<em>The Tragedy of Macbeth</em> is a play written by William Shakespeare in which he narrates the ambition of the Macbeth couple to conquer the Scottish throne. To do so, Macbeth murders King Duncan, a fact that demands more deaths to be duly hidden and prevent suspicion. However, the couple begins to suffer from guilt and paranoia which leads Macbeth to become a tyrant.
Lady Macbeth, in turn, begins to hallucinate and sleepwalk. That is the reason why, in Act V, the doctor says, “Unnatural deeds / Do breed unnatural troubles.” Lady Macbeth feels guilty for the deaths of Lady Macduff and Banquo and, while sleepwalking, believes to see blood on her hands. The civil war and bloodbath that begin to take place after Macbeth takes the throne are also unnatural troubles originated from unnatural deeds since Macbeth would have never become a king in a natural way. All the killing that was necessary to keep him in power – and taking someone’s life is certainly the most unnatural action a human being can conceive – takes its toll, depriving him and his wife from their mental health and, later on, their lives, and depriving the kingdom of peace.
Answer: C) “It is simply washing one’s clean linen in public.”
Explanation: A paradox is a statement that seems absurd or self-contradictory. They are usually humorous and can be sometimes confusing. In the given excerpt from Act I of the Importance of Being Earnest, we can see a conflict in with the speaker knows where he is going to be seated and he is not happy with it. We also can see an example of paradox in the phrase “It is simply washing one’s clean linen in public" because it represents a contradiction.
