Macbeth17

A detailed Summary of Macbeth17

In Shakespeare's Macbeth, one of the reoccurring themes throughout the

play was "Fair is foul and foul is fair." This is used to explain that people and

events may seem either good or bad, but after some inspection, turn out to be the

opposite. In my opinion, "Nothing is but what is not," is similar to "Fair is foul and

foul is fair," because it is declaring how things are, in fact, what people believe

First, throughout the play, many people end up being the opposite of how

their peers actually perceive them. In the play's opening act, the Thane of

Cawdor is discovered as being a leader of the rebel forces after Duncan had

previously believed in his loyalty. In act one, the same can also be said for

Macbeth. As soon as the witches tell Macbeth of his new title and then foretell

that he will be king, he too begins to turn his once loyal thoughts against the

beloved king. In addition to Macbeth, his wife is also a good example. She is

busily making her castle ready for Duncan's visit. When he arrives, he gives her

gifts and thanks her for being his host, when she was actually planning his

murder. It is a popular reoccurrence in a number of the Shakespearean plays for

true, but with Macbeth, I feel that it was his own actions and decisions along

put a spell on Macbeth to make him kill, they just stimulated his emotions and

a crutch throughout the duration of the play. Without her, the play Macbeth would

With these new killing fresh in his mind, he decided to cross the boundary into the

universal themes such as "Nothing is but what is not." This great theme still

Besides the fact that Macbeth decided his own future by killing Duncan

Approximate Word count = 2224
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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