At the beginning of the play, we immediately find ourselves in the aftermath of a heated battle. A messenger returns to King Duncan to report on the events and outcome of the battle. He speaks of Macbeth as a hero; a man who, when betrayed my the King of Scotland--to whom they should have been able to look to for aid, had unconquerable bravery. Here is part of that exchange:
Messenger: With furbish'd arms and new supplies of men began a fresh assault
Duncan: Dismay'd not this our captains, Macbeth and Banquo?
Messenger: Yes, as sparrows, eagles, or the hare, the lion. If I say [truth] I must report they were as cannons over-charg'd with double cracks; so they doubly redoubled strokes upon the foe.
This is the Macbeth that King Duncan saw; he saw the eagle and the lion. But just as he could not see the treachery in the King of Scotland until after it was too late for any preemptive measures, so it is with Macbeth.
After the battle was won, King Duncan had the King of Scotland executed for his treason. You can feel his remorse in having been wounded by one on whom he had built an "absolute trust"; and it is from King Duncan's comments on this situation that I would like to begin the thread of irony found throughout Macbeth.
"There's no art to find the mind's construction on the face," (Act 1, Sc 4, 11-12). The principle from this line stayed with me throughout the entire play. It was interesting to see how Macbeth tried to hide under the persona of the "Brave Macbeth..." who used to deserve that name, (Act 1, Sc 2, 16).
There are interesting quotes throughout the play that have a strong connection to this foreshadowing comment by King Duncan. The irony is found in a couple of ways. 1--King Duncan does not learn the art of finding the mind's construction on the face 2--Macbeth does not learn the art of hiding the mind's construction on the face, though he eventually ceases to bother when he becomes the hardened Macbeth of Acts IV and V.
Quote 1 is from an exchange of Lady Macbeth to Macbeth:
Lady Macbeth: Your face, my than, is as a book where men
May read strange matters. To beguile the time,
Look like the time, bear welcome in your eye,
Your hand, your tongue; look like th'innocent flower,
But be the serpent under't.
Quote 2 is the final conversation between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth before the murder of the King:
Macbeth: Will it not be receiv'd
When we have mark'd with blood those sleepy two
Of his own chamber, and us'd their very daggers,
That they have done't?
Lady Macbeth: Who dares receive it other,
As we shall make our griefs and clamour roar
upon his death?
Macbeth: Away, and mock the time with fairest show,
False face must hid what the false heart doth know.
These episodes from the beginning of Macbeth are laying the foundation for a theme that I would like to explore more deeply.
Before I launch into further depth, does the platform from which I plan to build off of make sense to you?
