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Betrayal And Deception In Macbeth

Decent Essays

“Betray a friend, and you’ll often find you ruined yourself,” once said Aesop. There are consequences of betraying and deceiving a friend, and it will change one’s life for the worse. One author who emphasizes the ideal of betrayal and deception is Shakespeare, and it can be seen throughout the play Macbeth. In the play, Macbeth was an honored and respected high ranking noble in King Duncan’s eyes, and betrayed his king to gain power. Macbeth and his fellow, Banquo were told by mysterious witches that Macbeth would be crowned king. The prediction from the witches gave Macbeth and Lady Macbeth a dangerous dose of ambition, which led to them killing the ones closest to them to become king, including King Duncan and Banquo. Throughout Macbeth, Shakespeare illustrates the concept …show more content…

Human nature is centered covering up one's flaws and Macbeth’s ambition for power lead him to kill King Duncan’s servants to cover up his own murder, “O, yet I do repent me f\of my fury, that I did kill them” (Shakespeare II.3.106-107) Macbeth admitted. He admitted to killing the servants because they “killed” King Duncan only to cover up his deed, shows his acts of deceit. Along with covering flaws, human nature emphasizes on the positives of a bad choice and blocks out the negatives. Macbeth killed Banquo to make sure no one is in the way of him gaining power, and looked beyond betraying and hurting his best friend and Macbeth tells the murders, “It is concluded. Banquo, thy soul’s flight, if it find heaven, must find it out tonight” (Shakespeare III.2. 140-141)” expresses Macbeth. Another characteristic of human nature is to hurt ones who support someone you hate, even if they are innocent or have done no wrong. Macbeth decided to murder MacDuff's family out of fear and hatred. Human nature can be scary and deceitful, as shown through Macbeth and his choices that betrayed people close to

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