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.
Act I, Scene 4 · Macbeth
Context
Still in his aside, Macbeth calls on the stars to hide their light so that no one—including himself—can see the dark desires now forming in his mind.
Analysis
Macbeth personifies light itself as a witness, asking the stars to hide their fires so his desires stay invisible, and then fractures his own body into 'eye' and 'hand'—one that fears to see, one that must act anyway. This split between vision and action captures a man who wants to commit a deed but not confront what he's doing, and the plea for darkness becomes a plea for self-deception as much as secrecy.
Essay Tip
Use this to argue that Macbeth's tragedy begins with his refusal to face his own desires directly—he asks for darkness not only to hide from others but to hide from himself, establishing a pattern of willful blindness that will define his entire reign.