“Foul is fair, fair is foul”. In the play “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare the quote “foul is fair, fair is foul” is receptively used in this play. This quote is very important, and foreshadows many parts of the play. This quote basically means what’s good is bad and what’s bad is good. When Macbeth kills King Duncan, and later on Duncan haunts him, and when Macbeth killed Banquo and tries to kill his son, and when Macduff gets exiled for treason against Scotland are all foreshadows of the quote “foul is fair, Fair is foul”.
Macbeth is pressured and forced to kill King Duncan by his wife (Lady Macbeth) so he can become King. If Macbeth does not commit treason to King Duncan and kill him, then he will be considered a coward by his wife. Macbeth
thinks it is a good thing that he killed Duncan, but in reality he can’t handle the responsibility to become King. Duncan haunts him till the point where Macbeth can’t sleep anymore. Macbeth kills Banquo ad tries killing Banquos son (Fleance) but Fleance escapes and runs away and that makes Macbeth paranoid. Macbeth is already paranoid that people will find out about him killing Duncan and the last thing he needs is for Banquos son to go around telling everyone he Is a traitor and killed his father and the King. At dinner everyone gathers around to eat and as they were eating Macbeth see’s a ghost of Banquoand explodes psychotically and starts confessing slowly but surely to the madness he has caused. In the beginning of the play Macduff gets exiled for treason against Scotland by giving supplies to Norway. Well that was what was running through everyone’s mind but in reality that was never happening. While being exiled from Scotland he comes back to set an attack on Macbeth because he’s been acting suspicious and assumes he is the murder. Macduff always suspected Macbeth as the murder and never obeyed him as the new king. Macbeth ends up getting scared of Macbeth and fled to England not thinking Macbeth was capable of killing his wife and children. Macduff reaction to his family being murdered was very calm and self controlled. In conclusion, “Fair is foul, foul is fair” is expressed many times in this essay. This means what’s good is bad and what’s bad is good. Macbeth kills King Duncan and ends up being King, But ends up being haunted by Duncan and can’t take being King anymore. Macbeth kills Banquo and tries killing his son but is son escapes and Macbeth ends up being paranoid and being haunted by Banquo. Macduff gets exiled for something he didn’t do and holds a grudge against Macbeth and ends up setting a attack on Macbeth and gets scared and flees to England and Macbeth murders his family.
Lady Macbeth was overall the biggest bully in the Macbeth play. She exerted control over her husband. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth made a plan to kill King Duncan following The Three Witches prophecy where they foretold he would be king. In Act 1 Scene 7 Macbeth decides not to King Duncan because he was “his kinsman and his subject” and because Duncan “Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been...So clear in his great office”. When Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth that he won’t kill King Duncan, she calls him a coward saying "When you durst do it, then you were a man". By calling him a coward and questioning his manliness she pushed him to murder King Duncan.
Our main character Macbeth is very driven by his need for what he believes to be the truth. The play starts out with the quote “Fair is foul, and foul is fair,” (1.1.6) meaning nothing is, as it seems. This quote was from all three witches, who decided they were going to seek out Macbeth who at the time was Thane of Glamis and a prized solider on the battlefield. Macbeth at this time was looking for more in his life. The witches then gave him and his friend Banquo three prophecies. They were that he would become Tha...
In the beginning of Shakespeare's play “Macbeth”,just before Macbeth encounters the witches for the first time, he shows that he is disturbed by the things he has seen in the war,in the line “So foul and fair a day I have not seen”. One interpretation of this quote is that the use of juxtaposition shows that Macbeth's conscience is split in two ;while he has won the battle in “fair” combat however the enemy's gore and blood shed was incredibly “foul” and has seen has deeply scared him. In particular the words “not seen” could suggest that he wishes to unsee what he has already seen as it is all to much for him, Shakespeare also uses this quote foreshadow Macbeth downfall as the line closely parallels with the chant all three witches sing in the very first scene “Fair is foul, and foul is fair” . This line and the quote “So foul and fair a day I have not seen” both use juxtaposition for effect and not only that both quotes use “foul” and “fair” to express it, this shows that from the beginning Macbeth is linked to the forces of darkness before he even meets the witches or writes the letter to Lady Macbeth,
Lady Macbeth is an extremely ambitious woman and wants more than anything for her husband, Macbeth, to be the next King of Scotland. When King Duncan announces that his son, Malcolm, is to be the next King, Duncan’s murder is planned. Lady Macbeth’s crucial role in the play is to persuade Macbeth to carry out the murder of Duncan. In the beginning she is ambitious, controlling and strong. However as the plot concludes there is an extreme change in her character and personality which surprises the audience. Lady Macbeth’s guilt eventually becomes too much for her to handle which leads to her death.
Fair is foul, and foul is fair, a phrase that has become synonym with Macbeth. It is also the introduction to one of the most important themes of this tragedy: appearance and reality. Shakespeare uses various characters and situations to emphasize this confusion between the real and the surreal, the authentic and the fake, the act and the sincere. In order to discuss this theme, different characters will be looked at : in the first paragraph, the Witches, in the second, Duncan and in the third, Lady Macbeth.
Lady Macbeth is getting very confused that Macbeth is refusing to kill King Duncan and she cannot commit the crime her self because evidently King Duncan resembles too much like her father. She fells that Macbeth is not a man and she ridicules and tries to persuade him to kill King Duncan by saying that he is not a man and that the only way to become a man is to kill the king (regicide).
The Theme Fair is Foul and Foul is Fair in Macbeth by William Shakespeare The witches in a "barren heath" are the first to mention Macbeth - thus indicating that he, the main character of the play, has, or will have a very strong tie to them and evil. Shakespeare opens the play with a dark and mysterious atmosphere, setting the mood of the play using a thunderstorm, an example of pathetic fallacy, a device used effectively throughout the play. This opening suggests that a battle is going on between good and evil; the witches reinforce this suggestion: 'When the battle's lost and won'. This play immediately gives the impression of deceit and evil scheming because as the witches riddle relates 'Fair is foul, and foul is fair'. This is the play's main theme - appearances can be deceptive.
Lady Macbeth is a vicious and overly ambitious woman, her desire of having something over rules all the moral behaviors that one should follow. On the beginning of the novel, Macbeth receives the news that if Duncan, the current king, passed away he would be the next one to the throne. So, Lady Macbeth induces Macbeth into killing Duncan by filling his mind with ambition and planting cruel seeds into his head. After accomplishing his deed of killing the king, he brings out the daggers that were used during the murder, and says, “I’ll go no more. I am afraid to think what I have done; look on’t again I dare not.” This is his first crime and Macbeth is already filled with guilt and regret. He shows the reader to be the weak one of the duo. Lady Macbeth as the cruel partner still has some sentiment and somewhat a weakness in her heart and mind. When talking about Duncan she says, “Had he not resembled my father as he slept, I had done’t.” Weakness is still present and will always be there throughout the novel but this one change the fact that Lady Macbeth is still the stronger and cruel one.
The heroic loyal character of Macbeth is forced into a internal battle to decide between ambition and loyalty to his king. Macbeth overcomes the evil within him, though Lady Macbeth crushes his thoughts of loyalty to the king by calling him a coward or threatening his manliness. Macbeth allows the evilness to grow within him, which allows ambition to take control of his life. Due to the evilness that has started to control his life he prepares to kill the man who has given him everything to his credit, to fulfil his ambition, and to become King.
Lady Macbeth is the culprit of manipulating Macbeth which leads to disastrous events making her responsible for the evil that dwells in Macbeth. Lady Macbeth calls Macbeth’s masculinity into question to encourage him to kill King Duncan. King Duncan arrives at Inverness, and Lady Macbeth and Macbeth set a plan in motion to kill the King Duncan so Macbeth can obtain his position as king. Everyone is patiently waiting for a delicious feast inside the castle. As Macbeth enters gradually, he is reluctant and has second thoughts deciding whether or not to kill the king but then considers to kill King Duncan after Lady Macbeth encourages him. As Lady Macbeth enters, she tells Macbeth that the King wants to see him. After deciding whether to kill
Lady Macbeth is the first to strategize a way to kill Duncan. As a character foil to Macbeth she juxtaposes their possession of guilt and ruthlessness, which creates irony and excitement to the play. Originally, she is very power hungry and wants to utilize her husband’s position in status to become queen. Macbeth objects to the plan to kill Duncan because he believes Duncan is Macbeth’s kinsman, host, and an overall virtuous ruler (Act. 1 Scene. 7) and thus feels very guilty for taking advantage of Duncan’s trusting quality towards the Macbeth family. She refers to Macbeth as weak and rebukes his manhood (Act 1. Scene 7.) . As the play progresses, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth have a character role reversal of their possession of guilt and ruthlessness. The character foil is extant, however Macbeth’s ruthlessness overcomes his guilt, and Lady Macbeth’s guilt vanquishes her drive for power. In addition to an alteration in character foils, Shakespeare introduces situational irony because now Lady Macbeth succumbs to the weakness Macbeth once possessed and Macbeth is the one who is formidable and ambitious. Macbeth’s ability to transcend his guilt exemplifies his struggle for power and reinforces the theme of evil ambition because Macbeth is able to secure the throne and power only by mass
Theme of Fair is Foul in William Shakespeare's Macbeth 'Fair is Foul' is the major theme in Macbeth and is present throughout the play in both the characters and the events. ' Fair is Foul' refers to the contrast of good and evil in the play, since Macbeth commits many evil murders for what seem to be good reasons. There are several false and secretive characters, such as the Witches, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, because of the contradiction of good and evil. Therefore the theme of 'Fair is Foul' is also linked to the theme of appearances being deceiving. As a result of this theme lots of chaos, lies, secrets and total disorder are caused.
The quoted phrase, “fair is foul and foul is fair” is used frequently, the phrase itself is an oxymoron. Early in the play the reader sees Macbeth as the hero because he has saved all of Scotland from the Norwegians. Duncan, honoring Macbeth, says, “More is thy due than more than all can pay.” (Act 1, Scene ) Towards the middle of the play the reader suddenly begins to pity Macbeth, slowly realizing his encroaching insanity for what it is, a downward spiral of death and increased mistakes. Finally, at the end of the play, the reader's opinion of Macbeth moves more towards hate and a feeling that Macbeth is unmistakably evil. As the second witch said:
In Macbeth, William Shakespeare introduces the chant “Fair is foul and foul is fair” in the first scene of the play, which is a theme throughout the story that sets the stage for the deliberate confusion of good and evil among the characters. The first time these words are mentioned is at the beginning of the first act by the witches. In the opening scene, the three witches are discussing when they will meet again. In the last line of the scene, they all chant “Fair is foul and foul is fair” (Act 1. 1. 12) which sets the tone for the play and demonstrates a switch between good and evil. Macbeth’s first words in the play echo those of the witches from the beginning. Second, when Macbeth and Banquo are looking over the battlefield, Macbeth says,
The main theme of Macbeth-the destruction wrought when ambition goes unchecked by moral constraints-finds its most powerful expression in the play's two main characters. Macbeth is a courageous Scottish general who is not naturally inclined to commit evil deeds, yet he deeply desires power and advancement. He kills Duncan against his better judgment and afterward stews in guilt and paranoia. Toward the end of the play he descends into a kind of frantic, boastful madness. Lady Macbeth, on the other hand, pursues her goals with greater determination, yet she is less capable of withstanding the repercussions of her immoral acts. One of Shakespeare's most forcefully drawn female characters, she spurs her husband mercilessly to kill Duncan and urges him to be strong in the murder's aftermath, but she is eventually driven to distraction by the effect of Macbeth's repeated bloodshed on her conscience. In each case, ambition helped, of course, by the malign prophecies of the witches is what drives the couple to ever more terrible atrocities. The problem, the play suggests, is that once one decides to use violence to further one?s quest for power, it is difficult to stop. There are always potential threats to the throne?Banquo, Fleance, Macduff?and it is always tempting to use violent means to dispose of them.