What Is The Motif Of Appearance Vs Reality In Macbeth

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Can one really trust one’s eyesight? Sometimes what appears to the eye is nothing similar to the reality. One should never judge only on the appearances like the old saying says “Never judge a book by its cover.” Shakespeare successfully uses the motif of appearances vs. reality to develop the idea that appearances can be deceiving as a central theme of Macbeth.
Early in the play, Shakespeare uses the motif of appearance vs. reality to show that appearances can be deceiving when King Duncan visits Macbeth’s castle for the first time. King Duncan enters the castle and describes it as having a “pleasant seat. The air/ Nimbly and sweetly recommends itself unto the gentle senses” (Shakespeare I, vi, 1-3). The castle appears to be pleasant and welcoming …show more content…

reality to relate to the idea that appearances can be deceiving when Lady Macbeth and Macbeth kill King Duncan and put blood all over the two fainted soldiers, who were guarding the door. Lady Macbeth notices the daggers in Macbeth’s hands and says, “”Why did you bring these daggers from the place?/ They must lie there. Go, carry them and smear/ The sleepy grooms with blood” so that they can blame the murder on them and no one would know (Shakespeare II, ii, 62-64). Lady Macbeth plans on keeping the daggers by the guards and spreading blood all over their body to make it appear like the guards have murdered the King, but in reality, they were the ones who killed him. This quote means that it is easier to deceive someone because everyone think that what they see is always true. Ross asks MacDuff about the person who killed King Duncan and MacDuff replies to that by saying,“Those that Macbeth hath slain” (Shakespeare II, iv, 32). Ross and MacDuff believe what they see, but in reality, that was not the truth. Ross and MacDuff think that based on what they see and judge that the soldiers killed the King and killed them. But in reality, they did not kill them because they did not try to find out the whole truth. Sometimes it is better to find out what the whole truth is, instead of judging on what they see because what one sees is not always the

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