Deception In Macbeth Analysis

Perhaps you have noticed it, perhaps you haven 't; deception may try to hide, but eventually, it shows itself, and very cleverly too - one salutes the author, William Shakespeare for the book whose theme headlines tragedy, with the subtle twists and turns of a thrillingly deceitful underplot and characters... Macbeth.

Deceptive and manipulative language is spread out through the whole play, but there are a few that stand out the most. The first example would be Banquo’s bold but true statement about deceit and evil: "But tis ' strange / And oftentimes, to win us to our harm / The instrument of darkness tell us truths / Win us with honest trifles, to betray 's / In deepest consequence." “Instrument of darkness,” refers to evil supernatural

Other than the use of deceptive and manipulative language, the incorporation of metaphors, personification and juxtaposition strongly advocate the theme of deception. A brilliant example, for instance, is Macbeth’s bloody - literally - metaphor about him murdering: "I am in blood /Stepp 'd in so far that I should wade no more, / returning were as tedious as go 'o 'er." It seems a tad over-dramatic using the phrase, "I am in blood," but as the blood is a reference to the people he killed in order to ascend to the crown it seems fitting. In the quote, Macbeth claims that he is already so involved in the murders that repenting or going further will be equally complicated and painful. As we coast along, nature comes to play its part in this line: "O, full of scorpions is my mind," "Scorpions," usually refers to evil, as scorpions are probably the last thing anyone wants on their way home on a dark night. Other than that, the quote implies that his mind is full of dark, malevolent thoughts that he 'd rather not share with anyone. Right at the start of the play, the audience is treated to one of the most iconic lines of Macbeth: "Fair is foul, and foul is fair," This line contradicts itself, and is a fine example of juxtaposition, as it means that playing fair is playing foul, and playing foul is playing fair, so to say. Moving ahead, we are treated to a passage of wonderful usage of personification: "Out, out, brief candle, / Life 's but a walking shadow, a poor player /

Using descriptive language has endowed the play with rich imageries, and dramatic irony has made readers’ wonder: ‘Are we really that oblivious?’ A fine example of dramatic irony coupled with descriptive language is when Macbeth bemoans the loss of his King - when he is clearly the one who killed him - “Here lay Duncan, / His silver skin laced with his golden blood, / And his gashed stabs looked like a breach in nature / For ruin’s wasteful entrance;” The second line seems to have Macbeth depicting Duncan in rich clothing; Macbeth is clearly acting in this scene, seeing as he killed the king, but still had the nerve to pretend to be shocked by the murder. When Duncan was still alive, he said this: “There 's no art / To find the mind 's construction in the face,” “Mind’s construction,” indicates the person’s personality; Duncan didn’t trust the last Thane of Cawdor - Macdonwald - and he thinks he trusts the new Thane of Cawdor - Macbeth - but look where that got him - killed, that’s what. Another example of dramatic irony is when Lady Macbeth assures her husband that a little water can clean the blood off her hands, but after all the murders, says: "Out, damned spot!" “Spot,” obviously refers to blood, and she can’t get the stains off her hands, contradicting her previous belief. Continuing on with Lady Macbeth, we see that she plots Duncan’s death, but when he arrives at the Macbeths’ she switches skins so fast one would get whiplash: “All our service, / In every