Macbeth (Grades 9–1) York Notes

Deception is central to ‘Macbeth’ whether in the treacherous actions of the first Thane of Cawdor which we find out about early in the play, or the way Macbeth is deceived into thinking he cannot be harmed by anyone ‘born of woman’, when Macduff finally gets his revenge.

The idea that deception is linked to evil would have been normal to a Christian audience in Shakespeare’s day. The fact that the witches ‘trick’ Macbeth is unsurprising – witches were blamed for all sorts of things from bad harvests to illness in Shakespeare’s time. Even Banquo suggests that ‘the instruments of darkness’ often use flattery or half-truths to win people over. This warning against the witches is ignored by Macbeth.

Of course, the Macbeths themselves are masters of deception, at least to begin with. Lady Macbeth tells her husband to ‘look like th’innocent flower but be the serpent under’t’. This could be another link to Christian morals and the snake that tempts Adam and Eve. You could say the deception will lead the Macbeths to hell.

Deception takes many other forms in the play. The self-deception of Duncan, believing in the loyalty of the first Thane of Cawdor and then Macbeth, could possibly make audiences think he is not an ideal king. Malcolm is more intelligent and himself uses deception to get Macduff to prove his loyalty. Macbeth, too, suffers from self-deception. He allows himself to believe in the witches’ prophecies, including the idea that he can’t be harmed until Birnam Wood moves. When it does, it signals his reign of terror will soon be over. There are two forms of deception here – one which all of us would recognise from watching modern war films – camouflage. Malcolm’s army cut down the trees and use the greenery to ‘shadow the numbers of our host’ so that Macbeth does not know the strength of the enemy.

What a Shakespearean audience might find more difficult to understand is how far Lady Macbeth is prepared to go. She tells Duncan ‘all our service’ even if it was multiplied wouldn’t be enough to thank him for the honours he has given Macbeth. For a noblewoman to plan for Duncan’s murder, and appear to welcome the king into her home in this way, might be shocking to those audiences. They might expect her to be more like Lady Macduff, who represented the acceptable face of womanhood as a dutiful mother. Lady Macbeth’s deception also seems to link to other ideas about her gender. In order to carry out the evil tasks she has planned it is as if she needs to change herself into a different person. She asks the powers of darkness to ‘unsex’ her in Act I Scene 5, and also for ‘thick night’ to cover up her murderous actions. But this too is a form of self-deception. In the end, she is unable to completely shut out all goodness and her guilty conscience leads her to nightmares and suicide.

The other aspect to mention is how deception adds to the drama. In Act III Scene 1, when Macbeth meets the murderers and instructs them to kill Banquo and Fleance, we realise that the pleasant chat about Macbeth needing Banquo’s advice and wanting him at the banquet was all a front. When audiences know or suspect what is going to happen, it adds a lot of power and impact to the events when they occur.

Deception, then, is central to the plot and characterisation but also links to ideas to do with good and evil, and Christian morality.