According to Niccolo Machiavelli, “Men in general judge more from appearances than from reality. All men have eyes, but a few have the gift of penetration.” This quote conveys that humans have the propensity1 to see things only on a surface level. They fail to utilize the skill of ‘penetration’, as Machiavelli mentions, and see what is beyond appearances and understand what things truly mean and represent. When it comes to evaluating the world, people often glance over the truth in order to see what they want to see. This is evidently seen throughout the novel, Macbeth, as Macbeth misinterprets the three apparitions so that he could hide behind his façade2 of being powerful. Macbeth believes that since he’s the king of Scotland with more power
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Lady Macbeth initiated his change in character. In the beginning of play, Macbeth had no intention of king but he was emasculated by his wife, in an attempt to prove himself to her, he ended up killing Duncan. Once the action is done, she feels guilty and eventually kills herself. However, Macbeth’s tyranny is still being fueled by his own ambition but the key and ultimate factor which led to his downfall was the three apparitions. The witches were much aware of Macbeth’s growing ego and used the apparitions to further enhance5 it, making them a key factor in his plight. The first apparition was a warning for Macbeth, which was quickly ruled out by the second apparition. To top it all off, the third apparition misleads Macbeth into thinking that there is no way he can be defeated. Thus, Macbeth does not take Macduff and Malcolm’s revolt seriously, which leads to his …show more content…
However, Lady Macbeth thought he was foolish to feel guilty and she believed that he was too incompetent14 to be King. Her lack of faith for Macbeth caused him to hire murderers to kill Banquo and Macduff’s family in order to efface15 all evidence leading back to Macbeth. Once they were dead, Macbeth’s confidence rose and he started to believe that he can never be defeated by anything. When the second apparition, the bloody child, appears and states, “Be bloody, bold, and resolute. Laugh to scorn the power of man, for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth” (Shakespeare 125). Macbeth, with levity16, assumes that he doesn’t need to worry about anyone harming him because it’s impossible for a man not to be born of a woman. However, Macduff later reveals to Macbeth that he was not naturally born since his mother had a C-section and was taken from his mother’s womb. The part of the quote that states, ‘for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth’ shows ambiguity. It can be explained as either only one born from a man can hurt Macbeth, which is impossible, or only one who is born from woman unnaturally can harm him. Macbeth was tricked by the apparition’s words and didn’t get the implication17 that the bloody child represented Macduff, the man who is ‘none of woman born’ and the person that kills
Lady Macbeth initiated his change in character. In the beginning of play, Macbeth had no intention of king but he was emasculated by his wife, in an attempt to prove himself to her, he ended up killing Duncan. Once the action is done, she feels guilty and eventually kills herself. However, Macbeth’s tyranny is still being fueled by his own ambition but the key and ultimate factor which led to his downfall was the three apparitions. The witches were much aware of Macbeth’s growing ego and used the apparitions to further enhance5 it, making them a key factor in his plight. The first apparition was a warning for Macbeth, which was quickly ruled out by the second apparition. To top it all off, the third apparition misleads Macbeth into thinking that there is no way he can be defeated. Thus, Macbeth does not take Macduff and Malcolm’s revolt seriously, which leads to his …show more content…
However, Lady Macbeth thought he was foolish to feel guilty and she believed that he was too incompetent14 to be King. Her lack of faith for Macbeth caused him to hire murderers to kill Banquo and Macduff’s family in order to efface15 all evidence leading back to Macbeth. Once they were dead, Macbeth’s confidence rose and he started to believe that he can never be defeated by anything. When the second apparition, the bloody child, appears and states, “Be bloody, bold, and resolute. Laugh to scorn the power of man, for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth” (Shakespeare 125). Macbeth, with levity16, assumes that he doesn’t need to worry about anyone harming him because it’s impossible for a man not to be born of a woman. However, Macduff later reveals to Macbeth that he was not naturally born since his mother had a C-section and was taken from his mother’s womb. The part of the quote that states, ‘for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth’ shows ambiguity. It can be explained as either only one born from a man can hurt Macbeth, which is impossible, or only one who is born from woman unnaturally can harm him. Macbeth was tricked by the apparition’s words and didn’t get the implication17 that the bloody child represented Macduff, the man who is ‘none of woman born’ and the person that kills