appearance vs reality

“look like th’innocent flowe, but be the surpent under’t”

• intends to show appearances can’t be trusted as they are moldable so offer no insight into the reality of a person

• “flower” noun connotes femininity, gentle, delicate, suggests attractiveness to lure duncan into their trap by seeming sweet

• “look” - imperative atypical in patriarchal society subverts gender roles, demanding giving orders

• juxtaposition “serpent” masculinity, venomous, ruthless - snake used as an insult to suggest betrayal - killing duncan

• alludes to biblical story of adam and eve - temptation macbeth easily manipulated by his wife foreshadows downfall of macbeth

“fair is foul and foul is fair”

• From the beginning of the play the audience see that what is right can be wrong, and what is wrong can be right. Boundaries between good and evil are blurred and confused.

• fricatives creates a sinister, uneasy tone.

• The repetition of "fair" and "foul" suggests the two ideas are interchangeable and good and evil can exist at the same time

• "Foul" is more dominant and intimidating

• "fair" is caring and pleasant - the evil element overpowers goodness.

• The King at the time, James I, wrote a book stating all magic was evil - this chant sounds almost like a magical spell, and the audience would fear it.

• use of paradox

“so foul and fair a day i have not seen”

• echos witches words links him to supernatural immediately foreshadowing their impact on him

• foul - regrets deaths involved in the battle

• fair - macbeth has been victorious in battle

• macbeths first line foreshadows his indecisive nature and conflicting emotions and moral ambiguity and how he will appear to be noble but will kill the king

“is this a dagger which i see before me?”

“Banquos ghost”

• unable to tell what is real and what isn’t

• crumbling sense of reality

• hallucinations and spirits present how your true nature can never be changed despite how much you alter your appearance

• biggest conflict is in macbeths head and he cant trust his mind anymore

• The question "Is this" is representative of Macbeth's state of mind - he is full of uncertainty and doubt.

• The fact that it is a "dagger" before him suggests his mind has become corrupted by violence - the handle of the dagger is pointing towards his hand, almost inviting him to use it.

• In a patriarchal society, male leaders are not meant to have doubt - they are meant to be powerful, certain and strong. Macbeth has become a weaker warrior since the warfare on the battlefields in Act One. irony

structure

• in the final scenes macbeth and lady macbeth start talking in prose showing mental insability and cant depict what is real and not and what is right and what is wrong

“brave Macbeth”

• in the exposition of the play, Macbeth appears to have the ideal qualities of a noble king presented by the semantic field of bravery

• the captain calls him “brave Macbeth” and “like valour’s minion” which exemplifies the strength of Macbeth’s character and how he is a hero.

• this simile portrays him as the epitome of courage and bravery

• noun “minion” has connotations of a sidekick or even a slave which implies Macbeth feels he has a duty to be heroic and he has a deep devotion and loyalty to his country

• Shakespeare is trying to imply how admired Macbeth is due to his noble acts in the beginning of the play ironic as he will murder duncan as a way to show the way someone appears by actions and words don’t suggest anything about their character

• a jacobean audience would have looked at Macbeth highly in this part of the play as he is presenting typical masculine traits which would have been respected in the patriarchal society. this was because men were seen as superior to women- who were viewed as feeble and as property to men. hightens contrast when he betrays duncan