"Fair is foul, and foul is fair."(Shakespeare 1.1.11) This quote was repeated many times throughout the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare. It refers to the false appearances of situations and personalities in the play. The three witches are characters that are guilty of false appearance in Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is also a character that frequently hides her true thoughts and actions throughout the play. Lastly, the theme of appearance versus reality has greatly impacted the appearance of the main character, Macbeth. The theme of appearance versus reality it is a very significant theme in the play Macbeth because it intensely contributes to the development of characters. The three witches, Lady Macbeth, and Macbeth are all characters that
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The first time that Macbeth disguises his true thoughts and emotions takes place after the witches tell Macbeth his prophecies. Macbeth instantly becomes interested in the prophecies and starts to think about killing Duncan. However, on the night of Duncan's murder Macbeth masks his thoughts from Banquo by telling him, “I think not of them." (2.1.26) In this line, Macbeth is telling Banquo that he does not think about the three witches. This clearly shows a false appearance of Macbeth because he lied to Banquo. On the same day, Macbeth also disguises his thoughts from King Duncan. Towards Duncan, Macbeth appears to be nice and loyal. However, in reality Macbeth is planning to kill the king. This is shown when Macbeth says, "Stars, hide your fires! Let not light see my black and deep desires." ( 1.4.58-59) In this line, Macbeth is calling upon darkness to come and hide his terrible desire of killing King Duncan. After the horrible deed of killing Duncan had been done, Macbeth once again masks his emotions. He appears to be greatly heartbroken and extremely mournful to the news that the king was killed. He even takes the life of two chamber men and claims that he did it out of grievous rage. In reality Macbeth is just trying to disguise the fact that he had killed Duncan. All of these false appearances of Macbeth lead others to hate him which eventually lead to …show more content…
The three witches, Lady Macbeth, and Macbeth are all characters that reveal this theme by portraying a false image, and later facing the consequences that follow the exposure of their real personalities. In conclusion, many themes can be found in Macbeth by William Shakespeare but appearance versus reality is a very significant
The first time that Macbeth disguises his true thoughts and emotions takes place after the witches tell Macbeth his prophecies. Macbeth instantly becomes interested in the prophecies and starts to think about killing Duncan. However, on the night of Duncan's murder Macbeth masks his thoughts from Banquo by telling him, “I think not of them." (2.1.26) In this line, Macbeth is telling Banquo that he does not think about the three witches. This clearly shows a false appearance of Macbeth because he lied to Banquo. On the same day, Macbeth also disguises his thoughts from King Duncan. Towards Duncan, Macbeth appears to be nice and loyal. However, in reality Macbeth is planning to kill the king. This is shown when Macbeth says, "Stars, hide your fires! Let not light see my black and deep desires." ( 1.4.58-59) In this line, Macbeth is calling upon darkness to come and hide his terrible desire of killing King Duncan. After the horrible deed of killing Duncan had been done, Macbeth once again masks his emotions. He appears to be greatly heartbroken and extremely mournful to the news that the king was killed. He even takes the life of two chamber men and claims that he did it out of grievous rage. In reality Macbeth is just trying to disguise the fact that he had killed Duncan. All of these false appearances of Macbeth lead others to hate him which eventually lead to …show more content…
The three witches, Lady Macbeth, and Macbeth are all characters that reveal this theme by portraying a false image, and later facing the consequences that follow the exposure of their real personalities. In conclusion, many themes can be found in Macbeth by William Shakespeare but appearance versus reality is a very significant