Humanity is slave to false appearances and tricks. As Albert Einstein said, “reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one,” and this is very much so the case in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. The noble Macbeth is a loyal vassal of the King of Scotland, until he is told 3 prophecies that change the way he sees the world. He puts on a façade to keep his cruel ambition hidden as he plans to take matters into his own hands and fulfill the prophecy of him becoming king early. His mind becomes so riddled with guilt and paranoia throughout the play that he becomes a completely different person and is ultimately led to his downfall by his own foolishness. People only see what they want to see, which is emphasized by Macbeth’s ability to hide …show more content…
For example, when Macbeth and Banquo meet the witches for the first time and receive their prophecies, they do not think they will come true until Macbeth is made Thane of Cawdor. Then Banquo says: “And oftentimes, to win us to our harm,/ The instruments of darkness tell us truths,/ Win us with honest trifles, to betray us/ In deepest consequence,” (1.3.132-135) which means that even though the witches tell the truth about Macbeth, they do not have his best interests in mind. Also, when Macbeth sees the witches for the second time and sees the three apparitions, he believes them, unknowing that the witches had planned to lead him to his downfall: “Shall raise such artificial sprites,/ As, by the strength of their illusion,/ Shall draw [Macbeth] on to his confusion:/ He shall spurn fate, scorn death, and bear/ His hopes ‘bove wisdom, grace, and fear.” (3.5.24-31) This shows that the truth can be subjective and can be twisted to serve other peoples’ …show more content…
King Duncan trusted the Thane of Cawdor wholly, and was shocked that he would betray him, “There’s no art/ To find the mind’s construction in the
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face,” (1.4.13-14) which means that one does not know what a person is thinking, even if one knows and trusts that person. King Duncan also trusted Macbeth, thinking he was his loyal subject, but not knowing that Macbeth had received the prophecies and was plotting against him. It is ironic when Duncan says: “This castle hath a pleasant seat; the air/ Nimbly and sweetly recommends itself/ Unto our gentle senses” (1.6.1-3) because in the scenes before, Macbeth is shown plotting Duncan’s murder in that very
Throughout the play, Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, Macbeth continuously decides bad choices and the consequences of these decisions catch up to Macbeth and result in his mental deterioration, however with Macbeth’s almost infant feel for ambition this makes him susceptible to manipulation, which then grows into an insatiable appetite for power. The acts of this with the manipulation from outsiders, causes his blind ambition, his false sense of security and then finally his guilt, which all contribute to his derangement.
Perhaps the most fundamental theme of Shakespeare’s Macbeth is the inherent corruptibility of even a seemingly good man when ambition turns to greed, and Macbeth himself exemplifies this concept throughout the play. While at the outset he is seen to be loyal to his king, generally considered trustworthy, and displaying numerous other laudable qualities, Macbeth ultimately succumbs to the influence of those around him and becomes unequivocally evil, setting aside all his previously held morals and coming to be driven only by his lust for power. This transition is brought about by a wide variety of factors and plays an integral role in the development of the plot. In his tragedy Macbeth, William Shakespeare employs
Macbeth, one of the darkest and most powerful plays written by Shakespeare, dramatizes the disastrous psychological effects that occur when evil is chosen to fulfill the ambition for power. Throughout the play, Macbeth’s character loses mental stability and becomes enthralled with the idea of being king. Empowered by the three witches, this situation consumes Macbeth’s consciousness until his mental state becomes deranged. This mental deterioration is evident in what he says and does as he evolves into a tyrannical ruler attempting to protect himself from enmity and suspicion. In an attempt to fulfill his ambition for power, Macbeth displays mental deterioration and becomes increasingly bloodthirsty.
"There's no art to find the mind's construction in the face: He was a gentleman on whom I built an absolute trust" (I, iv, 11-4). With this statement, Duncan illustrates his recognition of his inability to tell the character of an individual by looking at him. He is referring to the Thane of Cawdor who, during the civil war, helped try to overthrow Duncan's rule of Scotland. As a king, Duncan is well received which perhaps allows him to consider himself untouchable. He assumes that no one would have any reason to hurt or disobey him and so he allows his personal safety standards to fall to dangerous levels. This lack of concern also accounts for the manner in which he is unprotected while sleeping at Mabeth's castle. Duncan is governed by his ego to such an extent that he dismisses this breech of security by killing the disloyal Thane rather than try to cor...
William Shakespeare's play Macbeth is a five-act drama that shows a clear example of how pride, greed, and power can alter a man's actions and personality. The taste of power blinds the story's main character, Macbeth. Sparked by Lady Macbeth, he becomes heartless and cruel as he kills anyone who is a threat to his power due to his paranoia of losing the throne. This fear ironically leads to his downfall and loss of the throne. The theme of the story is deceit and evil and how they affect a man's decisions.
Throughout Macbeth, Shakespeare illustrates Macbeth’s journey to becoming a ruthless and tyrannical man who will do anything and everything to gain more power. Macbeth’s actions of killing prove Machiavelli’s theory that men are cowardly and dishonest, which leads those similar to Macbeth, to believe being feared is safer than being loved. Macbeth has demonstrated Machiavelli’s theory by his actions of murder and betrayal towards individuals, such as Banquo, under his ruling. Macbeth believes that being feared is safer than loved by his people, which causes citizens under his ruling to think he is a bad king. Since individuals believe Macbeth is a negligent king due to his cowardly and dishonest actions, individuals won’t put their trust or
William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a play centring around opposing forces trying to gain power in the succession for the throne of Scotland. Macbeth, in the beginning, is known to be a nobel and strong willed man, who is ready to fight for his country. However, one may see that Macbeth has a darker side to him, he is power hungry and blood thirsty, and will not stop until he has secured his spot as King of Scotland. Though Macbeth may be a tyrant, he is very naïve, gullible, and vulnerable. He is vulnerable and willing to be persuaded by many characters throughout the play, his wife, the witches to name a few, this is the first sign that his mental state is not as sharp as others. One will see the deterioration of Macbeth and his mental state as the play progresses, from level headedness and undisturbed to hallucinogenic, psychopathic and narcissistic. The triggering event for his mental deterioration is caused by the greed created from the witches first prophecy, that Macbeth will become King of Scotland (I.iii.53). Because of the greed causing his mental deterioration, Macbeth’s psychosis is what caused his own demise by the end of the play. In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, the tragic hero Macbeth’s demise is provoked by his hallucinogenic episodes, psychopathic actions and narcissistic behaviours.
Until his death, King Duncan was misled by Macbeth’s false loyalty. When the Thane of Cawdor had been found guilty of being a traitor and was hanged, King Duncan thought so highly of Macbeth, that he gave the title to him. The Thane then ironically dies with pride while Macbeth dies a foe of Scotland. The King was under the impression that Macbeth was a loyal and brave soldier, calling him “O worthiest cousin” (1/4/14), but Macbeth was actually already planning to kill the King, “whose murder yet is but fantastical” (1/3/139). Even when Duncan goes to visit Macbeth, he praises the castle’s pleasant environment and hospitality, “This castle hath a pleasant seat” (1/5/1), but is totally unaware of Macbeth’s plans to murder him.
Consequently Macbeth’s decisions on how he let himself believe what he wanted to let his arrogance cloud his judgement, and he let all of his common sense out the window, along with his chance to remain king. This play and the characters in it teach us to not believe everything we hear and to not act hastily to get what we want in life without thinking of the
Humans may also give trust to those they do not know, in the hopes that the individual will be a positive influence as they reach their goal. In Macbeth, when he goes off to see the witches again due to his uncertainty, the three band together with Hecate, and provide him with three equivocated apparitions. First, an “armed head” (IV.i.73) warning him to be aware of Macduff, then a “bloody child” (IV.i.83) advising Macbeth to “Be bloody, bold, and resolute; Laugh to scorn the power of man, for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth” (IV.i.85-87). As well as “a child crowned, with a tree in his hand” (IV.i.93) informing him that he would be in safe hands until “Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill shall come against him.” (IV.i.101-102) Hearing these prophecies, Macbeth believed he was untouchable, and that he had not a worry in the world. Assured by what the twisted witches had to say, Macbeth let his guard down making security his biggest flaw. The four witches knew that by equivocating the apparitions, that Macbeth would believe he was safe. He trusted in their words, due to the accuracy of the previous prophecies. Although Macbeth now justified and agreed with his past doings, little did he know the royal blood he had first spilled was affecting those close to
Encompassing all the evidence that has been presented and after reading and viewing Polanski and Shakespeare's renditions of MACBETH it is logical to come to the conclusion that ambition and deceptive appearances is central to the dramatic development of MACBETH. Without ambition MACBETH would not have pursued his path to become King of Scotland so viciously. Deceptive appearances is the key to this play because without hiding reality all the evil enfolding this play, all the intentions of protagonist and the other characters would have been revealed. Without the centralisation of these themes, MACBETH would have been altered and the plot would be non-existent.
In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, a selfish Scottish thane becomes over-ambitious and commits several murders in order to gain and stay in power. After the murders, Macbeth evades suspicion by hiding his guilt and intentions, therefore deceiving others into thinking that he is innocent. Other characters including Lady Macbeth, the witches and the Scottish thanes also use their appearances to hide the truth and deceive others. With these examples, Shakespeare shows that appearances can be deceiving.
Over 400 years ago, Shakespeare wrote a play full of false impressions, deception, duplicity, and just plain lies. That is why Macbeth is still popular and the point of the story is easy to understand today (with help of NoFear Shakespeare). There is a high price to pay for lying and cheating your way to the top. Shakespeare was especially worried about lies and duplicity in politics. He felt that especially leaders like kings and those at court must show honesty in their lives as an example for the people. From the title, right away we know that Macbeth is not a king. He is simply a famous military man whose strong belief in unreliable sources led him to corruption, murder.
Shakespeare draws an amazing psychological portrait of a man who became a villain by means of ambition, desire and an imbalance of good and evil. “Macbeth” is a play composed of the disintegration of a noble man’s world. The play begins by offering the audience Macbeth, a war hero, with a high regard from Duncan, the king of Scotland. By the end of the play Macbeth transforms into a universally despised man without a place in the social community. Shakespeare draws an amazing face of a man made to be a villain by ambition, desire and an imbalance of good and evil.