Macbeth Deception Research Paper

Young Siward proclaims to Macbeth, “Thou liest, abhorred tyrant; with my sword / I’ll prove the lie thou speak’st” (V.vii.9-11). Young Siward describes Macbeth as a tyrant and challenges him to a fight to try and show his bravery. The play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, follows a series of events in a soldier’s life, whose name is Macbeth. During this play it overviews many different motifs like appearance versus reality and guilt. However, one of the most notable motifs is how evil works by deception. William Shakespeare illustrates in his play Macbeth that deception can come from within a person or be facilitated by others, and that deception can lead a person on an evil path and bring about that person’s downfall. Prior to Macbeth deceiving

Macbeth utters, “Is this a dagger which I see before me, / The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee: “I have thee not, and yet I see thee still”(II.i.33-35). Macbeth is hallucinating the sword that he will use to kill Duncan with, and the witches' prophecies have made him see things that he didn’t want to do before. Macbeth is also thinking about killing Duncan and how being King would feel. The witches’ prophecies have made him think about it and have deceived him into wanting the King’s position. Later Macbeth cries, “This is a sorry sight. / [...] There’s one who did laugh in ‘s sleep, and one cried ‘Murder!’ / That they did wake each other: I stood and heard them;”(II.ii.21-26). Macbeth can’t believe what he has done and regrets listening to the witches. He was tricked by them and was deceived by the witches to murder the king. Even though Macbeth was deceived by the witches, he deceives himself many times into doing things he normally would avoid and leads himself on an evil path that eventually leads to his downfall. While other people in Macbeth’s life, like the witches and his wife, deceive him, Macbeth himself deceives him the