Macbeth Deceit And Gender Roles

Melissa Marroquin

Ms. Knapp

English IV pd 9

24 March 2023

Shakespearean Themes: Deceit and Gender Roles

Shakespeare shows a variety of themes in all his plays. Shakespeare was a famous sonnet and play writer from the eleventh century. He wrote Macbeth, a Shakespearean tragedy about a war hero that becomes power hungry, which leads to his downfall. He also wrote Much Ado About Nothing, a comedy that shows the love story between two couples falling in love. In both Much Ado About Nothing and Macbeth, the themes of deceit and gender roles in society are demonstrated throughout the play, however, they are sometimes presented in different ways.

In Macbeth and Much Ado About Nothing deceit is a shared theme represented through miscommunication. In Macbeth deceit is represented by the miscommunication within the witches'

Readers are introduced to the three witches that tell Macbeth his future. Towards the end of the book the witches showed four apparitions to Macbeth which were an armed head, a bloody child, a crowned child holding a tree, and a line of eight kings including Banquo. Each of these apparitions were warnings to Macbeth about his future. The apparitions presented to Macbeth that he would be defeated by a man not born of a woman and that it would be after a forest moved. (Shakespeare 4.1.1-145). Macbeth, doubtful that any of those apparitions could happen, believed that he would stay in his throne, however, everything prophesied did occur. Soldiers used tree logs to move the forest closer to the castle. Macduff, the man who defeated Macbeth, was born from a C-section. Macbeth presumed he could remain in power based on the witches' prophecies. The witches told him the truth in a deceitful manner and Macbeth misperceived their message. In Much Ado About Nothing, Shakesphere also used miscommunication between characters to represent deceit. For instance, Don John uses the