Theme Of Appearance Vs Reality In Macbeth
Appearance vs Reality “The Tragedy of Macbeth” by William Shakespeare is a play that takes place in Scotland during the Middle Ages. In the beginning, Macbeth and his friend Banquo have just defeated two armies for King Duncan. After the battle, Macbeth and Banquo run into three witches that prophecy that Macbeth will become the Thane of Cawdor and eventually King of Scotland. Macbeth, now blinded by his obsession for power, betrays his closest friends in order to fulfill his prophecy. Shakespeare uses the theme of appearance versus reality throughout the play because when reality becomes hard, humans tend to change their appearance in order to change their reality. In Shakespeare's play, he is trying to portray the message that political power can distance someone from reality.
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For example, Macbeth portrays fearless and strong but in reality is weak and afraid. He states in the beginning, “Come what come may, time and the hour runs through the roughest day”(Act 1 Scene 3). In the quote, he is stating that he believes whatever his fate shall be will come on it's own, when it's time. He later contradicts himself when he chooses to kill the men around him in order to become king. This shows that he is weak because he decides to believe in the three witches instead of waiting for his fate to come. The theme appearance versus reality can be seen as the overall theme of the play because people act differently in order to gain things, such as, Macbeth did with power. The way people act on the outside can differ than the way they are on the inside, such as, things along the lines of not fitting in or pretending to be something that you aren't. By the end of the play, the characters real identities are revealed causing the truth to come out. It can be seen through Macbeth and real life that reality will always conquer
For example, Macbeth portrays fearless and strong but in reality is weak and afraid. He states in the beginning, “Come what come may, time and the hour runs through the roughest day”(Act 1 Scene 3). In the quote, he is stating that he believes whatever his fate shall be will come on it's own, when it's time. He later contradicts himself when he chooses to kill the men around him in order to become king. This shows that he is weak because he decides to believe in the three witches instead of waiting for his fate to come. The theme appearance versus reality can be seen as the overall theme of the play because people act differently in order to gain things, such as, Macbeth did with power. The way people act on the outside can differ than the way they are on the inside, such as, things along the lines of not fitting in or pretending to be something that you aren't. By the end of the play, the characters real identities are revealed causing the truth to come out. It can be seen through Macbeth and real life that reality will always conquer