In Shakespeare's Macbeth, a selfish Scottish thane becomes overly ambitious and commits several murders in order to gain and remain in power. After the murders, Macbeth escapes suspicion by hiding his guilt and intentions, thereby deceiving others into believing that he is innocent. Other characters including Lady Macbeth, witches and Scottish thanes also use their appearances to hide the truth and deceive others. With these examples, Shakespeare shows that appearances can be deceiving. Macbeth uses his appearance to deceive others several times throughout the play. For example, in Act 3, Scene 1, after hearing the witches' prophecies and becoming the Thane of Cawdor, Macbeth begins to consider assassinating the current King of Scotland, Duncan. He says: My thought, the murder of which is only fantastic, so shakes my unique state as a functioning man, is stifled by conjectures, and nothing is, but what is not (1.3.138- 141). Although he is still with Banquo and the Apart from that, this quote shows that Macbeth is already thinking about Duncan's murder. He uses his appearance to hide his thoughts about killing the King from Banquo, even though he is clearly shaken by the idea. Another example is when Macbeth hides his plan to murder Duncan from the guests at his castle. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth know that Duncan is going to be murdered; however, they both act and seem normal among their guests. Macbeth describes how he should behave when he says, “The false face hides what the false heart knows.” » (1.7.82). He must hide his intentions behind a facade to appear innocent. He misleads Duncan and his guests into believing that he is still a trustworthy and loyal soldier before assassinating the king. After the murder... middle of paper ... he is the king and hides his intentions and guilt from others in order to appear innocent. The witches use their appearances to deceive Macbeth into revealing prophecies that seem good, but actually lead to his downfall. Finally, the appearances of the Thane of Cawdor, Malcolm and Donaldbain hide the truth from others, including Macduff and Duncan. The witches' statement, "What is right is wrong, and what is unrighteous is right," best describes the idea that appearances can be deceiving (1.1.12). Each character deceives the others for different reasons, whether they are deliberately misleading them or not. Through different characters from Shakespeare's Macbeth, including Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, the witches and the Scottish Thanes; This clearly shows that appearances can be deceiving. Works Cited Shakespeare, William. The tragedy of Macbeth. Boston: DC Heath and Company, 1915. Google Books. Internet. September 3. 2015.