Illusion versus Reality

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Illusion versus Reality

Illusion versus reality is often referred to as deception of appearances. This is when something or something portrays itself as what it is not. Just like disguise, deception of appearances is an appearance in order to conceal one's true attitude or identity. This is related to the idiom "Do not judge a book, by its cover" and the metaphor "A wolf in sheep's clothing." In the play Macbeth, most characters deceived others by their outward appearances. An example of a character that was deceptive with his appearances was main character Macbeth.

Macbeth is a character in the play Macbeth who was vivacious and inveigled. He often deceived people with his outward appearance. At the beginning of the novel, Macbeth was a well-respected and noble man. He went to fight for his country Scotland and brought home victory. Later in the novel, because of greed Macbeth later betrays the king who put so much trust in him. Macbeth became greedy and because two of the witch’s prophecies had come true, he wanted the one about him being king to be true too. He deceived the king by portraying himself as a reliable solider meanwhile he had plotted with his wife to kill the king. Fair is foul, and foul is fair (1.1.12), just as bad is good, good is bad. When the king told Macbeth he was going to visit his castle, Macbeth acted very honored and nice to him. The king fell a victim of deception of appearance. Macbeth showed the king so much gratitude and was very much hospitable to him. Macbeth's false face must hide what false hearts doth know. The second time Macbeth deceived others with his outward appearance was when Duncan was murdered. Macbeth and his wife had finally succeeded in killing Duncan. When the...

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... like the witches prophecy had come to pass. At the beginning of the play, he seemed harmless and quiet. He portrayed himself as a noble character nevertheless at the end he proved himself victorious by saving Scotland from the hands of evil Macbeth.

Most people often mislead others with their outward appearance. It is advicable to study someone and learn his or her flaws before confiding or trusting in the person. Focusing on our illusions often save us pain, however when reality collides things may seem worse than they originally appeared. People do not always turn out to be what they portray themselves as. Macbeth for instance based his life on illusions rather than face the reality.

Works Cited
Shakespeare, William. Macbeth Oxford: Oxford University Press 1977

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