Appearance vs reality

• Appearance vs. Reality is a theme in Macbeth
• Appearance vs. Reality


  The difference between appearance and reality, and the deception that is possible because of this
• The outward appearance of the Macbeths as trustworthy and innocent enables them to get away with their plot to murder Duncan and ascend the throne
• Loyalty and trust


  Are juxtaposed by the ultimate betrayal
• Manipulation of reality and appearance

  Facilitated by Shakespeare’s use of the supernatural
• Supernatural elements in Macbeth

  • Witches, spells, hallucinations of knives, blood, and ghosts
• Main characters in Macbeth

  • Chaotic atmosphere, mental instability
• Shakespeare warns that no one and nothing can be trusted, suggesting there are no certainties when it comes to morality
• The Witches in Macbeth aren't overtly violent or cruel within the context of the plot, but create chaos and confusion
• Human greed


  Makes us vulnerable to deception and betrayal
• Humans can be easily fooled by lies if they are given with small truths, leading them astray
• Lady Macbeth


  • Significant example of the difference between appearance and reality, conflict between the two
• Lady Macbeth's ambition fuels her deception of others and she disguises her true intentions to gain power
• Internal vs external appearance of Lady Macbeth

  Initially appears weak externally but is internally stereotypically masculine
• France as a woman

  The audience would assume her to be weak and superfluous to the story line
• France internally

  Stereotypically masculine
• France becomes more powerful and masculine

  Ultimately destroyed by her weak mind
• Lady Macbeth aware of the importance of outward appearance


  Teaches Macbeth how he should act
• Lady Macbeth: '“To beguile the time, / Look like the time, bear welcome in your eye, / Your hand, your tongue,” (1.5)'
• Lady Macbeth: '“Sleek o’er your rugged looks, be bright and jovial / Among your guests tonight,” (3.2)'
• Lady Macbeth: '“Look like th’innocent flower, / But be the serpent under’t,” (1.5)'
• Use of physical features by Lady Macbeth

  Emphasises the importance of outward appearance
• Lady Macbeth's instruction to Macbeth


  Stresses the difference between looking like something and being something else
• “Serpent” allusion

  To the Biblical story of Adam and Eve, symbol of the devil
• Shakespeare demonstrates

  Appearances cannot be trusted because they are moldable
• Shakespeare shows

  Appearances can be used for acts of self-denial as well as deception, keeping the conscience clear even though a crime has been committed
• Lady Macbeth: '“Come, thick night, / And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell, / That my keen knife see not the wound it makes, / Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark,” (1.5)'
• Lady Macbeth's use of appearances


  To her advantage by blinding others to her actions
• Personification in “my keen knife see not the wound it makes”

  Implies a level of self-deception to her plan, where her “knife” appears to be a symbol for herself
• Semantic field of darkness


  Implies reliance on what we can see makes us ignorant and gullible, criticising society’s focus on obvious, black and white truths
• Lady Macbeth's deceit


  Met with fitting consequences as she is caught between reality and imagination
• Macbeth benefits greatly from the conflict between appearance and reality


  Viewed as an honorable warrior and king despite the awful crimes he has committed
• Macbeth as a symbol for deception and facade


  People lose sight of themselves when constantly deceiving others, making it hard to tell who is the real Macbeth
• Duncan about Macbeth: '“O valiant cousin, worthy gentleman,” (1.2)'
• Macbeth's first line in the play is, “So foul and fair a day I have not seen,” (1.3), signaling how his fate is tied to the confusion of contradiction
• Shakespeare foreshadows Macbeth's indecision and moral ambiguity
• The use of “foul” and “fair” echoes back to the Witches’ opening chorus, associating Macbeth's character with the supernatural
• Macbeth might be an example of someone who seems fair but “is foul”
• Macbeth sees appearance as something that can be managed to meet his intentions


  He tells Lady Macbeth, “Away, and mock the time with fairest show, / False face must hide what the false heart doth know,” (1.7), with the rhyming couplet suggesting he finds contentment in this plan
• Deception is a form of playing God


  People believe they can defy “time” and truth, the most powerful forces humanity is subjected to