Term 3 Week 2 - Macbeth 'Fair is Foul and Foul is Fair'

Present a discussion of they way ‘fair is foul and foul is fair’ motif runs through Act 1. Explore it relevance to what happens in this act and how it reinforced through the characters words. Support argument with quotations as evidence.

The motif, ‘fair is foul and foul is fair’ is both consistent and relevant to many characters and situations through out Shakespeare’s play, ‘Macbeth’. This predominant motif is introduced in the opening scene of the play and therefore indicative to the reader that it will hold great relevance to the plays plot. In Act 1 Scene 3, Banquo speaks the line, ‘so foul and fair a day’ referring to both the atrocious weather and the war in which they had defeated the Norwegian army respectively. Soon after, the three weird sisters ambush Macbeth and prophesise three things (two of which are fairly surprising). Macbeths confusion as to why the weird sisters had told him that he would be Thane of Cawdor and one day King, leads Banquo to say, ‘why do you seem to fear things that do sound so fair?’ It is ironic that as Banquo speaks this while Macbeth’s thoughts revolve around the ‘foul’ crimes he would have to commit in order to gain the ‘fair’ status and power of King. As the play progresses, deception is a concept often associated with the motif, ‘fair is foul and foul is fair’. In Act 1 Scene 5, Lady Macbeth says, ‘ look like th’innocent flower but be the serpent under it,’ and ‘hat my keen knife see not the wound it makes’ which epitomises the motif discussed. The warning to Macbeth alludes to the caution and particular interest Macbeth should take in deceiving the other characters so it may be possible that he be King. This motif also draws subtle connections to characters appearance in opposition to their selfish motivations and false ‘fronts’. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are both fully aware of the foul nature of their actions (killing Duncan and Banquo) and the necessity of misleading other characters to detract suspicion away from themselves. Nevertheless, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are prepared to risk it all as a result of their ambition and the ‘fair’ thought that Macbeth might one day be King.