Through the play of “Macbeth”, the celebrated playwright, William Shakespeare, presents numerous elements of witchcraft and supernatural, accompanied by a number of other themes as well. The present theme of Appearance versus Reality contributes to the overall intriguing air of the play, and will be the focus of this piece, including the three main points being: Trust, domestication of women, and dramatic irony.
Trust, being the major disparity of the piece, is an element used to the fullest to present Appearance versus Reality. Macbeth, is heavily acknowledged by Duncan as he has “begun to plant” Macbeth’s potential and “labour” to make him even stronger than before. During the time “Macbeth” was written (1606), the theme of Kingship was still …show more content…
Yet, Lady Macbeth is the one who manipulates Macbeth like a puppet on strings in the play, her means and actions pushing Macbeth to work towards his prophecy. Lady Macbeth wishes for her husband to take the throne, and maybe motivated by the witches’ appearance, she goes into a soliloquy, as if chanting a spell. She calls darkness to “unsex” her and fill her “from the crown to the toe topfull of direst cruelty”. Lady Macbeth is nothing like what readers would initially expect. Through Macbeth’s first address, she seemed to be a “partner of greatness”, but in the end she opposed all expectations—she was an embodiment of dark ambition. The audience would be surprised to see such character that contradict stereotypes in that era. In addition, Lady Macbeth thinks her husband “is too full o’th’milk of human kindness”. Macbeth was a captain, one who leads armies, one who kills as he charges forward, without hesitation slaying his opponents, not at all is he filled with ‘human kindness’. Shakespeare writes this sentence to portray the contrast between views of the world, eyes of naivety versus the eyes of battle. Macbeth may appear to be a normal husband to her, but in battle, the land where he portrays his best skill, he is “Bellona’s bridegroom”-- a ruthless monster to his enemies. “There’s no art to find the mind’s construction in the …show more content…
By saying that the Castle of Inverness “hath a pleasant seat”, Duncan presents radical dramatic irony, as Macbeth and his wife are plotting to kill him during his stay. The word ‘seat’ refers to the setting of the castle, which paints an image of elegance and beauty, entrancing Duncan as he enters. This creates subtle dark humour, as audience realise Shakespeare’s intention of creating a tense, grim atmosphere within what appeared to be a wreathed castle of elegance. In addition, Banquo appears to have been alert after sensing Macbeth entrance, “Give me my sword—”. The punctuation utilised is an ‘em dash’, producing a rushed effect. This could be indicating that Banquo sensed bloodlust from his friend, which is why he hurriedly became on guard. It appears to be a trivial matter through the sense of sight, but yet Banquo was a trained swordsman— he could sense bloodlust therefore being on guard, which also marks the growth of doubt within Banquo towards Macbeth; an aspect of reality, the start of a broken friendship. Furthermore, the Shakespeare appears to make Macbeth seem immortal during battle by writing “none of woman born Shall harm Macbeth”, as well as that he will not lose until “Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill Shall come against him.” It presents the theme of Appearance versus Reality through his self-delusions of being undefeatable, and these same delusions are what lead him back to reality—his
Trust, being the major disparity of the piece, is an element used to the fullest to present Appearance versus Reality. Macbeth, is heavily acknowledged by Duncan as he has “begun to plant” Macbeth’s potential and “labour” to make him even stronger than before. During the time “Macbeth” was written (1606), the theme of Kingship was still …show more content…
Yet, Lady Macbeth is the one who manipulates Macbeth like a puppet on strings in the play, her means and actions pushing Macbeth to work towards his prophecy. Lady Macbeth wishes for her husband to take the throne, and maybe motivated by the witches’ appearance, she goes into a soliloquy, as if chanting a spell. She calls darkness to “unsex” her and fill her “from the crown to the toe topfull of direst cruelty”. Lady Macbeth is nothing like what readers would initially expect. Through Macbeth’s first address, she seemed to be a “partner of greatness”, but in the end she opposed all expectations—she was an embodiment of dark ambition. The audience would be surprised to see such character that contradict stereotypes in that era. In addition, Lady Macbeth thinks her husband “is too full o’th’milk of human kindness”. Macbeth was a captain, one who leads armies, one who kills as he charges forward, without hesitation slaying his opponents, not at all is he filled with ‘human kindness’. Shakespeare writes this sentence to portray the contrast between views of the world, eyes of naivety versus the eyes of battle. Macbeth may appear to be a normal husband to her, but in battle, the land where he portrays his best skill, he is “Bellona’s bridegroom”-- a ruthless monster to his enemies. “There’s no art to find the mind’s construction in the …show more content…
By saying that the Castle of Inverness “hath a pleasant seat”, Duncan presents radical dramatic irony, as Macbeth and his wife are plotting to kill him during his stay. The word ‘seat’ refers to the setting of the castle, which paints an image of elegance and beauty, entrancing Duncan as he enters. This creates subtle dark humour, as audience realise Shakespeare’s intention of creating a tense, grim atmosphere within what appeared to be a wreathed castle of elegance. In addition, Banquo appears to have been alert after sensing Macbeth entrance, “Give me my sword—”. The punctuation utilised is an ‘em dash’, producing a rushed effect. This could be indicating that Banquo sensed bloodlust from his friend, which is why he hurriedly became on guard. It appears to be a trivial matter through the sense of sight, but yet Banquo was a trained swordsman— he could sense bloodlust therefore being on guard, which also marks the growth of doubt within Banquo towards Macbeth; an aspect of reality, the start of a broken friendship. Furthermore, the Shakespeare appears to make Macbeth seem immortal during battle by writing “none of woman born Shall harm Macbeth”, as well as that he will not lose until “Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill Shall come against him.” It presents the theme of Appearance versus Reality through his self-delusions of being undefeatable, and these same delusions are what lead him back to reality—his