Macbeth
Witches
Fair is foul and foul is fair
“You should be women, And yet your beards forbid me to interpret That you are so.” –Banquo ACT I SCENE III 46-48
Of course, there are also the witches' prophecies. Macbeth doesn't realize the prophecies can mean anything other than how he interprets them. Of course, Macduff was born by c-section, so he was not technically born of woman. The armies advance up the hill from Birnam Wood with tree branches before them which makes it appear the wood is walking up the hill.
The witches bring with them confusion, which infects the natural order. Night becomes day. Duncan’s horses eat each other. In the world of the witches “fair is foul [and] foul is fair”. Nothing is as it seems. Over the course of the play, they lead to greater confusion in Macbeth’s mind. They seem to promise him good things, but his life subsequently begins to deteriorate. On the night of the murder, Macbeth sees a floating dagger, but cannot decide if this “air-drawn dagger” is real or a figment of his imagination proceeding from his “heat-oppressed brain”. His confusion between what is real and what is not seems to increase as the witches’ influence over Macbeth grows.
Macbeth & Lady
Banquo’s ghost, if he really there or is Macbeth just going crazy?
Same with LM, her sleepwalking not the woman she set out to be, thinking she was stronger than macbeth
Banquo, MacBeth, and Lady MacBeth each project an image, but as time passes. The realities of their true personalities begin to emerge.
Macbeth sees his ghost at the feast. Macbeth has lost the ability to differentiate between appearance and reality.
He has gone from being able to govern what he appeared like to not knowing what was true and false.
« Birnam Wood reaches Dunsinane »
As the tide turns on Macbeth, the king and queen become more disillusioned and reach the brink of insanity. Suffering from memories of the murder, Lady Macbeth is unable to make a distinction between reality and fantasy.
Fair is foul and foul is fair
“You should be women, And yet your beards forbid me to interpret That you are so.” –Banquo ACT I SCENE III 46-48
Of course, there are also the witches' prophecies. Macbeth doesn't realize the prophecies can mean anything other than how he interprets them. Of course, Macduff was born by c-section, so he was not technically born of woman. The armies advance up the hill from Birnam Wood with tree branches before them which makes it appear the wood is walking up the hill.
The witches bring with them confusion, which infects the natural order. Night becomes day. Duncan’s horses eat each other. In the world of the witches “fair is foul [and] foul is fair”. Nothing is as it seems. Over the course of the play, they lead to greater confusion in Macbeth’s mind. They seem to promise him good things, but his life subsequently begins to deteriorate. On the night of the murder, Macbeth sees a floating dagger, but cannot decide if this “air-drawn dagger” is real or a figment of his imagination proceeding from his “heat-oppressed brain”. His confusion between what is real and what is not seems to increase as the witches’ influence over Macbeth grows.
Macbeth & Lady
Banquo’s ghost, if he really there or is Macbeth just going crazy?
Same with LM, her sleepwalking not the woman she set out to be, thinking she was stronger than macbeth
Banquo, MacBeth, and Lady MacBeth each project an image, but as time passes. The realities of their true personalities begin to emerge.
Macbeth sees his ghost at the feast. Macbeth has lost the ability to differentiate between appearance and reality.
He has gone from being able to govern what he appeared like to not knowing what was true and false.
« Birnam Wood reaches Dunsinane »
As the tide turns on Macbeth, the king and queen become more disillusioned and reach the brink of insanity. Suffering from memories of the murder, Lady Macbeth is unable to make a distinction between reality and fantasy.