The Importance Of Deception In Shakespeare's Macbeth

As people live their lives, they will be met with various partial truths and misleading pieces of evidence, but Shakespeare reminds us in Macbeth that people should be cautious of the words they believe. They should judge the speaker’s character before they accept anything spoken by them even if there is partial truth in the words being spoken. Set in eleventh century Great Britain, Macbeth begins with the titular character, Macbeth, killing the armies of the Irish and Norwegians for his king, Duncan. He then receives a prophecy from three witches that he will be the future king of Scotland, which leads him down a dark and bloodied road. Deception is a key theme of this book for it is how the protagonist, Macbeth, is lead astray from loyalty to his king. The initial deception comes from the witches who give Macbeth the prophecy that he will be the future king of Scotland. The witches conveniently leave out that to reach this status Macbeth must slay his

Macbeth invites the King over to his castle for a celebration with the intent to kill the King, beginning the next deception. When Macbeth arrives at his castle, he cannot grasp the idea of himself consummating his scheme, however; Lady Macbeth, his wife, convinces him to do so anyway. Macbeth’s deception to the King is not the only deception in this portion; even nature seems to be in on the plot. When the King and Banquo arrive at the castle, they observe a House Martin building its nest in the castle walls. This bird only settles in pleasant areas and is considered a sign of purity, so they conclude that purity and righteousness follows whoever lives in this home which leads to both of their demises. After Macbeth finally commits the grievous atrocity against his King, he sets the blame on the King’s servants and feigns grief over his dead liege. The majority of the guests believe Macbeth, but some have their suspicions, including