Appearance and Reality.The conflict between appearance and reality is given uneasy representation through the witches’ subversive mantra ‘ fair is foul’ in the opening scene. This disturbing undermining of truth and reality and of right and wrong foreshadows their temptation of Macbeth through cryptic predictions that corrupt his moral self. The ‘fog and filthy air’ that surrounds the witches serve as a ‘ natural’ habitat for the weird sisters as well as operating as a metaphor for their intention to destabilise Macbeth’s moral self. The ‘fog’ literally and metaphorically clouds Macbeth’s judgment as he allows himself to be led astray through a lack of clarity. This lack of clarity is contrasted to Banquo’s recognition in Act One Scene Three that the witches are ‘fantastical’ and a little later that they are ‘instruments of darkness’ thereby underlining their affinity with evil and predilection for corruption through ‘trifles’ of truth.Banquo’s clarity however doesn’t save him from Macbeth’s murderous betrayal in Act Three. Indeed the witches’ destabilisation of appearance and reality guarantees that Macbeth will view his friend as a rival who must be killed to prevent a ‘fruitless crown’ which ironically shows how arrogant Macbeth is in trying to tamper with the predictions selectively.Once again the moral ‘fog’ that descends on the world of the play in the opening scene persists in destroying discrimination and clarity, not only in Macbeth but also in others as well. Remember Duncan’s ironic recognition that the Thane of Cawdor behaved as a ‘traitor’ and that ‘ there’s no art/ to find a man’s construction in his face’ which is immediately followed by his own catastrophic misjudgment of Macbeth.This Lack of clarity even contaminates Lady Macbeth whose cunning advice to be ‘like the innocent flower’ but in reality to be ‘the serpent under’t’ rebounds on her when her conscience overwhelms her in Act Five to the point of suicide. Lady Macbeth’s lack of clarity and failure to imagine the cost of embracing the witches’ ‘fair is foul’ influence, destroys both herself mentally and physically, her marriage and ultimately her beloved husband.
