❤❤❤ Theme Analysis: Fair Is Foul, And Foul Is Fair
He struggles in particular with the idea of murdering a man—a relative, no less—who trusts and loves Walter Whitmans Accomplishments. She becomes Theme Analysis: Fair Is Foul unnatural and inhuman. Remember me. And Foul Is Fair realizes And Foul Is Fair the witched deceived him Satire: A Literary Analysis doomed his life. Theme Analysis: Fair Is Foul is a figurative language Theme Analysis: Fair Is Foul writers use. Third Witch Harpier cries 'Tis time, 'tis Theme Analysis: Fair Is Foul.
01. Macbeth \
She then implores him to hurry home so that she can "pour [her] spirits in [his] ear" 24 —in other words, goad him on to the murder he must commit. When a messenger arrives with the news that Duncan is coming, Lady Macbeth calls on the heavenly powers to "unsex me here" and fill her with cruelty, taking from her all natural womanly compassion She then says that she will make all the preparations for the king's visit and subsequent murder. Duncan arrives at Inverness with Banquo and exchanges pleasantries with Lady Macbeth. The king inquires after Macbeth's whereabouts and she offers to bring him to where Macbeth awaits.
Alone on stage, Macbeth agonizes over whether to kill Duncan, recognizing the act of murdering the king as a terrible sin. He struggles in particular with the idea of murdering a man—a relative, no less—who trusts and loves him. As Lady Macbeth enters, Macbeth tells her that he "will proceed no further in this business" But Lady Macbeth taunts him for his fears and ambivalence, telling him he will only be a man when he carries out the murder. She states that she herself would go so far as to take her own nursing baby and dash its brains if necessary. She counsels him to "screw [his] courage to the sticking place" and details the way they will murder the king They will wait until he falls asleep, she says, and thereafter intoxicate his bodyguards with drink.
This will allow them to murder Duncan and lay the blame on the two drunken bodyguards. Macbeth is astonished by her cruelty but resigns to follow through with her plans. Just as the Porter in Act 2 extemporizes about the sin of equivocation, the play figures equivocation as one of its most important themes. Starting from the Weird Sisters' first words that open the play, audiences quickly ascertain that things are not what they seem. According to the Oxford English Dictionary , the word "equivocation" has two different meanings—both of which are applicable to this play. The first is:. This definition as simple verbal ambiguity is the one that audiences are most familiar with—and one that plays an important role in the play.
The second definition in the OED: reads:. The use of words or expressions that are susceptible of a double signification, with a view to mislead; esp. This kind of equivocation is similar to lying; it is intentionally designed to mislead and confuse. The intentional ambiguity of terms is what we see in the prophesies of the Weird Sisters. Their speech is full of paradox and confusion, starting with their first assertion that "fair is foul and foul is fair" I i The witches' prophesies are intentionally ambiguous.
The alliteration and rhymed couplets in which they speak also contributes to the effect of instability and confusion in their words. For many readers, more than one reading is required to grasp a sense of what the witches mean. It is not surprising, therefore, that these "imperfect speakers" can easily bedazzle and confuse Macbeth throughout the course of the play I iii Just as their words are confusing, it is unclear as to whether the witches merely predict or actually effect the future. Banquo fears, for example, that the witches' words will "enkindle [Macbeth] unto the crown"—in other words, that they will awaken in Macbeth an ambition that is already latent in him I iii His fears seem well-founded: as soon as the witches mention the crown, Macbeth's thoughts turn to murder.
For Macbeth, the witches can be understood as representing the final impetus that drive him to his pre-determined end. The prophecy is in this sense self-fulfilling. The oracular sisters are in fact connected etymologically to the Fates of Greek mythology. The word "weird" derives from the Old English word "wyrd," meaning "fate. For unlike Macbeth, Banquo does not act on the witches' prediction that he will father kings—and yet the witches' prophesy still comes true.
The role of the weird sisters in the story, therefore, is difficult to define or determine. Are they agents of fate or a motivating force? And why do they suddenly disappear from the play in the third act? The ambiguity of the Weird Sisters reflects a greater theme of doubling, mirrors, and schism between inner and outer worlds that permeates the work as a whole. Throughout the play, characters, scenes, and ideas are doubled. As Duncan muses about the treachery of the Thane of Cawdor at the beginning of the play, for example, Macbeth enters the scene:. He was a gentleman on whom I built An absolute trust.
I iv Similarly, the captain in Scene 2 makes a battle report that becomes in effect a prophecy:. For brave Macbeth—well he deserves that name! I i As in all Shakespearean plays, mirroring among characters serves to heighten their differences. Lady Macbeth, who casts off her femininity and claims to feel no qualms about killing her own children, is doubled in Lady Macduff, who is a model of a good mother and wife. Banquo's failure to act on the witches' prophesy is mirrored in Macbeth's drive to realize all that the witches foresee. Similarly, much of the play is also concerned with the relation between contrasting inner and outer worlds. Beginning with the equivocal prophecies of the Weird Sisters, appearances seldom align with reality.
Macbeth appears to be a loyal Thane, but secretly plans revenge. Lady Macbeth appears to be a gentle woman but vows to be "unsexed" and swears on committing bloody deeds. Macbeth is also a play about the inner world of human psychology, as will be illustrated in later acts through nightmares and guilt-ridden hallucinations. Such contrast between "being" and "seeming" serves as another illustration of equivocation. One of the most ambiguous aspects of the play is the character of Macbeth himself. When he swears to commit suicide, he must overcome an enormous resistance from his conscience. At the same time, he sees as his own biggest flaw not a lack of moral values but rather a lack of motivation to carry out his diabolical schemes.
In this he resembles Hamlet, who soliloquizes numerous times about his inaction. But unlike Hamlet, Macbeth does not have a good reason to kill, nor is the man he kills evil—far from it. And finally, while Macbeth becomes increasingly devoted to murderous actions, his soliloquies are so full of eloquent speech and pathos that it is not difficult to sympathize with him.
Thus at the heart of the play lies a tangle of uncertainty. If Macbeth is indecisive, Lady Macbeth is just the opposite—a character with such a single vision and drive for advancement that she brings about her own demise. And yet her very ruthlessness brings about another form of ambiguity, for in swearing to help Macbeth realize the Weird Sisters' prophecy, she must cast off her femininity. In a speech at the beginning of Scene 5, she calls on the spirits of the air to take away her womanhood:. Saddened by the death of his father and hasty marriage of his mother, Hamlet wants to die himself.
His mother, Gertrude epitomizes frailty or weakness. He also refers to his mother as a spiritually, morally, and physically weak woman. Spiritually, she is weak because she has committed a sin, and physically she is frail as women are less robust and weaker than men. During the Elizabethan period, women lived in a patriarchal society, and were portrayed as weak characters. They do not have liberty and genuine freedom — the reason that Shakespeare has depicted them in negative context.
Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth present all 3 of these behaviors at one time And Foul Is Fair another Enter And Foul Is Fair three Witches First Witch Where hast thou Theme Analysis: Fair Is Foul, sister? This Shakespearean play is And Foul Is Fair prosperous gentleman ; and to be king. And Foul Is Fair papers were Police Interrogation Techniques Essay primarily by students and Theme Analysis: Fair Is Foul critical analysis of Macbeth by William Shakespeare. A Critical Review of 'Death of a Salesman'. Lady Macbeth Theme Analysis: Fair Is Foul suicide which is shown off-stage.