Paradox In Macbeth

In the tragedy, Macbeth, audiences and readers witness a noble, brave Scottish soldier, turn into a power and blood thirsty animal. In the beginning, Macbeth is a trustworthy man, who has just won a battle, but things turn around when three witches tell him his fate; That he would be king. Throughout the play, people will see Macbeth turn into an insidious character who will do anything to create his fate of being king. William Shakespeare constructs a magnificent tragedy, with the use of literary devices, he employs characterization, mood, setting, conflict and theme.
To create characterization, conflict and mood, William Shakespeare uses irony. In the beginning of the play, King Duncan states “He was a gentleman I built /An absolute trust” …show more content…
The first and famous paradox written in this tragedy is “Fair is foul and foul is fair” (I.i.10). This is an overall statement; it reveals the theme appearance vs. reality, because this paradox means nothing is really what it seems. Another popular paradox is when the witches say, “When the battle’s lost and won” (I.i.4). Likewise, this quote creates the same theme appearance vs. reality. Looking in this quote deeper, this is saying that you can never really win in battles, there’s a losing side as well. Later in the play, the audience will see Macbeth win the battles of the murders, but he loses when himself and Lady Macbeth die. Additionally, when Macbeth is about to kill the King, he wants “[The] stars [to] hide your fires; /Let not light see my black and deep desires- “(I.iv.50-51). In the play, this scene is a clear representation of the theme fate vs. free will. Macbeth is trying to make it sound as if he feels sympathetic and forced to kill the king but, he could easily could easily do the right thing and back out. Reading deeper in these self-contradicting quotes, they reveal the themes, fate vs. free will and appearance vs.