Introduction
Shakespeare's play Macbeth exposes the thin line between appearance and reality. Throughout the plot, things and characters are not what they seem to be at first glance. Characters pretend to be whom they are not in a bid to advance their hidden agenda upon each other. Shakespeare managed to develop themes such as betrayal, murder, madness, supernatural, and greed themes around appearance and reality (Coursen 376). For example, Macbeth advances his evil plot to kill King Duncan by pretending to be friendly and framing other people. Because of the many contrasts such as Macbeth’s pretense, the vision of ghosts, euphemism, and misleading prophecies, one can identify how Shakespeare advances the theme of appearance and reality in his play.
Throughout the play, Shakespeare used a euphemism to advance the theme of appearance vs reality. Characters such as the witches, Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, King Duncan, and Donalbain often use words and phrases that infer other hidden meanings. The use of euphemism engages readers to think deeper into the characters’ words within the context of the play to identify what they meant. For example, early in the play, king Duncan states “There’s no art to finding the mind’s construction in the face” (Shakespeare, 1.4.12-13). In the above statement, king Duncan was referring to the Thane of Cawdor, who had betrayed Scotland by aiding Norwegians in their conquest. Therefore, King Duncan meant that people are not who they always appear to be physically and are capable of hiding their intentions. For example, being named a thane meant nobility and a high level of patriotism, traits that the previous Thane of Cawdor did not possess in reality. Moreover, at the beginning of the play, Macbeth said “Let light not see my dark and deep desires” (Shakespeare 1 .4.59). The statement revealed his intentions to take the Scottish throne by killing the king. At the same time, the king was making him a thane, which illustrates that he was not as noble as he appeared. Notably, when scheming for the king’s murder, lady Macbeth told Macbeth to “Look like an innocent flower but be a serpent under it” (Shakespeare 1.5.72). in this case, she was advising her husband to pretend to be honest and welcoming to the king so that no one would suspect their true desires. Unlike his sons, King Duncan was unable to discern between appearance and reality, which eventually leads to his death. When he visited Macbeth’s castle, he remained unaware of his hosts’ evil plan against him. Instead, he even complimented their castle saying “This castle hath a pleasant seat” (Shakespeare 1.6.1). The appearance of the castle and the pretentious nature of the hosts fooled Duncan to believe he was in a nice place while instead, it was where his enemy had planned to murder him. Later that night, Macbeth murdered him in his sleep.
Additionally, Donalbain, Duncan's son also acknowledged that not all people are as they appear. He claimed, "There are daggers in men's smiles" (Shakespeare 2.3.138), which meant that people can hide bad intentions behind their smiley faces. Malcolm, King Duncan's son and apparent heir to the throne of Scotland, had also harnessed the use of pretense to secure himself. When Malcolm and his brother learn about their father's murder, they escape to England and Ireland respectively because they feared that whoever killed their father would come after them a well. While in exile, Macduff, a Scottish nobleman who opposed Malcolm and fled to England joins Malcolm to convince him to go back home with an army. Unlike his father, Malcolm was keen to make the same mistake his father made; therefore, he pretended not to like or be worthy to be king of Scotland (Idrees 5). He did not trust Macduff because he thought he was not whom he seemed. In this case, he thought maybe he was a spy sent by Macbeth to lure him to his death. He lied claimed to be unfit to rule because of his greed stating that “I should forge Quarrels unjust against the good and loyal. Destroying them for wealth” (Shakespeare 4.3.82-84). In this case, Malcolm is not as he claimed to be, rather, he changed his appearance to evaluate whether Macduff's intentions were only to lure him to his death.
Moreover, the use of supernatural elements in the play develops the theme of appearance versus reality. For example, before murdering King Duncan, Macbeth saw a dagger in front of him and rejected it. He determined that it was a product of his hallucinations and he could not touch the knife. Additionally, Banquo’s ghosts appeared before Macbeth during the banquet presenting the same problem as that of the dagger (Hardwick 57). He was the only one who could see it, raising the debate on what is real and what is not. In this case, the audience can question the reality of Banquo’s ghost reality. On one hand, it could be a creation of Macbeth's imagination arising from his guilt because of contributing to Banquo's death. On the other hand, it could be a reality that Banquo had chosen to torment Macbeth because of the atrocity he had committed against him. Moreover, his wife, Lady Macbeth experienced hallucinations that distorted his ability to discern between reality and appearance. Because of the guilt of murdering Duncan, Lady Macbeth went insane and started sleepwalking and talking to herself (Hardwick 24). She would often shout “Out, damned spot! Out I say!” (Shakespeare, 5.1.30). She would also try scrubbing blood off her hand and claim that it failed to come off. The situation reveals a distinction between appearance and reality in such a way that Lady Macbeth thought what she experienced was real, while in reality, they were hallucinations.
Noticeably, Shakespeare used the three witches at the beginning of the play to introduce the audience to a possible plot twist. The three witches stated that "Fair is foul and foul is fair" (1.1.11). The oxymoron hints to the audience, even before Macbeth's character is developed, that things are not as they manifest. Moreover, when Macbeth became worried about the intensifying resistance from his subjects and noblemen, he visited the witches' cavern. They provided him with more prophesies that distorted his perception of appearance and reality. (Hardwick 47). They told him that “Macbeth shall never be vanquished until Great Birnam Wood to Dunsinane Hill Shall come against him” (Shakespeare 4.1.91-93). They also inform him that he cannot be by one born of a woman. The prophecies are fooled Macbeth as he was unable to think through the words. Instead, he superficially thought that he was safe and could not be vanquished because trees could not walk neither was there anybody not born by a woman (Coursen 380). However, his assumptions were fallacious because Malcolm's men camouflaged themselves as Great Birnam wood and advanced towards Macbeth's position unnoticed (Idrees 6). In this case, Malcolm's army camouflaged as walking trees contrary to what Macbeth expected because, in reality, no one anticipates or even thinks about trees walking. As a result of a confusing appearance, Macbeth's army was caught off-guard and defeated, making him pay the ultimate price, death.
Conclusion
Overall, Shakespeare’s play Macbeth is filled with multiple contrasting situations that illustrate the theme of appearance versus reality. The characters are full of lies and deceit, which often confuses others, leading to the tragic unfolding of the events. Shakespeare harnessed the use of euphemism, supernatural, and hallucinations to highlight the thin between appearance and reality. The hallucinations experienced by Macbeth and his wife revealed that illusions can be mistaken to be real while they do not exist in reality. People should be aware that looks do not define the true nature of an individual.
