Appearance Vs. Reality: Equivocation

"Fair is foul and foul is fair." That's what the witches chant in unison in the play's opening scene and the mantra echoes throughout the play. In Macbeth, appearances, like people, are frequently deceptive. What's more, many of the play's most resonant images are ones that may not actually exist. Macbeth's bloody "dagger of the mind," the questionable appearance of Banquo's ghost, and the blood that cannot be washed from Lady Macbeth's hands all blur the boundaries between what is real and what is imagined.

Lady Macbeth's deceit is highlighted by Polanski through the scene in which she dances, while smiling, with Duncan, whom she plans to murder.

Macbeth's appearance as a god-like figure is the opposite of the murderous reality. Polanski at first shows Macbeth, as king, in the light, but then makes him darker and darker.