Appearance and Reality in Macbeth
- Created by: alice_madden
- Created on: 05-02-21 14:34
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- Appearance and Reality in Macbeth
- Key Characters
- Lady Macbeth
- Her ambition fuels her deception of others and ensures she disguises her true intentions in order to gain power
- When she pretends to faint, she's taking advantage of womens' stereotype at the time - a weak woman overcome by shock to hide the reality of her cruel nature.
- The Witches
- The Witches aren't overly violent or cruel within the context of the plot. They don't tell Macbeth to kill Duncan.
- It is the chaos and confusion they create that is so frightening.
- Shakespeare uses the Witches to show how human greed makes us vulnerable to deception and betrayal.
- The Witches aren't overly violent or cruel within the context of the plot. They don't tell Macbeth to kill Duncan.
- Duncan
- Shakespeare implies he is vulnerable because he isn't wary of the difference between appearance and reality.
- Macbeth
- He is a symbol for deception and facade, as people lose sight of themselves when they are constantly deceiving others
- He knows that reality and appearance don't always match up, but he completely trusts the Witches' prophecies, leading to his downfall.
- Lady Macbeth
- Scenes
- Act 1, Scene 1
- The Witches plan to meet Macbeth. They describe the setting.
- Act 1, Scene 4
- Duncan is too trusting with Macbeth
- Act 1, Scene 5
- Lady Macbeth persuades Macbeth to kill Duncan
- Act 1, Scene 1
- Quotes
- "look like th'innocent flower, But be the serpent under't" Act 1, Scene 5
- Lady Macbeth encourages Macbeth to appear good so no one suspects he wants to kill Duncan
- The serpent links Lady Macbeth to Satan who tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden
- "flower" connotes femininity, whereas "serpent" connotes masculinity and trickery.
- Shows how there can be a dangerous divide between a person's outward appearance and inward nature
- "Fair is foul, and foul is fair" Act 1, Scene 1
- Nothing is as it seems in the play,
- The use of 'and' shows both good and bad can exist at the same time
- "When the battle's lost, and won" Act 1, Scene 1
- There are always two sides to every story.
- "So foul and fair a day I have not seen" Act 1, Scene 3
- Shakespeare foreshadows Macbeth's indecision and moral ambiguity
- His fate is tied to the confusion of contradiction
- "There's no art to find the mind's construction in the face" Act 1, Scene 4
- Duncan thinks there is no way of telling what someone is really like
- "You should be women, and yet your beards forbid me to interpret that you are so" Act 1, Scene 3
- Suggests they're unnatural and evil
- "look like th'innocent flower, But be the serpent under't" Act 1, Scene 5
- Linked Symbolism
- "flower" connotes femininity, whereas "serpent" connotes masculinity and trickery.
- Shows how there can be a dangerous divide between a person's outward appearance and inward nature
- The use of 'foul' and 'fair' links Macbeth with the witches
- "So foul and fair a day I have not seen" Act 1, Scene 3
- Shakespeare foreshadows Macbeth's indecision and moral ambiguity
- His fate is tied to the confusion of contradiction
- Associates his character with the supernatural
- "So foul and fair a day I have not seen" Act 1, Scene 3
- "flower" connotes femininity, whereas "serpent" connotes masculinity and trickery.
- Key Characters
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