The Weapon of Deception
(analysis of the use of deception in Acts 1 and 2 of Macbeth) The use of deception is very prevalent throughout the play Macbeth written by Shakespeare. Deception is the act of deceiving. You can compare it to fraud or a scam. Many of the characters in Macbeth use deception to persuade others to do things they want done. Most times these deeds are bad and in the end come back to haunt the characters. Throughout the whole play, Shakespeare uses the theme of deception to create tension, and scandals. These acts of deception will be the falling of many characters and also one of the main themes of the play. In acts one and two, the use of deception is demonstrated. Deception is first used in Macbeth by William Shakespeare in scene six of act one. In this scene, the King is visiting Macbeth’s castle and is welcomed with Malcolm, Donalbain, Banquo, Lennox, Macduff, Ross, Angus, and Attendants. The first thing King Duncan
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In this scene, Macduff comes to Macbeth’s castle, looking to awake the King. He begins to say how the night was a ruthless one. It was so bad that chimneys were blown down and that Macduff can’t remember a night as terrible as that. Macbeth continues to deceive Macduff by acting that he has no idea that King Duncan is murdered in his room. When they open the door to his room, Macduff is horrified by the murder of his King. He calls on the others. Macbeth says, “Had I but died an hour before this chance, I had lived a blessed time; for from this instant there’s nothing serious in mortality;”(lines 92-94) Macbeth simply states that if he had only lived to hours before the King’s death, he would’ve lived a good meaningful life, but with the murder of King Duncan, now nothing is worthwhile in mortal life. Here he is trying to sound innocent to the others, however this statement is true for Macbeth as this is only the beginning of his