When otherwise intelligent people observe an action or listen to a speech, they are normally inclined to believe and accept the idea presented without investigating or questioning the matter at hand. While this phenomenon is a common practice, it is also a form of deception. While some have it, the perception of not believing everything they see, many lack that very ability. This lack of intuition leads to a disconcerting consequence of blindness which often ends in tragedy. In writing, writers want their audience to believe the idea presented without question and achieve this effect normally through the use of rhetoric. For William Shakespeare, the way characters respond to this type of “Out of sight, out of mind” thought reveals a lot about the characters. How characters respond when distinguishing between appearance and reality tells the audience how the characters are affected and how they think. This type of narrative strategy incorporated by Shakespeare involves a skillful display of rhetoric that is almost endless. As a result, Shakespeare's plot strategy arises from characters being deceived by someone else. Shakespeare's Macbeth is a play that can be considered a great example of such a plot strategy. The play displays many important themes, which in unison cause the downfall of its main character: Macbeth. Through this process, Shakespeare is able to influence his audience by telling them a story that reveals how the noblest of characters can be infected by the smallest of ideas. In the world of Macbeth, the theme of appearance versus reality plays a predominant role not only in influencing Macbeth's actions but also in his downfall. The theme of "Appearance vs. Reality" is how the characters... at the center of the card... their prophecies literally and deceive themselves into believing they are safe from any danger. At this point, a force of forces wished to end Macbeth's tyrannical wrath and traveled to Scotland to overthrow him. By the time these forces approached Macbeth in Scotland, Macbeth and his queen had reached a mental state bordering on madness. Lady Macbeth suffered from horrible memories of murder and had hallucinations. Unable to calm her mind, Lady Macbeth takes her own life: “The queen, my lord, is dead” (Macbeth V, VI, 15). Meanwhile, Macbeth is forced to admit that the witches “lie as the truth.” They misunderstood. Macbeth is at this stage ready to see the world for what it is, not what he would like it to be. Works Cited Shakespeare, William. The tragedy of Macbeth. Boston: D.C. Heath and Company, 1915. Google Books. Network. 3 September. 2015.