Macbeth

II. In Macbeth, the theme of appearance being deceiving is repeated throughout the play. This theme was established in the beginning of the play when the three witches said, “Fair is foul, and foul is fair.” It says that good is bad and bad is good. Macbeth was shown as a noble and honorable man, but he is actually a ruthless murderer. Macbeth, a courageous man that serves his king, changes his feelings after he heard the three witches’ prophecies. The prophecies sounded really pleasant to Macbeth except these prophecies are what lead to Macbeth’s downfall. These prophecies made Macbeth from a respected nobleman to a ruthless murderer killing anyone to secure his seat as king. Macbeth uses his deceiving looks to plot the murders. When Duncan was staying in Macbeth’s home, Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth,” False face must hide what the false heart doth know”, which meant that they will pretend to welcoming while also planning on murdering Duncan. Macbeth also used this method to kill Banquo. Macbeth invites Banquo to his home while sending three murderers to kill him. Another character whose appearances are deceiving is Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is portrayed as ruthless and determined individual except she is actually regretful and full of remorse at the end of the play. Lady Macbeth is like Eve from Adam and Eve at the Garden of Eden. Like Eve, Lady Macbeth tempts Macbeth (Adam) into doing wrongdoing. She keeps questioning Macbeth’s manhood to kill Duncan. Lady Macbeth was determined that killing Duncan was be a good idea except this was what lead to her downfall. It was Lady Macbeth’s idea to be deceiving in order to kill Duncan. She tells Macbeth to “Look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under't”, with this tactic they successfully kill Duncan. When Macduff announces that Duncan has been murdered, Lady Macbeth pretends to faints; this this ties to the theme that appearances are deceiving because Lady Macbeth only pretends to faint in order to hide her involvement in the murder. Lady Macbeth was very determined that killing Duncan was a good idea except in the end Lady Macbeth was filled with so much regret and guilt that she could not handle and decided to kill herself. The witches’ prophecies are also deceiving. The witches’ prophecies appear to Macbeth very promising but were vague. When Macbeth went to seek the second prophecies from the witches, the witches told Macbeth to beware Macduff, no man born of women shall harm Macbeth, and that no one shall harm Macbeth until the forest of Birnam will unroot itself and go to Macbeth's castle. After hearing these prophecies, Macbeth becomes confident because he knows that every man is born of woman and forest cannot move. This leads to Macbeth’s downfall and death. Macduff was born through a c section and the soldiers took twigs and leaves from the forest of Birnam to the castle. The prophecies seemed to be good but were bad. Fair is foul and foul is fair.