Fair And Foul Is Fair In Macbeth
“Fair is foul and foul is fair,” chant the witches in the first scene of Macbeth. This paradoxical statement adds to the play’s sense of moral confusion and immediately sets the stage for what becomes one of the main themes of the play, by implying that nothing is quite as it seems. Countless times, characters in the play are unable to discern the true meaning and reality behind deceptive appearances. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, deception is a recurring theme, developed through cryptic means of speech and appearance from the witches, Macbeth, and his wife; a tool used to commit many heinous crimes; and an illustration that reality is not always how it appears.
The witches are the very essence and prime instigators of deception as shown through …show more content…
Duncan has come to Lady Macbeth’s castle to meet with the new Thane of Cawdor and regards her as a “fair and noble hostess” (1.6.24). Lady Macbeth plays the role of the perfect hostess to dupe Duncan into becoming comfortable enough to sleep at the palace without knowing of the plot to murder him. Duncan is also very impressed with Lady Macbeth’s loyal attitude toward him. Lady Macbeth, while acting very manly towards Macbeth, says “…bear welcome in your eye, / Your hand, your tongue. / Looks like the innocent flower, / But be the serpent under’t (1.5.62-64).
Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth to appear to be innocent and noble, but to be truly evil on the inside. Macbeth, clearly led by his wife, but also his ambitions, is responsible for deceiving his king as well as his people. While the former Thane of Cawdor had committed treason, Macbeth had shown great valor in battle, so Duncan states, “What he hath lost, noble Macbeth hath won” (1.2.67). Macbeth appears to originally be very loyal to Duncan as his honorary and host, but all along he is planning to kill him. He displays a deceptively friendly and loyal front to Duncan first hand, but is completely aware that his king will be dead that very same night. For his own self-preservation, Macbeth tells his dinner guests:
Do not muse at me, my most worthy
The witches are the very essence and prime instigators of deception as shown through …show more content…
Duncan has come to Lady Macbeth’s castle to meet with the new Thane of Cawdor and regards her as a “fair and noble hostess” (1.6.24). Lady Macbeth plays the role of the perfect hostess to dupe Duncan into becoming comfortable enough to sleep at the palace without knowing of the plot to murder him. Duncan is also very impressed with Lady Macbeth’s loyal attitude toward him. Lady Macbeth, while acting very manly towards Macbeth, says “…bear welcome in your eye, / Your hand, your tongue. / Looks like the innocent flower, / But be the serpent under’t (1.5.62-64).
Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth to appear to be innocent and noble, but to be truly evil on the inside. Macbeth, clearly led by his wife, but also his ambitions, is responsible for deceiving his king as well as his people. While the former Thane of Cawdor had committed treason, Macbeth had shown great valor in battle, so Duncan states, “What he hath lost, noble Macbeth hath won” (1.2.67). Macbeth appears to originally be very loyal to Duncan as his honorary and host, but all along he is planning to kill him. He displays a deceptively friendly and loyal front to Duncan first hand, but is completely aware that his king will be dead that very same night. For his own self-preservation, Macbeth tells his dinner guests:
Do not muse at me, my most worthy