appearance vs reality Flashcards
1.1 “Fair is foul, and foul is fair”
-witches speak in paradoxes + oxymorons when they chant this paradoxical phrase - conflicting speech + what they appear to say doesn’t correlate with reality
-their conflicting language is notable throughout the entirety of the play reinforcing their deceitful + duplicitous intentions
1.5 “look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under it”
-biblical allusion to the “serpent” seen in the fall of mankind in Genesis where the serpent tempts Adam + Eve
-used by LMB to highlight how effective deception can be when executed with an “innocent” facade
-juxtaposition of “flower”, which connotes femininity, with “serpent”, which connotes masculinity + trickery, shows how there can be a dangerous divide between a person’s outward appearance + inward nature
2.1 “Their candles are all out”
-BQ is the antithesis of deceitful, he is honest + sincere + confesses his temptation - he is emblematic of Jesus
-comments on the lack of stars in the sky - he seeks solace from heaven
-MB tries to hide this, opposed to confess “stars hide your fire” - this motif of stars exposes MB + BQ as diametrically opposed in their aspirations
-MB wants to hide his malicious intentions from God yet BQ wants to confess his temptations to be free of them
-pathetic fallacy: creates atmosphere of obscurity + fear
2.3 “Most sacrilegious murder hath broke open the Lord’s anointed temple”
-MD doesn’t put on a false facade + is entirely dedicated to D
-hyperbolic language + reaction reinforces this + how he abides strictly to the religious moral code
-move over, there is a religious semantic field as “sacrilegious” + “anointed” create an image of sacredness + holiness
-this reinforces MD’s extreme distress that the king, divinely ordained by God as believed by the divine right of kings, has been callously murdered
4.1 “none of woman born shall harm Macbeth”
-each of prophecies are equivocal + ambiguous
-they appear to be giving MB pertinent insight to his safety
-instead, the reality is they are giving MB an ephemeral sense of security + invincibility - they know his hubris obstructs him from seeing this
-appearance is that MB is infallible, reality is MD was born by cesarean
5.5 “Out, out brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player”
-symbolism of “brief candle” represents fragility + transience of life which can be extinguished easily
-metaphor of “walking shadow” suggests life is insubstantial + fleeting portraying life as something that lacks true substance
-metaphor of “poor player” compares life to a theatrical performance where people act out roles reflecting idea that much of what we perceive is a facade
