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Isabelle Fabrizio

Mrs. D. Morris

Honors English II Block E

17 February, 2015

Fair is Foul and Foul is Fair

In Shakespeare's classic tragedy Macbeth, three witches make the prophetic statement

"fair is foul and foul is fair" (1.1.12) which later shows to be true of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.

Macbeth, who began the play as a courageous and noble war hero, ends the show as a foul and

ruthless king. Lady Macbeth originates as cruel and vile and ends as guilty and fair. Macbeth and

his lady exchange personalities because of the morally trying act of murder and the corrupting

nature of power.

In the beginning of the play, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are completely opposite of who

they are at the end. Macbeth is originally painted as a war hero who's bravery and honor are

noticed by many. The Captain speaks so highly of "brave Macbeth (well he deserves that name)"

(1.2.18) that King Duncan appoints him the title Thane of Cawdor. Lady Macbeth, on the other

hand, is the polar opposite of her husband. Instead of being honorable, she is cruel and lacks

human tenderness. She describes herself pulling a babe from her breast and smashing in its head.

She also asks evil spirits to fill her with cruelty and strip her of remorse. In doing such things,

Lady Macbeth appears to the audience as brutal and cold. These personalities in Macbeth and

Lady Macbeth do not last long. Ambition causes these characters to change who they are.

Unchecked ambition can corrupt a person until they are no longer recognizable. Both

Lady Macbeth and Macbeth exhibit strong ambition that causes them to commit murder.
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Macbeth is hesitant to kill Duncan originally because he has "no spur to prick the sides of my

intent, but only vaulting ambition." (1.7.25-27) He believes Duncan has done no wrong and does

not deserve death with out reason. Lady Macbeth is more than willing to kill if it means Macbeth

shall be king. In an attempt to persuade her husband to carry out the act she says, "Glamis thou

art, and Cawdor, and shalt be what thou art promised." (1.5.15-16) When she convinces Macbeth

to kill, she looses part of herself and begins to deteriorate into madness. Macbeth looses his

honorability and begins to transform into the tyrant he is at the end.

In the major religions of the world, murder is intolerable and is said to damage the

character of the murderer. Macbeth and his wife commit one homicide together that leads to

many more slaughters. This is detrimental to the characters. Macbeth's actions cause him to

become trapped in blood stepped in so far that should I wade no more, returning were as tedious

as go oer, (1.4.168-170) Since he is damned for murdering at all, Macbeth believes he should

continue murdering. This path of thinking leads to more and more corruption of his character.

At the end of the play, Macbeth has completely altered who he is. Macbeth, the once

noble and honorable war hero, becomes cruel and ruthless. He does whatever he can to stay in

power. The heartless tyrant knows the future kings will be from his best friend's lineage.

Therefore, he decides to kill both his best friend, Banquo, and his son. "It is concluded. Banquo,

thy soul's flight, if it find heaven, must find it out tonight." (3.1.161-162) Macbeth soon is told to

"beware Macduff!" (4.1.81) So, the king attacks Macduff's family and "gives to the edge o' the

sword his wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls that trace him in his line." (4.1.172-173)

The queen is no less altered than her husband. Where before she had no such feelings,

now she develops a guilty conscience. While asleep, she begins imagining physical blood on her

hands. Despite constantly cleaning them, Lady Macbeth asks herself, "will these hands ne'er be
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clean?" (5.1.45) This exemplifies the queen's terrible guilt. Malcolm, Duncan's son and the new

king, later explains that the extent of her guilt causes her "by self and violent hands, [to take] off

her life." (5.8.83-84)

Power is by nature corrupting. It is an enormous responsibility placed onto one's

shoulders. Macbeth quickly goes from the Thane of Glamis alone to Thane of Glamis, Cawdor

and the king. He gains power so rapidly and through immoral means that he becomes a different

person than he originally was.

Macbeth is a classic tragedy filled with murder and corruption. Because of these,

Macbeth and Lady Macbeth lose who they are and change to resemble the other person's original

self. The fair hero becomes foul and the foul queen becomes fair. Shakespeare exemplifies

through the play how a person can be transformed into an unrecognizable monster through power

and murder.
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Works Cited

Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Macbeth. Ed. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine.

New York: Simon, 2013. Print.