Deception in Macbeth

Social context

Drama itself is an illusion where actors pretend to be real.

Boys would have played the roles of Lady Macbeth and Lady Macduff.

Catholics may have been practicing their form of Christianity behind

closed doors while in public pretending to be Protestants. Even
courtiers in the King’s entourage could be Catholics deceiving the King
into believing they were loyal Protestants. Shakespeare’s father was
believed to have been a Catholic.

“Fair is foul and foul is fair.”

This alliterated and famous quotation encapsulates the theme of

deception, of appearance and reality in the play. Some scholars
maintain that far from being just an observation about human life by
the witches, with these words, they are actually making an incantation,
a spell, invoking evil to bring chaos and destruction into human affairs.
Their incantation is indeed successful until the death of Macbeth. So,
their spell sets the negative tone of the piece.

(tangent: by giving the witches so much power and influence,

Shakespeare is endearing himself to the monarch who himself believed
in witchcraft and its destructive power. James believes that witches
casting spells had nearly drowned himself and his betrothed Anne of
Denmark on the way back to Scotland. Shakespeare again illustrates
their power with the story about the captain of the Tigris. The witches
could influence events thousands of miles away.)
We find that our initial perception of Macbeth who is portrayed as
‘valour’s minion’ and ‘Bellona’s bridegroom’ (i.e. Mars the god of war) is
deceptive when his darker thoughts or regicide are discovered.

Macbeth is deceived by the witches who seem to be helping him and

bringing him good news while plotting his destruction. His
invulnerability to any man born of woman and his predicted success
unless Birnam Wood itself moves seem both to be very good omens.

However, Banquo is more circumspect and is not fooled:

“And oftentimes, to win us to our harm,

The instruments of darkness tell us truths,
Win us with honest trifles, to betray ’s
In deepest consequence. “ (I.III. 125 -128)

There is one episode in the play where deception is used for good. This
is in Act IV Scene III, where Malcolm deceives Macduff into believing
that he is lustful, greedy and cruel to test the latter’s loyalty.

Self-deception

Macbeth and Lady Macbeth deceive themselves when they believe that
murder could bring anything except hell into their lives. In particular,
they would be aware that regicide would be a crime against god himself
according to beliefs at the time.

Lady Macbeth again deceives herself when he thinks that invoking evil
spirits to control would have anything but a devastatingly negative
effect on her life and Macbeth’s.

Relevant quotations:

“Your hand, your tongue: look like the innocent flower, but be the
serpent under’t.” (I.IV. 64 – 66)

“There is no art to find the mind’s construction in the face.” I.IV

“False face must hide what false heart doth know.” I.VII

“Make our faces vizards to our hearts, disguising what they are.”
III.II

“Angels are bright still. Though the brightest fell. Thou all things foul
would wear the brows of grace, yet grace must still look so.” IV.III