Theme of Fair is Foul in William Shakespeare's Macbeth
'Fair is Foul' is the major theme in Macbeth and is present throughout
the play in both the characters and the events. 'Fair is Foul' refers
to the contrast of good and evil in the play, since Macbeth commits
many evil murders for what seem to be good reasons. There are several
false and secretive characters, such as the Witches, Macbeth and Lady
Macbeth, because of the contradiction of good and evil. Therefore the
theme of 'Fair is Foul' is also linked to the theme of appearances
being deceiving. As a result of this theme lots of chaos, lies,
secrets and total disorder are caused.
The three Witches introduce the theme of 'Fair is Foul' in Macbeth and
are the first characters seen in the play: "Fair is foul, and foul is
fair". Their words seem to contradict each other, presenting the idea
of illusion versus reality in the play. The fact that the Witches are
in the first scene of Macbeth confirms that they are important
characters and main devices of evil. They meet in foul weather and
talk of "thunder, lightning" and "the fog and filthy air", giving the
audience a first impression that Macbeth is a dark, dangerous play in
which the theme of evil is central.
Only once in the play are the three weird sisters called 'witches',
instead they are called "old hags" and "elemental forces". Shakespeare
describes the witches in this way to make them sound more evil so that
the audience would dislike them more. Shakespeare used the witches and
supernatural influences to present evil scenes and events. As witches
were hated at the time that Shakespeare wrote the play, he used the
witc...
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after Guy Fawks' attempt to kill King James I in 1605. James would
have therefore enjoyed the play, as he would get the chance to watch
Macbeth die for trying to kill his own king. The witches in the play
would have also been linked with James I, as he had three witches
killed for trying to conjure up a storm to kill him. Shakespeare's
main reasons for writing Macbeth were to flatter King James I and to
keep the interest of his audience. This is shown by the fact that
Banquo, named after James' ancestor, is portrayed as a good and honest
character. Shakespeare also wrote about witches and evil witchcraft,
which were considered wrong and morbid at the time. Women were
considered to be most likely to relate to witchcraft, which is perhaps
why Lady Macbeth seemed to be more controlled than Macbeth in the
play.
In the first scene of the first act, three witches plan their next meeting in which they will encounter Macbeth. It is in this scene that the motif is first presented, as the tree witches chant, "Fair is foul, and foul is fair, hover through the fog and filthy air" (1.1.11-12). The witches meet again in scene three of act one. One of the witches discusses a curse she has placed on a woman's husband, because she refused to share her food. This display of evil powers and spitefulness, suggests that the witches may have some influence in the development of the motif. Macbeth enters during this scene along with Banquo, arriving from a victorious battle. He uses the motif to describe the day as "So foul and fair a day I have not seen" (1.3.38). When Macbeth encounters the witches, they give him two predictions. One is that he will become the thane of Cawdor, and then the king of Scotland.
Our main character Macbeth is very driven by his need for what he believes to be the truth. The play starts out with the quote “Fair is foul, and foul is fair,” (1.1.6) meaning nothing is, as it seems. This quote was from all three witches, who decided they were going to seek out Macbeth who at the time was Thane of Glamis and a prized solider on the battlefield. Macbeth at this time was looking for more in his life. The witches then gave him and his friend Banquo three prophecies. They were that he would become Tha...
Fair is foul, and foul is fair, a phrase that has become synonym with Macbeth. It is also the introduction to one of the most important themes of this tragedy: appearance and reality. Shakespeare uses various characters and situations to emphasize this confusion between the real and the surreal, the authentic and the fake, the act and the sincere. In order to discuss this theme, different characters will be looked at : in the first paragraph, the Witches, in the second, Duncan and in the third, Lady Macbeth.
The witches also kept repeating a quote that has a lot of meaning. They continued to say “foul is fair and fair is foul.” (I.i.12) This means that what seems right isn’t really right and what seems wrong isn’t really wrong. So the whole play is about false faces and how someone who seems normal and innocent isn’t really. The witches also seem to be an illusion. They are in a way human like, but at the same time they are also fake. They talked to Macbeth and told him three prophecies, which caused him to become greedy and kill King Duncan. The first time they told him what they saw was in Act 1. They said
In the time that King James I ruled, there was a large fear of witches and witchcraft throughout England and Scotland. And during his reign, William Shakespeare wrote the play Macbeth, which is the renamed King’s Men sign of gratitude towards James. Macbeth is interesting because it is “based on a story from Scottish history particularly apt for a monarch who traced his line back to Banquo” (Greenblatt 815). The play also drew from James’ own fears of assassination, eventually leading to Macbeth’s own fear of Banquo and having him killed so that he would not have to worry about his possibility of becoming a traitor. James also had a fear of witchcraft being behind any attempt on his life because he “suspected the hand of the devil in any plot against an anointed king” (816). James had a strong belief in the supernatural and witchcraft and had written a book about witchcraft and believed that the reason for various things that happened in his life to be the fault of witches and lived in fear of the occult eventually bringing everything to an end.
In the play, the Weird Sisters were the first influence on Macbeth’s downfall due to the prophecies they told him of the future. At the beginning of the play, the Weird Witches say, “Fair is foul and foul is fair. Hover through the frog and filthy air” (I.i.11-12). They mention that in this world it is difficult to tell what is truly fair and what is indeed foul, which sets a dark and mysterious setting for the rest of the play. In addition, the Weird Sisters overwhelmed Macbeth with the prophecies of his future. The Weird Sisters mention, “All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Glamis!…” (I.iii.49-53). This enlightened yet tricked Macbeth of all the good that is to come. If the prophecies were not told to Macbeth, he would not have to worry of obtaining his future quickly, and would instead remain sane and honourable. Unfortunately, the prophecies told by the Weird Sisters greatly affect Macbeth, and lead him into his next influence leading to his
Throughout the play, Macbeth has a lot of trouble trusting his own instincts, and instead, trusts others, and allows them to influence his decisions. The most substantial impact is made by the three witches. At the beginning of the play, the reader is told that these witches’ posses many great powers, including the ability to predict the future. It is also revealed that the three weird sisters would meet with Macbeth on the heath after the hurly-burly, or civil war, had ended. Before they vanish, they declare that “Fair is foul, and foul is fair.” (Shakespeare, 11) This quotation foreshadowed the effect that the witches would have on Macbeth’s life, and offer insight into why Macbeth goes down the path he did. “With it are the associated premonitions of the conflict, disorder, and moral darkness into which Macbeth will plunge himself.
Initially, the Elizabethan audience consider Macbeth as a respectable and well like character. We do however learn that appearances can be deceptive which corresponds with the main theme; 'Fair is foul, Foul is fair' which is referred to a lot throughout the play. This theme is first introduced in Act I, Scene I where the witches foretell the struggle between the forces of evil and good in which Macbeth is to be involved. It is also an indication that all will not be as it seems. This portrays a character as being much worse if the audience's first impressions of that character were positive.
, he took the king’s offer and began writing Macbeth. Teenink.com explains, “Shakespeare drew the plot for Macbeth from historical sources—particularly Raphael Holinshed’s Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Even though Shakespeare used Holinshed’s Chronicles as a chief foundation for Macbeth, he selectively changed parts of history for his boss/monarch, King James I. While Shakespeare used Holinshed's work extensively in Macbeth, it is clear that he changed different aspects of the historical writing. One of which was Banquo, the ancestor of King James I. William Shakespeare had to alter Banquo’s character immensely to create a respectable reputation for both King James I and his ancestors. According to www.shakespeare-online.com, “In both [Macbeth and the Chronicles], Banquo initially is a noble soldier fighting alongside Macbeth in King Duncan’s army”.
"Fair is foul and foul is fair: Hover through the fog and filthy air” (1.1.11-13). Humanity has the proficiency of being two-faced, one can be bad but appear good as well as be good but appear bad. Macbeth, a play written by William Shakespeare best exemplifies the following theme, “Fair is foul and foul is fair.” By opening the play with these lines, Shakespeare created an eerie atmosphere and promptly expressed the play’s theme. The composition portrays a Scottish soldier named Macbeth who is met by three witches with foreshadowing greetings, he is told he will be King and then falls into darkness to gain power despite the harsh consequences. Within the plot, the theme “fair is foul and foul is fair” is established and repeated throughout the play. The theme not only weaves its way into the narrative, it is shown within the supernatural beings, incidents, and play’s characters.
The witches play a very important role in "Macbeth", as they initiate the evil plot. Even from the prologue we can see the witches are evil. "Fair is foul, and foul is fair:" (Act 1 scene 1 line 11). They uphold their evil status throughout the play although their power is not fully demonstrated until the prophecies come true and also later where they conjure up the three apparitions. The witches are truly evil and love evil for its own self unlike Macbeth. "Spiteful and wrathful; who. as others do,/Loves for his own ends, not for you." (Act 3 scene 5 line 12-13). Throughout the play they provide the strongest impression of evil. They are continually committing mischievous deeds, such as, "Killing swine" (Act 1 scene 3 line 2), tormenting sailors and casting spells.
Fair is Foul and Foul is Fair is a phrase that has become a synonym with the play Macbeth. It is the introduction to the play and the introduction to most important theme of the play, Appearance versus Reality. In Macbeth, Shakespeare uses various characters along with scenes and situations to portray and develop the theme of Appearance versus Reality. He also uses these vivid characters and scenes to emphasize the confusion between the real and surreal, the authentic and the fake, the act and the sincere. Characters in this play are very deceptive and their intentions are dark and ominous. However, their appearance does not show their sinister intentions. The theme of appearance versus reality is a vital part to this play and the characters that portray it are the Witches, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.
The quoted phrase, “fair is foul and foul is fair” is used frequently, the phrase itself is an oxymoron. Early in the play the reader sees Macbeth as the hero because he has saved all of Scotland from the Norwegians. Duncan, honoring Macbeth, says, “More is thy due than more than all can pay.” (Act 1, Scene ) Towards the middle of the play the reader suddenly begins to pity Macbeth, slowly realizing his encroaching insanity for what it is, a downward spiral of death and increased mistakes. Finally, at the end of the play, the reader's opinion of Macbeth moves more towards hate and a feeling that Macbeth is unmistakably evil. As the second witch said:
The witches influence Macbeth in his achievements and awake his ambitions. They give him a wrong sense of security with their apportions of truths. The witches are the ones who made the idea of killing Duncan into Macbeth’s mind. They also told him that he would become thane of Cawdor and later would become king of Scotland and Macbeth wants to know more. “Stay you imperfect speakers, tell me more. By Sinel’s death I know I am the thane of Glamis; but how of Cawdor? The Thane of Cawdor lives, a prosperous gentleman; and to be king stands not within the prospect of belief, no more than to be Cawdor” (Shakespeare 312). Banquo is known as the real victim of the witches. After Banquo hears the prophecy of the witches that his sons will become kings he still does not believe them. He believes that he has eaten a root that is making him hallucinate and does not believe anything they tell him. (Shakespeare 313) Banquo says, “Are you sure we are talking about what we have seen here? Or have we eaten some plant root that makes us hallucinate.” Banquo also says to Macbeth: “but ‘tis strange; and oftentimes of darkness tell us truths, win us with honest trifles. To betrays in deepest consequence” (Shakespeare 314). Shortly after they meet with the three witches they meet a messenger who tells Macbeth he is the Thane of Cawdor. When Banquo hears this he realizes the witches are right and
Then when Macbeth killed King Duncan the Chain of Being collapsed because in the world the highest point in the hierarchy was the king and above the king was the god. No one was supposed to kill the king but when Macbeth killed King Duncan, he was committed an evil act and was going to pay for it. When William Shakespeare implemented the witches he gave the witches important role in the play, unlike what their role was during the seventeenth century. They did not have any specific role, but people were scared of them because of them being evil being and they were getting killed. King James I was interested in the witches so Macbeth implemented and made the story more interesting by putting in witches in the play. Shakespeare made it seem like he was criticizing the cultural aspect of how woman were treated and their role within the society. In the play lady Macbeth had a lot of influence of a male character Macbeth, which in reality woman weren’t supposed to have any kind of influence over men. The aspects of gender inequality, witchcraft, and the Great Chain of Being affected how William Shakespeare wrote his play Macbeth. The Elizabethan era had the most influence in most of Shakespeare 's plays such as