets, which set this passage apart from ordinary speech. "Fires" and "desires" rhyme, as do "be" and "see," highlighting the importance of the utterance. Shakespeare also uses alliteration in "let" and "light" as well as "deep desires," and personifies the stars.

Another literary devices employed in the passage is antithesis, which is when opposites are put together. Here, the "light" of the deserving and the good is contrasted to the "black" desires that have come to dominate Macbeth's heart.

This aside reveals Macbeth's growing determination to kill Duncan soon, as well as his conflicting awareness that this desire is so evil he has to disconnect his awareness—his "eye"—from it and simply act without thinking, or he won't be able to go through with the deed.

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Macbeth's ambition has been awakened by the Weird Sisters' prediction that he will become king, so when King Duncan names his older son, Malcolm, the Prince of Cumberland and his heir to the throne, Macbeth's thoughts turn dark. He says,

Stars, hide your fires;
Let not light see my black and deep desires. (1.4.57-58)

In these lines, Macbeth employs a figure of speech called apostrophe. Apostrophe is when the speaker addresses something that is not alive and cannot respond as though it is alive and could talk back. Macbeth speaks directly to the stars, asking them to go dark so that no one and nothing will be able to see signs of his dark ambition. The use of apostrophe does personify the thing the speaker addresses in a very minor way, but only insofar that it attributes to that thing the ability to respond.

Ultimately, these lines also help to show the audience the beginning of Macbeth's transformation from loyal and brave to traitorous and tyrannous. He knows that he is thinking evil thoughts, and rather than try to repress them, he asks the stars to go dark so that he will be better able to hide them.

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This phrase actually contains personification of stars and a metaphor for evil.

“Stars hide your fires” is personification. The stars are being asked to give Macbeth darkness, so no one can see his “black and deep desires.” Calling his desires black and deep is a metaphor, because the thoughts are not literally dark, but he is saying they are dark because they are evil. Here “dark” is a metaphor for evil. His thoughts are evil because he needs to commit murder in order to get what he wants.

In Act I, Scene 5, Macbeth discovers that he has been named Thane of Cawdor, as the witches promised, but he has not been named Duncan’s successor. Macbeth says that the prince is in his way.

The Prince of Cumberland! That is a step(55)
On which I must fall down, or else o'erleap,
For in my way it lies. (enotes etext p. 18)

The current prince, Malcolm, is in his way. Macbeth needs to be king. He needs to kill Duncan and get rid of Malcolm, the prince, in order to do it. This is the evil and dark thought he does not want anyone to see.

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