‘Deception is a major theme in the play’. Discuss. A conspiratorial atmosphere pervades Macbeth. This is after all a play about secrets and about deception. The witches personify malevolence and use deceit and half-truths to manipulate their prey and draw the kingdom of Scotland into disaster.
Banquo is juxtaposed to show how an honest man would react to fair-surrounding predictions. Macbeth’s “aside” clearly reveals him to be a man who is morally flawed and susceptible to temtation. Shakespeare’s use of imagery with the three witches makes us realise that the witches only want bad things for Macbeth. They test his character to see if they can corrupt him from his natural state of mind into their evil ways. As such Macbeth is morally vulnerable to them.
The Tragedy of Macbeth The ominous theme that echoes throughout the play reminds the reader of the constant struggle between the natural and supernatural forces in Macbeth. The prophecy of the three witches set the play in motion. With these prophecies, the weird sisters exert control over every aspect of Macbeth’s life. This might cause one to question whether Macbeth’s actions were motivated just by the prophecy. In the end, the temptation to carry out the witch's prophecy force Macbeth to follow a path drenched in blood, a choice he did not make.
So they will "hover" in the fog, and in the dust and dirt of battle, waiting for the chance to do evil. Fair is Foul and Foul is Fair" is a paradox, a statement that appears to be contadictory but actually expresses the truth. The witches are foul, but they give fair advice. Macbeth seems like a hero, but he is a plotter and dastard. It is quite interesting to note that the words of the witches will have an echo in Macbeth’s “So foul and fair a day I have not seen”.
Throughout Macbeth, Shakespeare shocks audiences with violent language, the supernatural witches and evilness. The nature of evil, in the context of this question, means ‘profoundly immoral and wicked’ which is true to most of the play especially after King Duncan’s murder. The nature of ambition in this context portends ‘a strong desire to achieve successes’. Based on these definitions, I agree with said view of this play to some extent. Evil is first inferred in Macbeth when we first meet the Weyward Sisters (witches) and they cantillate something: ‘Fair is foul and foul is fair.’ This juxtaposition of words indicates an unnatural feel which creates the feel of imminent evil from a possibly supernatural perpetrator.
"And often to win us to our harm, the instruments of darkness tell us truths." This quote is spoken by Banquo, it expresses the cunning, foul witches and how they play with the minds of the weak, in this case Macbeth's aspiring consciousness, in order for acts of evil to be committed by telling only half truths. Banquo confronts our protagonist about these 'Instruments of darkness', but in defiance to this warning, our protagonist is consumed by his desire to acquire power, sending this warning into oblivion. This is the beginning of Macbeth's destruction, his vulnerability is unearthed as we start to uncover his own instrument of evil embedded deep within the core of his soul. We start to see that seed of corruption growing, and how he is not so noble after all.
Writers use characters to present the supernatural as a way to create a sense of conflict in many different ways. They can use the appearance and description of their characters to create conflict in the mind of the reader because the characters are not what we expect from the story. For example, in Macbeth Shakespeare describes the witches as not looking like they should by saying, “So withered, and so wild in their attire, That look not like th’inhabitants o’th’earth, And yet are on’t?” (Banquo Act 1:3). The word ‘yet’ is a conjunction used my Shakespeare to show the conflict created by the appearance of the witches between reality and the supernatural. The witches also create conflict in the mind of Macbeth because they make him question himself and his morality.
Is Macbeth Responsible For His Downfall? Who is responsible for the downfall of Macbeth? He is manipulated by the witches, encouraged by his wife, but ultimately he chooses to act. His first conference with the witches, Macbeth’s ambition was planted and his mind was overwhelmed with thoughts of murder and betrayal. It fair to say, in addition, that if his betrayal caused this extensive pain that clouded him after he murders Duncan, Banquo and the Macduff’s that it wasn’t a case of fate and was his own doing.
He commits murder and puts his entire kingdom in danger. Still, many of his evil acts are committed while he is under the influence of the Weird Sisters and Lady Macbeth, who are often considered to be the true villains of the play. At the end of the play, Macbeth realizes the evil he has committed and seems to feel sorrow for such. Because of this realization Macbeth is often viewed as a tragic hero, for tragic heroes almost always recognize the errors they have committed by the end of their stories and seek, in some manner, to atone for them. Macbeth is indeed a bit too complex to be categorised as a villain or a hero.
“When you durst to do it, then you were a man,” (Macbeth, Act One Scene 7) When you reason things out by yourself you have a habit of knowing what is right and what is wrong, a conscience. But with the external influence from the witches, Macbeth thinks that the witches’ prophecies are his actual fate and feels that he must do all to fulfill it. One can wonder if Macbeth ever had a chance of doing what was right after he met with the witches. Macbeth had caused his own destruction and