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“Fair is Foul and Foul is Fair”: Ambition, Suspicion, and Deposition
Tyrannical Macbeth seizes Scotland in a bloody, ruthless manner. The Thane of Cawdor
viciously slays any in the path of his power and destiny. Savage betrayal of comrades and faking
fair appearances become small prices to pay for the power over all of Scotland. However, after
he takes the crown, guilt overwhelms Macbeth and drives him to insanity, rather foul
consequences he does not expect. In the exposition of Macbeth, William Shakespeare employs
the paradox “Fair is foul and foul is fair”, using the witches to establish the theme of duplicity
and foreshadow tragedy, representing power’s corrupting effect on those who crave it (I, i, 11).
Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s desire for power represents the difference in internal and
external personas Shakespeare introduces in the original paradox. For example, King Duncan,
when visiting Inverness Castle, greets Lady Macbeth with “Fair and noble hostess,/ We are your
guest tonight” (I, vi, 30-31). When referring to Lady Macbeth as fair, Duncan perceives Lady
Macbeth as noble completely based on her outer appearance and behaviors. Internally, Lady
Macbeth’s hungers for power and she brews a treacherous plot to kill Duncan. Shakespeare uses
this quote to both exemplify Duncan’s gullibility and to contrast Lady Macbeth’s fair inner
persona and her foul outer persona. Differing traits in her personas represents Lady Macbeth’s
willingness to deceive for control. Another example distinguishing between inner and outer
personalities is when Macbeth, after hearing Lady Macbeth’s egregious murder plot, tells his
wife “Away, and mock the time with fairest show./ False face must hide what the false heart doth
know” (I, vii, 94-96). Macbeth, a chivalrous Thane, becomes conflicted over killing for power.
Despite initial internal fairness, Macbeth commits false actions based on the witches’
prognostication and his wife’s masculine ambition. Shakespeare uses this quote to represent how
Macbeth must convince himself to behave in a deceptive manner when his heart wishes
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otherwise. Paradoxical differences between internal personalities and external actions serve to
portray the change in the characters’ personalities upon a prophecy for power, leading to doubt
and turmoil.
Deaths leading up to and after Macbeth’s claiming the throne arouse suspicion among his
subjects, representing both his shift in character and power’s influence over his decisions. For
example, in a soliloquy shortly after Macbeth’s suspicious crowning, Banquo reflects on his
friend’s path to the throne by saying “Thou hast it now, king, Cawdor, Glamis, all,/ As the Weird
women promised and, I fear/ Thou played’st most foully for’t” (III, i, 2-3). In this line,
Shakespeare develops the tension surrounding Macbeth’s reign. An inability to explain
Macbeth’s sudden rise to the throne causes the subjects—even Macbeth’s dear friend Banquo—
to lose faith in the new king’s character and suspect foul play. Shakespeare also foreshadows
tragedy with this quote, for Macbeth kills Banquo to prevent his former comrade’s prophecy
from realizing itself as his did. Shakespeare shows how Macbeth’s foul behavior eventually
leads to instability through the growing suspicion. Furthermore, when Macbeth sees Banquo’s
ghost and ruins the feast he hosts, Lady Macbeth complains, “You have displaced the mirth,
broke the good meeting/ With most admired disorder” (III, iv, 132-134). Macbeth’s impact on
the feast symbolizes the ruler’s impact on Scotland. As his power and the associated guilt corrupt
him, Macbeth displaces Scotland’s mirth and fairness with his foul rule and its foul
consequences. His subjects’ doubt and his own compunction represent how the deception
involved in Macbeth’s quest for the throne becomes his undoing.
Since Macbeth builds his rule through foul and deceitful methods while feigning fairness,
his kingdom collapses from the instability that comes with his dishonesty. When preparing to
take back Scotland with Macduff, Malcolm states, “Though all things foul would wear the brows
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of grace,/ Yet grace must still look so” (IV, iii, 28-30). Malcolm initially distrusts a helpwarranting Macduff, suspecting the Thane of Fife to be a spy. Shakespeare uses Malcolm as an
outside opinion, representing how other countries consider Scotland a foul nation purely due to
Macbeth’s evil ambition. However, Malcolm and Macduff’s mutual hatred for Macbeth soon
brings them together, showing how Macbeth’s terrible reign and malicious actions come to
represent the epitome of dishonorable. Eventually, the subjects’ compiled distrust manifests itself
in the rebellion. On the other hand, Shakespeare shows the internal consequences of deception
most clearly when the Scottish doctor, upon seeing a sleepwalking Lady Macbeth, exclaims,
“Foul whisperings are abroad. Unnatural deeds/ Do breed unnatural troubles” (V, i, 75-76). Lady
Macbeth’s decisions haunt her and take away her desire to live, rather unfortunate repercussions
of her selfish ambition. Unnatural deeds lead to Macbeth and his wife’s guilt and the other
resulting unnatural troubles like sleepwalking and suicidal intent. Shakespeare uses this quote to
transition into the play’s tragic denouement by representing internal and internal collapse. Selfish
choices by the Macbeth family lead to their consciences and their reign collapsing, showing the
true foulness of Macbeth’s seemingly fair prophecy.
Putting on a fair appearance for foul objectives leads the Macbeth couple through a
corruption spiral they fail to escape, a concept established in the first scene. At first, the witches’
prophecy appears fair but becomes foul as the play progresses. His use of violence and
dishonesty, both to obtain and maintain his terrible rule, troubles Macbeth and lays an unstable
foundation for Scotland to thrive on. Not surprisingly, Macbeth’s reign collapses due to his foul
decisions. Due to Macbeth’s foul practices with a fair face, his subjects forever remember him as
a Machiavellian despot who commits any crime in the name of destiny.