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Examples Of Deceit In Macbeth

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Imagery is the use of figurative language in order to create images in the mind and it is most often used in literature. Shakespeare uses a lot of imagery in Macbeth including appearance vs. reality imagery. Shakespeare compares and contrasts appearance vs. reality in Macbeth to emphasize the theme of trickery and deceit. Deceit is extremely common in Macbeth as there are many characters trying to deceive each other either to gain power or for other reasons. Shakespeare uses imagery in Macbeth in order to better convey his theme of deceit. The deceit in Macbeth starts with the witches in Act 1 of the play as they are shown meeting in thunder and rain when the average person would not want to meet. Shakespeare shows how different the witches are from society as they speak in a different meter and have strange things happened around them. The witches’ prophecies in Act 1 are the first sign of …show more content…

Malcolm deceives Macduff when he states, “But I have none: the king-becoming graces,/As justice, verity, temp’rance, stableness” (4.3.91-92). Malcolm is attempting to trick Macduff that he does not think of himself as a fit king for Scotland because he does not have the king’s graces or is not naturally righteous. Malcolm is trying to test Macduff’s loyalty to Scotland, as he is not sure if Macduff is working with Macbeth or not. Malcolm also deceives Macbeth when he says, “Let every soldier hew him down a bough/And bear’t before him. Thereby shall we shadow/The numbers of our host” (5.4.4-6). Malcolm is misleading Macbeth into thinking that no army has come to fight him and that Birnam Wood is coming toward Dunsinane Hill. Malcolm is fulfilling the witch’s prophecies by lifting the branches of Birnam Wood, which is making Macbeth start to believe that the witches deceived him with their baiting

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