In ‘Macbeth’ Shakespeare crafts multiple characters who use deception to their advantage, whether it be Lady Macbeth using her gender to her advantage to pursue her sinister ambitions or the witches who use equivocation leading the protagonist (Macbeth) to believe simply what he wishes to hear. Deception plays a key role in a majority of the characters and the way they interact with others and is arguably a driving force for the play to run its course. However, deception also exposes the fine division between appearance and reality and how things don’t often seem as they should in ‘Macbeth’.
Initially in ‘Macbeth’ we are greeted with the powerful prescense of Lady Macbeth, or so it seems. In Act 1, Scene 5 Lady Macbeth delivers her infamous soliloquy in which she reveals a great number of horrific actions she’d be willing to carry out in order to achieve what her heart desires as she seeks to be “filled from the crown to the toe top with direst cruelty.” The noun “crown” highlights Lady Macbeth’s longing for a royal title and so she’s willing to do practically anything in order to recieve the “crown”. For she even states herself she’d “dashed the brains out” of a newborn whilst “it was similing in my face.”
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The verb “dashed” in its entirety is a relentless action and suggests a large amount of force and effort being applied so when she’s “dash[ing]” the newborns “brain” it displays this graphic imagery and it isn’t even a delicate or quick action it is a repeated and heavy action which implies Lady Macbeth is ruthless in her ambition. But, whether she would actually be able to carry out such an unholy deed is arguable for we see in Act 5, Scene 1 Lady Macbeth’s nature is completely juxtaposed, she is percieved as weak and vunerable having become victim to sleepwalking and hallucinations.
In Act 1, Scene 5 Lady Macbeth is at the apex of her cruelty but in Act 5, Scene 1 Lady Macbeth is no different to any other archetypal Jacobean woman of that epoch, she is at her weakest and so we see this appearance versus reality, yes we are at first shown a strong and unique woman who defies all Jacobean notions of women but this seems little more than a facade for in Act 5, Scene 1 we see how she is in actuality no different from other women for that time period and so we have what Lady Macbeth appears to be as to what she actually is.
Her vunerabilty is furthered by her desperation when she attempts to remove a spot she hallucinates: “out damned spot! out I say.” The repeated use of imperatives heightens Lady Macbeth’s fear and how she simply wants to be rid of this hallucination as she seems to suffer from hysteria. However, this quote is particulary interesting as it seems antithetical to what she says earlier in the play as she tries to calm Macbeth after he had just murdered King Duncan.
Lady Macbeth suggests that “a little water clears us of this deed.” This becomes somewhat amusing as Lady Macbeth is seen terrified by the hallucination and her ignorance earlier in the play has come back to bite her. We’re shown how Lady Macbeth’s serenity in the play now clashes with her madness and so it returns to the idea Lady Macbeth does indeed build a mask (this mask being her appearance) and this eventually decays as the play progresses to reveal the reality of Lady Macbeth who is seen to be as nothing more than a feable woman.
Although Lady Macbeth does circum to madness and taking her own life at the end of the play she is one of the only characters who uses deception perfectly to her advantage whilst she is alive. Her manipulative mindset allows her to perfect the art of deception. When Duncan arrives at the Macbeths’ castle in Act 1, Scene 6 Lady Macbeth is regarded to be an “honoured hostess.” Lady Macbeth being pictured as “honoured” completely subverts all expectations of Lady Macbeth as one does not link the word “honour” alongside the character of Lady Macbeth which suggests she has managed to conceal her true intentions without anyone suspecting her.”Honour” arouses ideas of the highest respect something of which Lady Macbeth clearly does not meet whatsoever.
Lady Macbeth being able to decieve the King of all people paints her to be particularly intelligent and devious, she knows how to create a perfect facade that anyone could be fooled by, even the king! As shown Lady Macbeth has built a fake appearance and the reality of this appearance will be the eventual death of King Duncan who believes he is safe within the Macbeths’ abode. Moreover, the clear use of dramatic irony used by Shakespeare reinforces Lady Macbeth’s incredible disguise and illustrates just how perfect she is in being able to decieve people as we, the reader, are aware King Duncan is going to be murdered.
Moreover, Lady Macbeth somewhat teaches Macbeth how to decieve people and as a reader we see how Macbeth begins to perfect this ‘ability’ : both still blinded to the ramifications to come for decieving others. Lady Macbeth implores that her husband “look the innocent flower but be the serpent underneath.” Here she outwardly insists that Macbeth construct a disguise and to appear as “innocent” as if no one would mistrust Macbeth’s integrity when in actual fact he will be a “serpent” , a creature which is oftenly associated with treachery and evil.
Macbeth perfecting deception is shown in Act 3 where he attempts to murder his best friend Banquo. By killing Banquo Macbeth displays how all along he pretended to be nothing but a good friend to Banquo but in reality he had a much more malevolent intent to secure his control over the crown and by killing Banquo Macbeth affirms he most definetly was “the serpent underneath” “the innocent flower”.
Furthermore, the witches play a prominent role in the theme of appearance and reality for they are the ones who arguably lead Macbeth down a path of murder, psychotic and unnatural behaviour.
The witches, unlike Lady Macbeth, need not build a facade for their very lexicons are their mask. The three witches use of equivocation in order to reveal the prophecies to Macbeth paint the theme of appearance versus reality. The witches (fully aware of their actions) speak in puzzling riddles which leads Macbeth to believe simply what he wants to believe for they tell him “none of woman born shall harm Macbeth.” Macbeth’s belief he is somewhat immortalized creates him to have a loaded God complex. Macbeth truley believes he cannot be killed but we see he is proven wrong when he is slain by Macduff who “was from his mother’s womb/Untimely ripp’d.”
This indicates Macduff was born via cezarian which isn’t the ‘natural’ way of birth and because of this he technically wasn’t “woman born”. Macbeth fails to realize that although the witches say he cannot be killed they do in fact tell the truth but not the full truth. We are shown how language itself can be used to convey the theme of appearance versus reality. Whether it was Macbeth’s sheer ignorance towards the idea of other means of being born is completely arguable but regardless the witches decide to speak in puzzling riddles to confuse Macbeth and as he knows not what to believe he comes to the conclusion to believe whatever satisifies him.
Shakespare uses the idea of deception to paint the effects it can have, Shakespeare fears that many people in society had begun to become deceptive and this is a clear message to those who fall sinners to this vile crime. Shakespeare simply wants people to become more honest and if people do not transition into more kind and compassionate people then they will face the same fate that had come of Lady Macbeth and Macbeth for Shakespeare simply wants to show that deception leads to nothing but severe ramifications: Shakespeare wants people to uphold christian values once again and if we are guilty of deception we will inevitably be punished.
