Lady Macbeth In Act 5 Sc 1 example essay topic

How does Shakespeare portray the theme of appearance and reality in Act 1 sc 6 and Act 5 sc 1 In Act 1 sc 5 we see Lady Macbeth stepping in and advising Macbeth to be deceitful. She tells Macbeth to "look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under it". Then in Act 1 sc 6 we see Lady Macbeth alone welcoming her guests to the castle, these guests are Duncan and Banquo. It is almost like she is controlling the whole situation, she is being devious on Macbeth's behalf and is in charge of being deceptive.

Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are close partners in crime so Lady Macbeth will do anything to cover up for him. One of the ways that Shakespeare portrays the theme of appearance and reality in Act 1 sc 6 is when Duncan first sees the castle he misreads its whole appearance. We can see this when Duncan says "this castle hath a pleasant seat" this is the first sign he misreads. When Duncan says this he means that the castle is set in a pleasant atmosphere, it is a nice situation to be in.

This means that Duncan is completely unaware of the situation before him, and has no idea of what is actually planned for him. When Shakespeare says this he is using dramatic irony, we, the audience know that despite what the castle looks like wicked things are going to happen within the castles walls. This dramatic irony emphasises the reality of the situation. Another way that Shakespeare portrays the theme of appearance and reality is when Banquo makes remakes on "the temple haunting martlet". This is another one of Shakespeare's signs that he gives to the two men. Martlet are associated with being duped.

But Banquo doesn't see it as this, he continues saying about how the castle has delicate air and how because these beautiful creatures live here it must be a nice. Like Duncan, Banquo doesn't know what is going happen in the castle. Through out this scene Shakespeare uses dramatic irony, and this is another case, as the audience know that Martlet's are a sign of being duped but the characters think nothing off it. Shakespeare uses dramatic irony here to bring across what he is trying to say; this is show the appearance and reality of the situation.

Lady Macbeth is a dominant woman and is very persuasive. Lady Macbeth uses her femininity to flatter Banquo and Duncan to hide what is actually happening and to make them feel at home. Lady Macbeth says to Duncan " All our services In every point done twice and then done double" from this we can see that she is tricking them into thinking that she is trying to be a "honoured hostess", this is partly to cover up for husband. She is manipulating Banquo and Duncan to trust her and believe that she wants to do everything to help them.

She wants to make their stay as easy as she can (as far as she's concerned). The language used to show the appearance and reality in this particular part is when Lady Macbeth says "All our service" this shows us that Lady Macbeth is lying and is trying to cover up what is about to happen, but only the audience can see that she is lying as we know her plans. She is being insincere. As we know Lady Macbeth will protect her husband.

She covers up for him when Duncan asks, "Where's the Thane of Candor". Lady Macbeth takes control and changes the subject. The reason she covers for Macbeth is because she thinks that he will give away there plan to Murder Duncan as you can "Read" him like a book. To change the subject she says " your servants ever have theirs, themselves, and what is theirs, in comp". She starts to say about how the Kings servants hold everything in trust for the king and they must give him what ever he wants whilst he is in their home, they must treat it as their own. Through out this scene Lady Macbeth is in control and she is taking over the murder situation.

She feels that Macbeth is not strong enough to go through with this murder by himself. Shakespeare portrays the theme and reality in this part of the play by dramatic irony, through out the scene the audience know what is going to happen, and we know that she is being insincere and manipulative towards her guests. The theme that Shakespeare has chosen to put across that is point in the play is manipulation and control. In Act 5 sc 1 we see Lady Macbeth suffering from a guilty conscience, she is sleeping walking and dreaming that her and her husband are murdering Duncan again. We can see that she is distressed as when you sleepwalk you are normally distressed or are having a hard time. Lady Macbeth appears to see blood that isn't actually there.

"Out, damned spot!" This shows that she is regretting what she has done and is replaying it in her head to try and make sense of it. For the first time she is not in control. Shakespeare portrays the theme of appearance and reality at this point in the play by her repeating things that she has said during the first few scenes of Shakespeare, we the audience also know what Lady Macbeth is troubled about, but none of the people watching her now. Shakespeare portrays the theme of appearance and reality in Act 5 sc 1 by lady Macbeth not being properly asleep. She is not properly asleep because she is doing all the things that you would do in normal day life, she is even carrying a candle so that she can see where she is going. We can see that she is trying to rid herself of this crime but she doesn't want to well anyone, we can see this in the line "none can call our to our account".

We can see that she thinks that no one will be able to make him or her confess how they got this power. This emphasises this situation by Lady Macbeth not knowing what she is doing, and the people watching her not knowing what she is talking about. Lady Macbeth is trying hard to get rid of the blood on her hands but she can't. Shakespeare portrays this when she says " out, damned spot!

Out, I say! One; two: why, then 'tis time to do". As she has said early in the play " a little water will clear us of these deeds" she is now finding out that she will never be able to get rid of this dead. It is driving her insane. She is finding it hard to keep it a secret any more; she is so disturbed about killing Duncan that she is even dreaming about it. Shakespeare is trying to emphasises that although Lady Macbeth seemed confident whilst persuading Macbeth to kill Duncan her ambition has fallen on the other side and it has come back to haunt her.

Lady Macbeth in Act 5 sc 1 is no longer in control. She has started to tell things that she shouldn't have said, nor should anyone of heard. She does talk to Macbeth in her dreams and controls him but she is no longer in control of everything around her, she is powerless. Lady Macbeth drops hints of what she has done but she never actually tells them, it's a bit like a game of charades. She gives away clues to what she has done "The Thane of Fife had a wife: Where is she now?" Lady Macbeth for once, is telling the truth, she is so disturbed by what she has done she is no longer aware of her actions, and that means that at any point she could tell someone what she has done or even do something a lot worse. Shakespeare portrays the theme of appearance and reality in this act by Lady Macbeth almost saying what she has done, and giving the game away, he does this to make the audience think about the conscience of murder, if Macbeth had a moral "don't murder people as you will have to deal with the conscience" would be it.