Themes: Appearance versus Reality
 The reality of a situation is very rarely what it
appears to be in Macbeth and there are many
examples of this.
 This important theme is introduced in the witches'
chant of "Fair is foul and foul is fair". This suggests
that something may be good for some people, but
bad for others. To Macbeth, the promises of the
witches seem good, but this is deceptive: actually,
they will destroy him.
Themes: Appearance versus Reality
 Duncan, too, makes errors, misjudging the
appearance of his Thanes. He has been betrayed by
the first thane of Cawdor and Duncan again
misjudges the new Thane of Cawdor – Macbeth.
 When Duncan visits Macbeth's castle, he is
deceived by the peaceful atmosphere "This castle
hath a pleasant seat”. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth
pretend to welcome Duncan affectionately while at
the same time planning the king’s murder.
Themes: Appearance versus Reality
 The best examples of false appearance are the witches. Their
first prophecies appear to give Macbeth good news, however
Banquo is suspicious and warns Macbeth “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.” Banquo
is right but Macbeth doesn’t listen and chooses to trust them.
 The promises made by the witches' predictions later in the play
also highlight the theme of appearance versus reality: "None of
woman born shall harm Macbeth"; "Fear not, till Birnam Wood
do come to Dunsinane". These promises appear to say Macbeth
is invincible, but this is an illusion. Macbeth blindly trusts what
these powers of evil tell him and is destroyed as a result.
Theme: Guilt
 The idea of guilt first appears in Act 1 Scene 3, when
Banquo shows his surprise at Macbeth's reaction to
the witches' promises: "Why do you start and seem to
fear, /Things that do sound so fair?" The word 'start',
meaning to jump with shock, is always associated
with a guilty reaction.
 Macbeth's guilt is later seen when he hallucinates
that a blood-covered dagger is leading him to murder
Duncan.
 In the murder scene, we see Macbeth is tormented by
guilt. He imagines his guilty conscience will never let
him sleep peacefully again: "Methought I heard a voice
cry “Sleep no more”.
Theme: Guilt
 References to sleeplessness recur later in the play,
as when Lady Macbeth says, "You lack the season
of all natures, sleep". Even when he does sleep he
will be tormented by his guilt in the "terrible
dreams that shake us nightly".
 Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s guilt is shown
through the idea of blood-stained hands. Macbeth
refers to his own hands as "hangman's hands",
which would be covered in blood.
Theme: Guilt
 When Lady Macbeth urges him to wash the blood off, he
realises it is impossible to wash away his guilt. His crime
is so wicked that the blood will pollute the whole ocean
“Making the green one red".
 During the murder scene, Lady Macbeth reassures him:
"A little water clears us of the deed". Lady Macbeth is
being very naïve and the audience understands how
wrong she was when they see her sleepwalking scene
later in the play. She then obsessively washes imaginary
blood from her hands.
Theme: Guilt
 After arranging Banquo's murder, Macbeth is
tortured by guilt even more. He imagines the ghost
of Banquo returns to accuse him.
 In Act 5, we see Lady Macbeth destroyed by their
crime and her guilt is revealed for all to see. Her
guilty conscience is shown through her
sleeplessness.
 She is also seen constantly washing her hands, as
her guilt has made the stains that cannot be
removed: "Out damned spot!…'All the perfumes of
Arabia will not sweeten this little hand".
Theme: Guilt
 Her rambling words reveal her part in Macbeth's crimes:
"Who would have thought the old man to have had so much
blood in him?"
 She reassured Macbeth in Act 3"What's done is done" but
now she sees that her guilt is destroying her: "What's done
cannot be undone".
 When he meets Macduff, Macbeth finally faces his guilt.
Believing in the witches' prophecy that "none of woman
born shall harm Macbeth", he warns Macduff to stay away
from him.
Theme: Guilt
 He admits to Macduff "My soul is too much charged
with blood of thine already", which means that he
already feels guilty enough about the brutal killing of
Macduff's wife and children.
 When Macduff reveals he was "from his mother's
womb untimely ripped", Macbeth knows he is about to
pay for his crimes.