Contradiction In Macbeth

At every library all around the country, the phrase “don’t judge a book by its cover” can be heard spoken throughout the rows of writings. From a young age, readers are told to choose their literature based on content not the flimsy book jacket. As the phrase states, appearance isn’t everything. The substance of a person or place may not be evident at first glance. The balance between what is shown to the audience, yet kept from other characters, of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s intentions in The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare is meant to reveal that reality is only but a pigment of the mind.

Of course there are often contradictions between physical appearance and the matter it represents. While people like to assume that it is directly representative, most times it isn’t. Shakespeare uses this assumption to his benefit when writing The Tragedy of Macbeth. After approaching the castle to have dinner with the

I’ll devil-porter it no further. I had thought to have let in some of all professions that go the primrose way to th’ everlasting bonfire.”

(ll.iii.14-17)

Once again, Shakespeare uses this contradiction to prove the unusual behavior of the Macbeths. While this scene only uses references to hell in a fictitious way, dramatic irony occurs here because Macduff nor the Porter know of the horrid sin just committed beyond those walls. Although the appearance of something most commonly refers to a physical display, the impression given off by a person can be just as misleading.

Equally important is the fact that duplicity in the hands of a demagogue plays with the mind of the public. This allows them control over unsuspecting civilians. Both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are playing this position when the dead body of King Duncan is found and they respond with phrases like “Woe, alas! / What, in our house?” (ll.iii.81-82) and “The expedition of my violent love / Outrun the pauser, reason” (ll.iii.104-105). The