"Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under 't."

Shakespeare was loosely connected to the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 from which Guy Fawkes got his fame. William Shakespeare's father John was a friend of one of the conspirators, and according to some sources, the conspirators hung around the Mermaid Tavern where William frequented.

After the plot was foiled, Shakespeare wrote Macbeth in which he included elements from the plot including the mentioning of a design on a commemorative medal King James had made for those who captured the plotters (see image). In Act 1 Scene 5, Lady Macbeth tells her hubby to "Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under 't."