Explanation: Lady Macbeth is describing how Macbeth should behave. She tells him to look like a innocent, and kind person on the outside, but be a clever, deceitful person beneath. Her commanding Macbeth to be and act a certain way adds tremendous amounts of pressure to him. All of these thoughts Lady Macbeth is putting into Macbeth's head are causing Macbeth to start considering the murder of Duncan. He used to be a good person, but Lady Macbeth's significant influence is changing the way Macbeth thinks.…
There are many motifs in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, but one of the most important is the recurring disassociation of appearance and reality. The entire motif is introduced in the first scene when the witches say “Fair is foul and foul is fair” (1,i,12). This is then reiterated as important when Macbeth says, “So foul and fair a day I have not seen.” (1,iii, 39). Drawing parallels and comparing two polar opposites, such as foul and fair, sets the stage for the dissimilarity between appearance and reality. This motif changes as the characters change, however, and it moves from the main characters not knowing what to believe or trust, to the main characters using the variance to their own advantage and hiding their true motives, to finally causing the main characters to go insane. Throughout the entirety of Macbeth, what the characters have seen and what the readers know to be true have often times been contrasting. This divergence between appearance and reality grows and develops with the characters throughout the play.…
This shows how brave Macbeth was, but it also shows how ruthless Macbeth can be. Once, Macbeth learns that he will be king in the future, he kills Duncan to become king, and anyone else that would get in his way. This is shown when, after Macbeth has killed Duncan and Banquo, he finds out he also needs to kill Macduff to keep the crown. Macbeth says, “Then live, Macduff; what need I fear of the thee? / But yet I’ll make assurance double sure, / And take a bond of fate. Thou Shalt not live;/ That I may tell pale-hearted fear it lies, / And sleep in spite of thunder” (Shakespeare 4:1 80-85). This shows that in beginning readers see Macbeth as this warrior for Scotland, but by the end, he is making sure that anyone in Scotland who may be a threat is killed. Lady Macbeth is another example that shows the theme appearance vs. reality. In front of guests and King Duncan, she is very polite and nice, but when she is by herself or with Macbeth, she has no soul. This is shown when she says, “Come, you spirits / That tend on…
“There is no art/ To find the mind’s construction in the face” (Shakespeare, I.iv.12-13). This quote said by King Duncan in Shakespeare’s Macbeth applies to many characters that one reads about in books, views on television, and interacts with every day. Appearance can be very deceiving, thus making it difficult to tell apart a hero from a villain; one’s thoughts and intentions truly define who they are, resulting in one’s failure to see how righteous and devious characters differ. Macbeth in William Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, and Gene Carson in Robert Schwentke’s movie, Flightplan, are ideal examples of deceitful and hypocritical characters who risk the lives of the innocent to fulfill their immoral desires. Macbeth and Carson are impeccable…
Macbeth filled with morality and respect, is very loyal to king Duncan. When Macbeth is first introduced, his bravery on the battlefield leads Duncan into crowning him with the formal tittle of Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth could not imagine committing treason of any kind because of his profound regard for the king. The encounter and the prophecies of the three witches triggered Macbeth’s ambitious nature. They appear to him with visions into his future saying, “ All hail Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!” (1.3.52) From this point on, Macbeth begins to think about his desire to be king,…
Macbeth was the cause of much suffering in the play and in turn suffered greatly throughout. Macbeth suffers much indecision from the moment he hears the witches prophesies. He gets confused and is torn between killing or not killing King Duncan. He immediately thinks of killing the king, as he wants so badly to be king, but the idea of committing such a crime appals him. "Why do I yield to that suggestion"(1:3:144), he says in a state of confusion. Macbeth is Duncan's "kinsman", "his subject" and "his host". As his host he should be protecting him, not killing him. Macbeth believes in "even-handed justice" and that if he commits evil, evil will be put upon him. He ultimately decides not to kill the King but Lady Macbeth convinces him otherwise,…
Duncan makes the mistake of trusting the thane of Cawdor at the beginning of the play. This is an example of Duncan’s fatal flaw that he is too trusting of others. “He was a man on whom I built an absolute trust”. Duncan was deceived in this instance but this had no-where near the affect the deception of Macbeth had on him. After Duncan ordered the execution of the Thane of Cawdor and gives the title to Macbeth “What he hath lost, noble Macbeth hath won”. Duncan is eventually brought to Macbeths castle in Inverness and murdered by Macbeth even after Duncan claimed, “This castle hath a pleasant seat”. This is an example of…
Topic: Macbeth’s coronation dinner and his reaction to seeing Banquo’s ghost. The weird sisters appear and speak to Macduff after King Duncan is killed. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth prepare for Banquo’s funeral and tell the story of their interaction.…
Macbeth then argues with his conscience on whether to kill the king or not, trapped by the delusion of ambitious virtue. Although he had many more reasons to not kill the king like his loyalty towards the king or the fact that since Macbeth is King Duncan’s host, Macbeth was to be the one saving him from the murderer than to be the murderer himself. Macbeth also argues saying that King Duncan is a king worthy of the loyalty of all his subjects and doesn’t deserve to…
Macbeth says, "I Am Thane of Cawdor: If good, why do I yield to that [thought of killing Duncan] whose Horrid image doth unfix my hair and make my seated heart knock at my ribs, against the use of nature?" Macbeth is explaining that the thought of killing Duncan makes him very nervous and frightened. In scene seven of act I, Macbeth admits to Lady Macbeth that he doesn't want to kill Duncan because Duncan was so nice to Macbeth. For example Duncan gave Macbeth the Thane of Cawdor's title. He felt a moral obligation to be nice to the king. Lady Macbeth didn't want to hear any of this and accused Macbeth of not being a man. She didn't care about who she would hurt (emotionally or physically) to acquire kingship. She saw nothing wrong with killing the…
Macbeth himself gets deceived In the beginning of the story because Macbeth hears news from three witches about his prophecies of becoming king “All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!”. Macbeth starts believing of what the witches are saying is true “If chance…
The deception Lady Macbeth shows while talking to Duncan is successful when Duncan falls for it with no suspicion. This is proved when Duncan says, “Give me your hand;/ Conduct me to mine host: we love him highly/ and shall continue our graces towards him./ By your leave hostess.” Duncan allowing Lady Macbeth to hold his hand indicates that he has a trust in her and does not have a doubt upon the person he see Lady Macbeth as and has no idea about the motives of his host and hostess. Lady Macbeth is able to use her deceptive abilities after the murder of Duncan is committed. Lady Macbeth says, “[Her] hands are of [his] colour, but [she] shame[s] to wear a heart so white.” (2.2.62-68). This quotation means that Lady Macbeth still bares the innocence she had before the deed to the eye of others, hence, having a heart so white. This proven to be true because everyone looks at Lady Macbeth as innocent and pure, as if she could do no harm, but the truth is the total opposite. Also, Lady Macbeth’s determination shows through when she calls upon the dark spirits to give her the courage and strength of a male figure and to relieve her of…
Macbeth was seen as a brave and noble man by all of his peers, and even King Duncan himself. This is why Duncan proclaimed “What he hath lost, noble Macbeth hath won,” (1.2.67) referring to the fact that he named Macbeth to be Thane of Cawdor. One would think that after such accomplishment and high standing that Macbeth would be satisfied with his position. However, this is not the case. It is obvious that Macbeth has ambition, as most people who are in power do. In fact, ambition is often a necessary quality of people in such high standing as Macbeth is. However, Macbeth’s ambition does not just drive him to do great things. It in fact controls him: “I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself and falls on th’ other---” (1.7.25-28) Macbeth clearly realizes that his ambition is too great. It is about to make him do something that he knows is wrong, and is against everything he has supposedly stood for, yet he also knows there is nothing he can do to stop it. Macbeth second guesses his intent to murder Duncan before he commits the crime: “We will proceed no further in this business: He hath honored me of late, and I have…
Macbeth, Thane of Cawdor and King, betrayed all of Scotland. Macbeth was not entirely at fault for betraying Scotland. He became obsessed with the prospect of power after the witches came to him with the prophecy of him becoming King and Thane of Cawdor and Thane of Glamis. Once Lady Macbeth had received news of the three Witches’ prophecies, she was intent that she would eventually become Queen of Scotland. Lady Macbeth played a major role in betraying Scotland and Scottish King, Duncan. Initially, Macbeth had decided not to murder Duncan, “We will proceed no further in this business” (Macbeth, Act I, scene 7). However, Lady Macbeth was determined to continue with her original plan. She repeatedly insulted Macbeth’s manhood, provoking him to continue with the plans to murder Duncan, “When you durst do it, then you were a man; and to be more than what you were, you would be so much more the man” (Lady Macbeth, Act I, scene7). She appealed to Macbeth’s “vaulting ambition” so as to intensify the effect that the Witches’ prophecies had on him, “Great Glamis! Worthy Cawdor! Greater than both, by the all-hail hereafter” (Lady Macbeth, Act I, scene 5). She convinced Macbeth that the rewards of the murder would far outweigh the drawbacks and clear their conscience, “A little water clears us…
Macbeth is now about to kill King Duncan, all because Lady Macbeth told him that it was a good idea. Macbeth is very angry at himself and his decision to kill King Duncan. “I have thee and yet I see thee still./Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible/To feeling as to sight” (2.2. 36-38)? Yet he still does it because he is greedy for power. He wants what he does not have and has what he does not want. Because of this he is greedy for what King Duncan has which is power. Macbeth is angry about killing King Duncan and is paranoid about it Macbeth and Lady Macbeth both hear knocking after they kill King Duncan. Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth that he wishes that King Duncan could just wake…