The Many Masks of Macbeth
...e: look like the innocent flower, But be the serpent under't.” (Macbeth I, v 70-76) Lady Macbeth advises her husband to “beguile the time” with a façade of ecstatic loyalty. She tells him beforehand that his demeanor throughout the night is a crucially objective part of the plan. If in the conversations afterwards, anyone deems them suspicious, they become automatic suspects and are subject to trial. One slip in this charade and they all fall down. By the time Macbeth decides he has the nerve to murder his best friend, he seems to understand the importance of smothering his intentions. He speaks with obscurity to his wife, telling her they are “Unsafe the while, that we Must lave our honors in these flattering streams; And make our faces vizards to our hearts, Disguising what they are. (Macbeth III, ii 35-39). Lady Macbeth interprets this statement as a comment on their uncertain position as king and queen. In a way it is, but the essence of his statement alludes the mask the must be dawned as he plots to murder Banquo. In this same scene Macbeth begins to lose his wife inside his riddles, and there is a point at which she basically asks, “What are you really up to?” To this he answers, “Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck, Till thou applaud the deed.” (Macbeth III, ii 51-52) With that said, he puts on yet another mask, this time to his wife, by never fully letting her in on his next project. After King Duncan is murdered, Banquo holds the most doubt for Macbeth’s innocence. Act III, scene i, opens with Banquo speaking to himself, “Thou hast it now,--king, Cawdor, Glamis, all, As the weird women promis'd; and, I fear, Thou play'dst most foully for't; yet it was said It should not stand in thy posterity; But that myself should be the root and father Of many kings.” (Macbeth III, I 1-6) Here it is evident that Banquo does not have a deep rooted trust in his friend. Banquo does believe that Macbeth “play'dst most foully” for the title he has aquired, but when Macbeth enters following his speech, Banquo lays out ...