HOW DOES SHAKESPEARE PRESENT THE THEME OF APPEARANCE
VS REALITY?
When considering how Shakespeare presents the theme of appearance vs
reality in the play ‘Macbeth’, one immediately is reminded of the way in
which Shakespeare plays upon and dives deep into the darker side of
humanity and plotting of the inner mind. By doing so, Shakespeare
demonstrates how individuals, such as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, hide
their true identities and the tragic consequences that ensue because of
other’s misconceptions upon them – all in the pursuit of power.
At the beginning of the play in Act 1 Scene 1, the audience are introduced
to the witches who set up the scene of chaos and an inverted world of
‘Macbeth’, which immediately poses this paradox of which the theme
appearance vs reality can be seen from. Within the first lines of the
witches and the play, the audience are already given a summary being
that the play is centralised around the twisting and works of morality in
regards to power, lust, and desire, when the witches say ‘fair is foul and
foul is fair’. This shows how the boundaries between good and evil are
blurred and confused but could also suggest how kindness and evil are
more linked than one might think – leading to the misconceptions of other
characters like Duncan thinking Macbeth is ‘worthy’ and ‘brave’ when in
fact Macbeth is plotting Duncan’s murder for the crown. Pressing upon
this, we could argue that the repetition of both ‘fair’ and ‘foul’ shows how
these ideas are interchangeable and that an individual cannot be one
without the other, begging the question of whether or not appearance vs
reality is really the making of humankind or if it is the creation of God that
has always been within man from the start. From how ‘foul’ is a more
dominant and a more intimidating word in comparison to the word ‘fair’
which connotes more of a caring and pleasant depiction there is this
underlying fact that evil will always overpower good just as the urge of
appearance will always overpower the moral virtue of reality.
Not only is it the witches that present the theme of appearance vs reality,
it is also Lady Macbeth who is seen to be consumed by the need to uphold
false pretences in order to get what she wants, which is the crown and
power. From how Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth to ‘look like the innocent
flower but be the serpent under’t’ in Act 1 Scene 5, the audience are
presented with the viewpoint of these characters that living under false
pretences when still appearing to be virtuous and noble is arguably
morally correct as long as it results in the favourable outcome of gaining
power. By the use of juxtaposition, Shakespeare demonstrates how there
can be a dangerous divide between a person’s outward appearance and
inward nature. This sense of always possessing a duplicitous nature is
further exemplified by the word ‘under’t’ which implies that evil is the
root, the underlying factor of all human behaviour. With this, Lady
Macbeth is almost justifying her deceit and manipulation, and perhaps
even appealing to the Jacobean audience, in arguing that it is just apart of
all human nature and so is normal.
VS REALITY?
When considering how Shakespeare presents the theme of appearance vs
reality in the play ‘Macbeth’, one immediately is reminded of the way in
which Shakespeare plays upon and dives deep into the darker side of
humanity and plotting of the inner mind. By doing so, Shakespeare
demonstrates how individuals, such as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, hide
their true identities and the tragic consequences that ensue because of
other’s misconceptions upon them – all in the pursuit of power.
At the beginning of the play in Act 1 Scene 1, the audience are introduced
to the witches who set up the scene of chaos and an inverted world of
‘Macbeth’, which immediately poses this paradox of which the theme
appearance vs reality can be seen from. Within the first lines of the
witches and the play, the audience are already given a summary being
that the play is centralised around the twisting and works of morality in
regards to power, lust, and desire, when the witches say ‘fair is foul and
foul is fair’. This shows how the boundaries between good and evil are
blurred and confused but could also suggest how kindness and evil are
more linked than one might think – leading to the misconceptions of other
characters like Duncan thinking Macbeth is ‘worthy’ and ‘brave’ when in
fact Macbeth is plotting Duncan’s murder for the crown. Pressing upon
this, we could argue that the repetition of both ‘fair’ and ‘foul’ shows how
these ideas are interchangeable and that an individual cannot be one
without the other, begging the question of whether or not appearance vs
reality is really the making of humankind or if it is the creation of God that
has always been within man from the start. From how ‘foul’ is a more
dominant and a more intimidating word in comparison to the word ‘fair’
which connotes more of a caring and pleasant depiction there is this
underlying fact that evil will always overpower good just as the urge of
appearance will always overpower the moral virtue of reality.
Not only is it the witches that present the theme of appearance vs reality,
it is also Lady Macbeth who is seen to be consumed by the need to uphold
false pretences in order to get what she wants, which is the crown and
power. From how Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth to ‘look like the innocent
flower but be the serpent under’t’ in Act 1 Scene 5, the audience are
presented with the viewpoint of these characters that living under false
pretences when still appearing to be virtuous and noble is arguably
morally correct as long as it results in the favourable outcome of gaining
power. By the use of juxtaposition, Shakespeare demonstrates how there
can be a dangerous divide between a person’s outward appearance and
inward nature. This sense of always possessing a duplicitous nature is
further exemplified by the word ‘under’t’ which implies that evil is the
root, the underlying factor of all human behaviour. With this, Lady
Macbeth is almost justifying her deceit and manipulation, and perhaps
even appealing to the Jacobean audience, in arguing that it is just apart of
all human nature and so is normal.
