Appearance and Reality in Shakespeare's Macbeth Essay

Another example of Lady Macbeth using her appearance to deceive others is the way she deceives Macbeth into thinking that she is much crueler than she really is. After Duncan’s murder she says, “Had he not resembled / My father as he slept, I had done’t.”, but after Macbeth appears she acts as though she would be ashamed if she felt guilty for murdering the king (2.3.12-13). When she is not in the presence of her husband, she confesses she would not have been able to murder Duncan herself and she is fearful of being caught, but when she is with Macbeth she has a cold demeanour and lacking in empathy. Lady Macbeth uses her appearance to con Duncan into believing that she is trustworthy and Macbeth into believing that she has no negative feelings regarding Duncan’s murder.

Lady Macbeth has the power over her husband to persuade him into doing anything she requests. She manipulates Macbeth with incredible efficiency by overruling all of his thoughts and changing his perspective on the present. Even though the many tasks that need to be completed are difficult to understand why they need to be done, Lady Macbeth will always convince Macbeth to do it. Her husband often tells her that she has a “masculine soul” which is obvious due to her murderous and envious actions. When the time came to kill king Duncan, Macbeth believes that his wife has gone insane and tells her that the crime they were about to commit was a horrible idea. As a result of his questioning, Lady Macbeth says that executing the crime will show his loyalty to her. On the night of the assassination Lady Macbeth watched the guards of the castle become drunk and unaware of what was going on. Lady Macbeth sent her husband into the castle to kill King Duncan. The married couple fled the scene leaving the guards covered in the evidence. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are stained with the blood of their victims and the feeling of guilt in their stomach.

It is also clear who is to be the target for the forces of evil; the

In the tragedy Macbeth; the reader witnesses the inevitable downfall of the tragic hero Macbeth as he attempts to do the impractical. While Macbeth turns from an admirable nobleman into the traitor fiend that is the result of his wife’s relentless coaxing, the reader distinguishes more and more of the “appearance versus reality” or the “things are not what they seem” theme that intertwines with Macbeth’s hubris thus leading to his downfall. As Macbeth furthers his plans, which fall in step with the weird sisters’ prophecy, he uses, “False face must hide what the false heart doth know,” (Macbeth, Act1.Scene7.Line82) in order to deceive his fellow noblemen and fulfill the prophecy of his becoming the Thane of Cawdor and the King of

Topic: Macbeth’s coronation dinner and his reaction to seeing Banquo’s ghost. The weird sisters appear and speak to Macduff after King Duncan is killed. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth prepare for Banquo’s funeral and tell the story of their interaction.

sense of what the play was about and set it off for the rest of the

Laurence Sterne once wrote, “No body, but he who has felt it, can conceive what a plaguing thing it is to have a man’s mind torn asunder by two projects of equal strength, both obstinately pulling in a contrary direction at the same time.” This passage embodies one of the over arching themes of Macbeth. The character Macbeth, in Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth, could easily identify with this passage due to the fact that he is pulled in opposite directions by both his desire to do what is right and his desire for power.

reality in his famous tragic play Macbeth, that you shouldn’t judge a person based upon their appearance. He showed appearance vs. reality through the use of imagery of clothing, which was very effective. King Duncan had to give up his life for the one mistake he made, judging Macbeth upon his appearance. Lady Macbeth seemed like she was a very strong woman throughout the play but in the end we find out how she wore that as a mask, the reason being, in the end she broke down and ended up killing herself. __________. “The traditional saying ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ is shown by Shakespeare through Macbeths changing character. A powerful ambition for power caused him to make sinister decision that created for him only despair, guilt, and madness”(http://www.antiessays.com/free-essays/114661.html). Many writers write about what may seem really what it actually isn’t (appearance vs. reality) but I have never seen this lesson and consequence one had to face in a better piece of text than the play Macbeth. It really taught me not to judge a person based upon their appearance as you never know of their actions. “Don’t judge a book by its cover, it’s what’s inside that matters” (Micheal Green)

Reality is the state of being real or actual, whereas an illusion is a mental misinterpretation of what is believed to be true. Illusions often prevent people from perceiving reality and objective truths, which consequently results in delusions, and in some cases, tragedies. In Macbeth, a play written by William Shakespeare, the theme of illusion versus reality is overtly evident in the main character, Macbeth. Macbeth frequently misinterprets illusions as the actual reality due to possessing such an untamed ambition, which ultimately ends up resulting in a series of tragic and horrific events, for Macbeth and his victims. Macbeth’s ambition first leads him into believing that he is destined to become King of Scotland, which results in

Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s most mystifying plays and is a study of human nature. The theme of appearance versus reality is apparent in Macbeth. It’s filled with numerous, notable, and significant scenes, including when King Duncan visits the Macbeth’s home, Lady Macbeth’s sleepwalking scene, and Macbeth’s dagger soliloquy. They provide raw, psychological insight into the character of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, showcasing the differing characteristics between the two characters. A quote that has developed synonym with Macbeth is, “Fair is foul and foul is fair” (1.1.11) which introduces deceptiveness, debut, and one of the most important themes of this tragedy, appearance versus reality. Shakespeare uses numerous characters and situations to emphasize the confusion between appearance and reality, the real and the surreal, the legitimate and the imposturous. Emphasized in these scenes and throughout the play, Shakespeare successfully portrays the misalignment between appearance and reality.

Lady Macbeth also tricks by the appearance of herself. In the beginning she thinks that she should persuade Macbeth to kill Duncan. When Lady Macbeth knows about the prophecies from the witches, She says:

     King Duncan trusts Macbeth too much. Macbeth appears as a super hero and faithful to King Duncan. He fights against the traitor Macdonwald, and he helps the king to solve a

The deepest darkest corners of man's heart is filled with greed, violence, and selfishness. This rules every man's thoughts and actions. Whether they would like to admit it or not, there is a facade of genuity, a charade of sincerity, and a parody of the good deeds done everyday. No one is one hundred percent candid about what they are thinking, and that's what I saw in Macbeth in the play by William Shakespeare. His appearance when he went to battle, his murderous actions against children and his apparent disregard for his wife's death as shown in the film adaption, developed my understanding of Macbeth's cynical representation.

William Shakespeare use of imagery creates a picture in the mind of his audiences that tells a thousand words. In most of his literary work, he shows the importance of imagery, and how authors can manipulate a reader's feelings towards a character. In Macbeth, one of Shakespeare’s greatest plays, he shows his very skillfully uses imagery. Macbeth is one of the great tragedy themed plays by William Shakespeare. It’s about three witches that decide to manipulate a Scottish general called Macbeth when he returns from a war. The Scottish king, Duncan, honors Macbeth with the title Thane of Cawdor for his heroic. Macbeth and his friend Banquo meet the witches. They predict that he will one day become king. So he decides that he will murder King Duncan. Macbeth's wife agrees to his plan, and so his ambition builds. In The play Macbeth written by William Shakespeare, his use of imagery is display through symbolism of light and darkness, Macbeth ill-fitting garments and the images of blood.

In the play, phrases of fear escape from her lips even in her sleep. She believes darkness to be the place of torment.