Macbeth Fair Is Foul And Foul Is Fair Quotes

William Shakespeare tells the story of a man whose ambition causes his ultimate downfall in the play Macbeth. The main character, Macbeth, evolves from a virtuous man to a man led only by his lust for power. Macbeth encounters three witches whom prophesy that he will become Thane of Cawdor and eventual King of Scotland. To receive the position of King, Macbeth is encouraged by his wife to kill the current King, Duncan. After Macbeth murders Duncan, he becomes worried about being found culpable. Without consulting his wife, he continues to kill more people, including some of those who were thought to be very close friends of his. He even goes so far as to kill an innocent family. One of Duncan’s sons ascends the throne after Lady Macbeth commits …show more content…
One quote that is seen many times throughout the play is, “Fair is foul, and foul is fair” (1.1.12). This quote can best be applied to Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth. In the beginning of the play, Macbeth is first mentioned because he performed valiantly in battle and gained a promotion. To the audience, Macbeth is a seemingly “good” character driven by morals. When Lady Macbeth is first introduced, she seems like a character that is only is concerned with power, not ethics. As the play progresses Macbeth and Lady Macbeth seem to switch the roles that they had in the beginning of the play. Macbeth is driven by his ambition, and Lady Macbeth is guilty about the evil deeds she has done. Each of the characters personifies going from fair to foul or vice-versa. The overall meaning of this transformation is to show how people can change over time. At times, the people who seem the most principled can change with little coercion, just as someone who was thought of as evil can change into an up-standing citizen. Shakespeare wanted to show that humans do not always fit into a set category, and they can move from one spectrum of the human condition to