Examples Of Direct Juxtaposition In Macbeth

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Thesis: In Macbeth, Shakespeare’s juxtaposition of his characters’ “deepest desires” with their “false face[s]” furthers the motif of deception and treachery, setting the stage for Macbeth’s ultimate regicide.
When the audience sees Lady Macbeth act like a traditional hostess despite her murderous desires, her treachery becomes amplified. Before Duncan arrives, Lady Macbeth is seen on stage planning to influence her husband, who is “too full [of the] milk of human kindness,” to change his nature and murder his cousin and king, Duncan (1.5.17). She then greets Duncan with the utmost civility that is due an honored guest: “All our service, / In every point twice done and then done double” (1.6.18-19). She claims to be at his service and that Duncan is honoring them greatly with his presence, but this happens less than twenty lines after proclaiming that she wants to plan his murder. Here, Shakespeare creates a direct juxtaposition of Lady Macbeth’s altering personas. The audience is able to see her as a power-hungry manipulator followed immediately with her smiling and showering …show more content…

He expresses that his inner desires are to wait because he fears that too much ambition might “[overleap] itself” and he even proclaims, “We will proceed no further in [the] business [of killing Duncan]” (1.7.27,34). The audience sees a man who cannot bring himself to murder a friend, cousin, and king for personal gains. However, Macbeth is convinced by his wife to go through with the murder, but he keeps away from his vaunted guests. While Duncan and his party are dining, Lady Macbeth finds Macbeth in the kitchen avoiding contact with their guests (1.7.32). The audience sees Macbeth hiding away from the gaze of those he is about to betray. He is unable to face them for fear that they may see his true intent on his face, or even worse, that he may have to see their true honest faces, knowing what he is about to do to

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