Macbeth is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, following the dark tale of how the recurring theme of appearance vs. reality can have catastrophic effects. This theme shows that there is a dark side to every seemingly bright light. While hiding behind false realities may seem appealing, it will never end adequately. The theme of appearance vs. reality recurs throughout Macbeth never failing to cause anguish, keeping the characters in a seemingly endless loop as they continue to keep falling into the deception around them and allowing themselves to be fooled, as shown by the grim consequences taken on by Macbeth and his lady.
The act of hiding behind false illusions will nearly always have disastrous consequences. Macbeth’s character starts off as a seemingly loyal Thane to the king but soon starts dreaming of murdering Duncan for his title based on thoughts put into his head by the three witches. Nobody would have ever expected these thoughts to be coming from the brave, noble Macbeth besides his wife. Together, they plot
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Macbeth took advantage of these weaknesses and killed Duncan while he was a guest in Macbeth’s castle after throwing a feast for him. After the deceased body is found, both Macbeth and his lady act shocked, and even go so far as to faint on the spot, hiding their betrayal behind the act. Lady Macbeth used gender roles to her advantage, hiding her impurity behind her womanhood, making herself seem incapable of such a thing as murder. As stated by Duncan’s son Donalbain, “Where we are, / There’s daggers in men's smiles. The near in blood, / The nearer bloody” (Shakespeare 2.3.164-66). As he looked around, all Donalbain could think about was how one of the men surrounding him had killed his father, only a few hours ago. This goes to show how easy it is to hide behind a mask because although they had their suspicions, nobody knew for certain who had killed