Theme Of Deception In Macbeth

Throughout the play of Macbeth written by William Shakespeare, things always have a twist to them. Deception, which is defined as “the act of tricking someone by telling them something that is not true”, can be seen in the play through the main characters of deception, which are Macbeth, Lady Macbeth and the witches.
Women characters are portrayed as manipulative and deceiving characters throughout the play. In the very first scene, it begins with the witches saying “Fair is foul, and foul is fair”. In other words, this can be seen as advice from the witches indicating that playing “fair” will not let you achieve your ambitions, but playing “foul” will allow you to get what you want. This also foreshadows the upcoming deception in the world …show more content…
Macbeth’s mind is “full of scorpions” after betraying his king and his own decision of “proceed no further in this business”. “Scorpions” are poisonous and have a lethal sting, and this suggests that Macbeth is afraid of his crimes being discovered as because that would then be fatal to him, as he would have to face execution. The use of this metaphor creates an effect of fear to the audience, as the audience would be scared that they would sin and feel guilt take over their sanity. Furthermore, Lady Macbeth deceives herself into believing she has the courage to commit treason by saying “Had he not resembled My father as he slept, I had done’t”. This creates a feeling that she is blaming the reason that King Duncan resembles her father for not being able to commit the treason and make her husband the king herself. The phrase “I had done’t” moulds a sense that she is unable to bring herself to do this and to get her hands dirty. This makes the audience think that she is only able to manipulate people into committing treason but she is unable to bring herself to kill him. Even so, she is unable to remove the “damned spot” from her hands. The wording of “damned” indicates that it is a curse, and that “what’s done cannot be undone”, as well as “spot” can represent the damage she has done. “Damned spot” thus can be seen as the damage she has done “cannot be undone”, putting a curse on herself. This shows that Lady Macbeth has deceive her own conscience by plotting this treason, as she is haunted by the deeds she has done, because if someone did not betray their own conscience, they would not be haunted by the thought so severely, to the point where Lady Macbeth sleepwalks and repeats the action every night. This makes the audience feel pitiful but