Kaylyn Stout
L. Bennett
Literature
11 October 2009
Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover
Don’t judge a book by its cover has been said to every child at some point in their lives. However, in William Shakespeare’s Othello and Macbeth the tragic heroes do not heed this advice. Betrayals and illusions run rampant in Shakespeare’s plays. Judging appearances as they appear become Othello’s, as well as Macbeth’s, downfall.
In Othello “Honest Iago”, Othello’s most trusted companion is not who he seems to be (cite this). Iago tells Roderigo “I am not who I am” (Cite this). Iago appears to Othello, as well as Cassio and Roderigo “A man of honesty and trust”, even though he is everything but. (cite this) Iago is the character that causes Othello to disbelieve Desdemona and her faithfulness, and even convinces Roderigo that he can get Desdemona to love Roderigo, for a sum of course.
Double-sided characters also roam the scenes in Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is such a character. At the beginning, when she plots to murder King Duncan, she appears to be the cold-hearted wife that controls her husband. However, when it comes time to follow through with the act, she cannot bring herself to kill him because he looks like her sleeping father. (cite where this came from) She seems unconcerned about the slaughter for her husband to be comforted, but later she is the one that goes mad from the guilt of the murders, as opposed to Macbeth who was upset about killing the King while he slept, became more accustomed to slaughtering more and more people.
In addition, Othello in Othello is judged by his appearance. Society does not consider him his equal, and they consider him a brute, and a man of magic, because he is the “moor” general, even though Othello is as successful and wealthy as the other nobles. This is proven when Brabantio is opposed to Othello’s and Desdemona’s marriage even though Brabantio takes Othello into his house to hear his stories of battle. Brabantio is so enraged by the marriage he even plants the first seeds of doubt into Othello’s mind. “She has deceived her father, and may thee” (1.3.25).
The three witches in Macbeth, are also of great mystery. Their fortunes and apparitions are not what they seem. “Fair is foul, and foul is fair” (1.1.1) is even said by the witches at the beginning of the play, and indeed, things are not as they appear. The witches show Macbeth the very images that show his downfall and death, and he does not look beneath the surface for the meanings. He is assured that the witches are showing him positive things that will happen to him and that he is invincible, but they are warning him, only, he did not look for it. For example, Macbeth took the armored, bloody, helm on a sword that said “Beware Macduff” to be Macduff’s head. (Cite this). He was also told that he could not be defeated by a man born of woman, and that his castle would fall, only after the words had marched upon it. (Cite where found this). Macbeth takes these as signs of him being undefeated, but was really the opposite; they were warnings to show what he was to beware of. If Macbeth had looked beneath the surface, he may have been a prosperous ruler.
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