"MACBETH.
My dearest love,
Duncan comes here tonight.
LADY MACBETH.
And when goes hence?
MACBETH.
To-morrow,--as he purposes.
LADY MACBETH.
O, never
Shall sun that morrow see!
Your face, my thane, is as a book where men
May read strange matters:--to beguile the time,
Look like the time; bear welcome in your eye,
Your hand, your tongue: look like the innocent flower,
But be the serpent under't. He that's coming
Must be provided for: and you shall put
This night's great business into my despatch;
Which shall to all our nights and days to come
Give solely sovereign sway and masterdom.
MACBETH.
We will speak further.
LADY MACBETH.
Only look up clear;
To alter favor ever is to fear:
Leave all the rest to me.
[Exeunt.]"
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Deceit is a predominant theme in Macbeth. Macbeth goes to serious measures to achieve the power he eventually has over Scotland. Although, due to his questionable and deceitful methods of getting that power, he is unable to hold it for that long. And it is not just Macbeth who is deceitful in the play. At the beginning, there is the betrayal by the Thane of Cawdor. The characters who I believe are most deceitful, however, are the three witches. The witches use the mask of 'kindness' to make Macbeth's worst nature hunger for the power that is predicted he will have. They tell him that he will be Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor, and, on top of it all, king of Scotland. And although this is, in essence, true, the Witches make it seem to Macbeth that he will be king for a good long while, as opposed to being overthrown by Macduff so soon after his rise. As well as this, Macbeth is soon hiding his true ambitions behind a mask or kindness. He invites King Duncan over for a seemingly pleasant dinner, when his real motives are to murder him for the crown. There are a few lines Lady Macbeth speaks to encourage Macbeth that deceit is the proper path. “Look like th'innocent flower, but be the serpent under't.“ And this is exactly what Macbeth does...
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