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Example research essay topic: Fair Is Foul Act 1 Scene - 1,906 words

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Macbeth Fair is Foul Fair is foul and fouls is fair: Hover through the fog and filthy air. The paradox Fair is foul, and foul is fair, expresses some of the many themes of Macbeth. There are several different ways in which these words can be interpreted. The first time we hear the statement is in the opening scene when the witches say the exact line Fair is foul, and foul is fair and Macbeth himself repeats it later almost precisely in Act 1 Scene 3: So fair and foul a day I have not seen Act 1 Scene 1, line 48 Which suggests a link between Macbeth and the sisters, though the interesting thing is that he hasnt even met them yet, although they have already conspired to meet with him. They lure him with fair means, by telling him a small truth, to a foul end. Banquo suspects this, but Macbeth ignores his warnings.

The witches themselves seem to be the embodiment of the foul part of the phrase. At the time, people were very superstitious about witches, believing they were evil and should be burned. They would obviously assume the witches to be evil and untrustworthy. During this time, Guy Fawkes had tried to overthrow the English king, but had failed.

However, Macbeth succeeded in acquiring the throne. Perhaps it was only because of the evil witches that he managed to do so. It is possible that he wouldnt have even attempted to become king if the witches had not enticed him with their predictions. The witches also have an eerie atmosphere about them because they always speak in rhyme.

When they were first introduced, they were meeting in a storm and by the darkness and turbulence, the audience can tell straight away that they are going to be evil characters in the play. Also the ingredients they use for their spells and charms are unnatural and disgusting. Fair is foul, and foul is fair can be related to the The witches delight in confusion, always speaking in rhyme and often contradicting themselves in what they say, Lesser than Macbeth, and greater. Not so happy, yet much happier.

Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none: Act 1 Scene 3, lines 65 - 67 Their exact meanings are never clear and even their appearances are confusing, as Banquo states: You should be women, And yet your beards forbid me to interpret That you are so. Act 1 Scene 3, lines 45 - 47 Characters can sometimes appear to be under the influence of the witches at crucial points in the play, such as when Lady Macbeth calls upon evil spirits, it is very similar to a spell: Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts! Unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full Of direst cruelty; make thick my blood, Stop up the access and passage to remorse, That no compunctious visiting's of nature Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between Th effect and it! Act 1 Scene 5, lines 39 - 46 However, by the end of the play, it is more like Macbeth has recited this incantation, as he has become cold and destroyed everything that was ever good about himself. He cannot even find it in his heart to grieve for his wife, saying simply that she should have picked a better time to die.

During the play, we see certain characters personalities changing from fair to foul, or foul to fair. For example, at the beginning of the play Macbeth is shown as a brave and noble warrior, perhaps the fairest man in the whole of Scotland. However, his ambition is stirred by the foul predictions of the witches: All hail Macbeth! That shalt be King hereafter.

Act 1 Scene 3, line 50 He tries to reject his dark desires to kill, but eventually at the cajoling of his wife he is driven to murder Duncan. Before the deed is done, Macbeth's soliloquy reveals his confusion as he considers all angles, reminding us of the chaos the witches bring. Everything is stacked against the murder, apart from his ambition which he knows can only lead to a fall. Even then, he is still convinced by Lady Macbeth to murder Duncan.

After the murder, Macbeth begins a downward spiral, needing no more encouragement to kill and becoming so obsessed with his pursuit of glory that he doesnt even notice Lady Macbeth slipping into insanity. When she commits suicide, he finds he has lost the capacity for grief. At the start of the play Macbeth appeared to be a fair man, receiving nothing but praise from the wounded sergeant. He had great trouble bringing himself to murder Duncan, and afterwards is burdened with guilt and regret. He believed he was not fit to pray, and when he murdered Duncan, he murdered sleep at the same, time, so he will never be allowed to rest again. What hands are here!

Ha! They pluck out mine eyes. Will all great Neptunes ocean wash this blood Clean from my hands? Act 2 Scene 2, lines 59 - 61 However by the end of the play he is so foul he is almost inhuman. This is shown when he has Lady Macduff and her children massacred in cold blood, and he cannot possibly justify this crime in any way, as it was completely unnecessary. The relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth also turns from fair to foul.

At first they share everything, and Macbeth calls his wife my dearest partner of greatness... When Lady Macbeth assesses her husbands character, it is clear that she knows him very well. Lady Macbeth has to bully Macbeth into taking the first steps and murdering Duncan, but after this, he takes matters into his own hands until eventually he is ignoring his wife. Gradually, their relationship turns sour. While her husband declines from fair to foul, and their relationship with him, Lady Macbeth appears to do the opposite, although she doesnt become completely fair. At first, she calls upon evil spirits to help her convince Macbeth to take the necessary steps so he can become king.

She recites an incantation which makes her seem like the witches have influenced her as well as Macbeth. She asks for all her womanly qualities to be removed and replaced with evil. In the beginning she is the stronger of the two, even going so far as to call for the smoke of hell to hide her knife, as if she was going to murder Duncan herself. She shows no trace of remorse after the murder of Duncan, and demonstrates scorn towards her husband because he feels so guilty.

A little water clears us of this deed; How easy is it, then! You constancy Hath left you unattended Act 2 Scene 2, lines 67 - 69 As the play progresses, Macbeth takes the lead while Lady Macbeth shows signs of strain. There is even one point when he refuses to tell her about his plot to kill Banquo, saying she should Be innocent of the knowledge. Lady Macbeth's conscience constantly torments her, and despite her confident comment earlier about how easily the blood cleaned off her hands, she now admits that all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. And eventually she is driven to commit suicide. We also watch Scotland's decline from a fair country under Duncan's reign, to a place where it is dangerous to walk too late when it gets dark under Macbeth's rule.

Whereas at the beginning of the play, it seemed that it was fair Macbeth's courageous deeds which had helped Scotland to flourish, in the end he was the one who made Scotland such a terrible place. The whole balance of nature is upset, chaos breaks out, and there are many unnatural events occurring, such as Duncan's horses eating each other. In Act 4 Scene 2 Lady Macduff reveals another reversal and upset of natural orders under Macbeth's rule when she says where to do harm is often laudable, to do good sometime accounted dangerous folly. Again, all the disorder relates to the witches love of confusion. The paradox can also be interpreted to mean that not everything is as it appears. As Donnalbain says, there are daggers in mens smiles.

This is most strongly evident in the cases of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth who are both incredibly deceptive, Your hand, your tongue: look like the innocent flower But be the serpent under Act 1 Scene 5, lines 64 - 65 Here she tells her husband to look harmless, and hide what he is really planning. Serpents are often used as a symbol of evil. Again, in the last lines of Act 1, Macbeth mentions deceptiveness in the closing rhyming couplet: Away, and mock the time with fairest show: False face must hide what the false heart doth know. Act 1 Scene 7, lines 81 - 82 When Duncan describes the deceased Thane of Cawdor, the same statement could be applied to Macbeth as well: Theres no art To find the minds construction in the face. He was a gentleman on whom I built An absolute trust. Act 1 Scene 4, lines 12 - 15 The previous Thane of Cawdor, was a traitor whom Duncan had thought was an honest man.

We didnt know him, but we do know that Duncan is building an absolute trust upon Macbeth. It was also said of the previous Thane that nothing in his life became him like the leaving of it. Which can also be said of Macbeth. Fair is foul, and foul is fair can also be applied to the idea of good and evil, or light and dark. That perhaps what seems to be good and pure is actually false, and the things considered evil have sometimes been wrongly blamed. This is true in the case of Malcolm and Donnalbain, where they have been wrongly accused of murdering their father.

When Malcolm is testing Macduff's loyalty, he pretends he will be more evil than Macbeth ever could be and states that in comparison to his deeds: black Macbeth Will seem as pure as snow. Act 4 Scene 3, lines 52 - 53 In the short scene with Ross and the old man, the old man comments on how strange it is that by the clock tis day, And yet dark night strangles the travelling lamp. This could be symbol ising the triumph of evil over good, and that daylight doesnt want to illuminate all the dark things hidden in the night, and how far Scotland has declined under Macbeth's rule. The old man finishes with a rhyming couplet: Gods benison go with you; and with those That would make good of bad, and friends of foes. Act 2 Scene 4, lines 40 - 41 This is a reversal of what the witches are trying to do, ie changing foul to fair, instead of fair to foul. Similarly, both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth call upon the night, or the dunnest smoke of hell to hide what they are doing so heaven cant see their evil deeds.

Macbeth says Stars hide your fires, Let not light see my black and deep desires. Here he sees the starlight as being all things fair. He is so ashamed of the foul things he is considering, that he doesnt want anything fair to see.


Free research essays on topics related to: 1 scene 3, foul is fair, fair is foul, macbeth and lady macbeth, act 1 scene

Research essay sample on Fair Is Foul Act 1 Scene

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