Grade 9 Essay used in the real exam that achieved full marks. Includes introduction, 8 main body paragraphs and a conclusion - adaptable to any question for Macbeth - hits the top level of all Assessment Objectives and perfect to use for remembering Grade 9 points or as an essay in itself to achiev...
The theme of appearance and reality continuously occurs throughout the play, substantially
contributing to the development of the plot. At the start of the play, Shakespeare presents
Macbeth with the appearance of being a brave and loyal warrior, however he develops a
blinding ambition that leads to his moral downfall that is perpetuated by Lady Macbeth’s
manipulation and obsession to hide reality as well as the witches’ paradoxical language that
masks reality and creates an appearance of a powerful future for Macbeth.
Shakespeare introduces the witches in the very first scene of the play which gives them large
structural significance. The contradictory statements of the witches introduce the prominent
motif of appearance versus reality in the play “Fair is foul and foul is fair”. This paradoxical
chiasmus is a logical inconsistency that introduces the play's strong underlying theme of
deception. It acts as a summary of what is to come and unsettles the audience,
foreshadowing the overall theme of the play. The witches speak in trochaic tetrameter
which distinguishes them from the other characters who typically speak in iambic
pentameter. This would unsettle a Jacobean audience who were largely scared of the
supernatural. King James was especially interested in it - shown by his book Daemonologie
and the witch hunts he organised. Macbeth emulates the witches’ equivocation when he
says “So foul and fair a day I have not seen” which makes the Jacobean audience (who were
wary of witchcraft) distrust Macbeth who later becomes consumed by his failure to maintain
his deceit when he hallucinates Banquo’s ghost.
The witches continue the notion of deception within their paradoxical chantings “Double,
double toil and trouble”. “Double” connotes the idea of deception e.g double dealing which
is what the witches are as they flatter Macbeth by stroking his ego with hints of his
impending kingship whilst actually leading him to doom. “Double” and “trouble” are paired
together as internal rhymes which reinforces the idea of witches causing trouble through
their deceitful nature. The noun “toil” separates this internal rhyme and it meant snare or
trap in Shakespeare's time which creates the visual imagery of someone trapped in a
difficult situation which foreshadows Macbeth’s downfall due to his fatal flaw, the actions of
the witches, Lady Macbeth and his paranoia.
Lady Macbeth encapsulates deceit and hiding reality with appearance when she demands
Macbeth to “look like the innocent flower, // But be the serpent under’t”. She encourages
Macbeth to be two face: to look fair and honourable on the outside, but be cunning and
deadly on the inside. The juxtaposition of “flower” which connotes innocence and natural
imagery that is also associated with femininity with “serpent” which is synonymous with
death, emphasises how there can be a dangerous divide between a person’s appearance and
reality. Also, the turning point marked by the conjunction “but” shows the sharp contrast
between the outward appearance and inner reality. As Lady Macbeth begins her instruction
with the imperative verb “look”, the audience is immediately made aware of how
manipulative Lady Macbeth is and here appearance as a stereotypical Jacobean woman is
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