Appearance vs. Reality

These flashcards are for the theme of 'Appearance vs. Reality'in Macbeth.

What is the central concept of the theme 'Appearance vs. Reality' in Macbeth?

It explores the discrepancy between how things, characters, and situations appear on the surface and the often unpleasant or evil truth that lies beneath.

Which characters introduce the theme of 'Appearance vs. Reality' at the very beginning of the play?

The Three Witches introduce the theme through their paradoxical and ambiguous language.

What paradoxical quote from the Witches in Act 1, Scene 1 establishes the theme of an inverted and deceptive world?

Fair is foul, and foul is fair.

What is the significance of the Witches' chant, Fair is foul, and foul is fair?

It introduces the motif of contradiction and the idea that appearances will be misleading, setting a tone of moral ambiguity for the entire play.

How does Macbeth's first line in Act 1, Scene 3, So foul and fair a day I have not seen, connect him to the Witches?

It directly echoes the Witches' paradoxical language, immediately associating his character with the supernatural and the theme of confused reality.

What does Macbeth's echoing of the Witches in his first line foreshadow?

It foreshadows his moral ambiguity and suggests that his fate is entwined with the Witches' confusion of contradiction.

What famous advice does Lady Macbeth give to her husband on how to conceal his murderous intentions in Act 1, Scene 5?

look like th'innocent flower, / But be the serpent under't.

The quote look like th'innocent flower, / But be the serpent under't is an explicit instruction in the art of _.

deception

In the quote be the serpent under't, what does the serpent symbolically allude to?

It alludes to the serpent in the Garden of Eden, a symbol of deception, temptation, and the devil.

How does King Duncan's character highlight the dangers of misinterpreting appearances?

He is portrayed as overly trusting and gullible, unable to see the treachery in the original Thane of Cawdor or in Macbeth, which leads to his downfall.

What does Duncan say in Act 1, Scene 4 that ironically highlights his inability to discern true character from outward appearance?

There's no art / To find the mind's construction in the face.

What literary device is at play when Duncan praises Macbeth's castle as having a pleasant seat just before he is murdered there?

Dramatic irony, as the audience knows the Macbeths' evil intentions, which contrast with Duncan's perception.

What rhyming couplet does Macbeth use at the end of Act 1, Scene 7 to affirm his decision to use deception?

Away, and mock the time with fairest show, / False face must hide what the false heart doth know.

Macbeth's decision to use a false face to hide his false heart highlights the divide between one's _ and true nature.

outward appearance

How does Lady Macbeth attempt to use the theme of appearance vs. reality for self-denial in her Come, thick night soliloquy?

She asks for darkness to blind both heaven and her own conscience to the murder she is planning, using appearance to hide from reality.

In her Act 1, Scene 5 soliloquy, Lady Macbeth asks the dark to be so thick That my keen knife see not the _ it makes.

wound

What is the primary psychological consequence for Macbeth of his constant deception?

He begins to lose his grip on reality, becoming unable to distinguish between real events and hallucinations born from his guilt.

How does Macbeth's internal conflict between appearance and reality manifest itself visually to him (and the audience)?

It manifests through morbid hallucinations, such as the bloody dagger and the ghost of Banquo.

The 'dagger of the mind' which Macbeth sees is a _ that externalises his inner turmoil and guilty conscience.

hallucination

What does the appearance of Banquo's ghost at the banquet represent?

It represents the eruption of Macbeth's repressed guilt into his public life, showing that his true, evil nature cannot be disguised forever.

The Porter's mention of an 'equivocator' who could 'swear in both the scales against either scale' directly references what aspect of the appearance vs. reality theme?

The use of ambiguous and deceptive language to mislead, which was a contemporary concern linked to the Gunpowder Plot trials.

How are the apparitions shown to Macbeth by the Witches in Act 4, Scene 1 examples of equivocation?

They present prophecies that appear to promise safety and invincibility but are actually riddles with hidden, fatal meanings.

The first apparition, an armed head, appears to be a warning about Macduff, but what does it actually foreshadow?

It foreshadows Macbeth's own decapitation at the hands of Macduff.

How does the prophecy 'none of woman born / Shall harm Macbeth' deceive him?

It relies on a hidden truth: Macduff was born by Caesarean section, not in the natural way Macbeth assumes.

The prophecy that Macbeth is safe until Birnam Wood moves to Dunsinane Hill is deceptive because it presents what seems to be a physical _ as a condition.

impossibility

Throughout the play, what does the recurring motif of darkness and night symbolise in relation to appearance vs. reality?

It symbolises concealment, evil, and the hiding of treacherous deeds from the light of truth and goodness.

In Act 1, Scene 4, what does Macbeth command the stars to do to conceal his 'black and deep desires'?

Stars, hide your fires; / Let not light see my black and deep desires.

What recurring motif is used to signify that Macbeth's new titles and role as king (his appearance) do not fit his true nature (his reality)?

The motif of ill-fitting clothes, such as a 'giant's robe upon a dwarfish thief'.

What is one interpretation of Lady Macbeth fainting in Act 2, Scene 3, in the context of appearance vs. reality?

It can be seen as a calculated performance to distract from Macbeth's suspicious behaviour and maintain their appearance of innocence.

What observation by Donalbain after Duncan's murder encapsulates the theme of deceptive appearances at court?

There's daggers in men's smiles.

In Act 4, Scene 3, how does Malcolm use deception to test Macduff's loyalty?

He pretends to be a lustful and avaricious tyrant to see if Macduff's loyalty is to the true good of Scotland rather than just to any king.

What Jacobean historical event made the Witches' use of equivocation particularly resonant for Shakespeare's audience?

The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, and the subsequent trial of Jesuit priest Henry Garnet, who defended the use of equivocation.

What structural technique gives the audience insight into characters' true thoughts, contrasting with their public actions and words?

The use of soliloquies and asides.

How does the sleepwalking scene in Act 5, Scene 1 demonstrate the ultimate failure of deception?

It shows Lady Macbeth's repressed guilt and true tormented reality breaking through her unconscious mind, exposing the truth she hid while awake.

Lady Macbeth's line who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him? contrasts sharply with her earlier claim that A _ clears us of this deed.

little water

The Porter's speech, while providing 'comic relief', serves to reveal the new reality of Macbeth's castle as a gate to _.

hell

How do the Witches' speech patterns (trochaic tetrameter) structurally separate them from noble characters (who speak in iambic pentameter)?

This auditory difference makes their speech sound like a chant or spell, amplifying their otherworldly and deceptive nature.

What is Shakespeare's final message regarding the consequences of living a life of deception?

The destruction of one's sense of self and reality, leading to madness, suffering, and death, as it goes against the natural order.

The Macbeths' eventual switch from blank verse to _ in their final scenes indicates their mental instability and the collapse of their deceptive facade.

prose

The theme of 'Appearance vs. Reality' is at the heart of Macbeth's genre as a _.

tragedy

What element does Shakespeare use throughout the play to facilitate the manipulation and distortion of reality?

The supernatural, including the Witches, spells, hallucinations, and ghosts.

Macbeth becomes a symbol for deception, but also for the way individuals lose sight of _ when they constantly deceive others.

themselves

How does Banquo's cautious response to the Witches' prophecies, calling them honest trifles, serve as a foil to Macbeth?

It highlights Macbeth's eagerness to accept their fair appearance without questioning the foul reality that may lie behind their words.

Shakespeare implies that Duncan's vulnerability stems from his failure to understand the difference between and .

appearance, reality

By the end of the play, the Macbeths' constant performance has destroyed their true sense of _, as they no longer know who they really are.

self