Within the Mind of Macbeth

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Recommended: psychological literary criticism of macbeth

In the Shakespearean play Macbeth, the many paradoxes and contradictions allow us to see not only deeper into the text, but also deeper into the characters. The theme of ambiguity and duplicitousness is used to hide the mental status of characters throughout the play so that they remain unnoticed by others around them. These complex paradoxes are incredibly contradictory and usually very difficult to understand at first glance, but through the use of these contradictions, the theme of what is illusion and what is reality is heavily blurred throughout the play. In other words, the conflicting ideas that allow for, and show the irreconcilable distinction between good and evil, chaos and disruption of natural order, and that not everything appears as it seems, are necessary to understanding the psychological standpoint of Macbeth and those close to him.

The first psychological contradiction can be found in the beginning of the play. The witches’ are brewing a potion in a cauldron when they begin to chant, “fair is foul, and foul is fair…”(act 1, scene 1, line 11). This eerie paradox is an implication to the biggest theme in the play; how nothing is really how it appears. This idea can be seen throughout the play, and is especially helpful while trying to understand the psychological standpoint of the main characters. For example, later in the storyline when the prophesy says that Banquo will be “Lesser than Macbeth, and greater / Not so happy, yet much happier (Act 1, scene 3, 65-66*), we can pick up on subliminal hints as to the future psyche of both Macbeth and Banquo. While Macbeth may get what he wants, the kingship, and should be far happier than Banquo, he won’t be, because Banquo will unknowingly be a happier, and “greater”* ...

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...ch along with “fair is foul, and foul is fair…” means that things are not necessarily what they appear to be. The Macbeths appeared to be innocent, while really just murderers who could only reveal their thoughts and feeling both consciously and unconsciously through the use of paradoxes and ambiguity; and it is clear that they are not just dissemblers, but genuinely equivocate between good and evil. The witches’ eerie incantation at the start of the play addresses this central idea: the difficulty of understanding the intentions, which lie within the human heart. In conclusion, the idea of fair is foul, and foul is fair has many possible meanings and can be analyzed forever, but one thing is for certain and that is paradoxes add confusion, uncertainty and mystery to each and every character, but without the contradictions, we would not know the characters at all.

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