Equivocation Paragraphs Flashcards
(4 cards)
Key point 1
Be bloody bold and resolute
Macbeth deciding to believe the witches prophecies and that they are in his best interests after the first set came true and were in his best interest when really he was just being deceived and equivocated by the witches.
Oftentimes quote
Key point 2
The statements prove to be true, literally, as final events in the drama unfold, but they mislead Macbeth, as intended, into a false sense of invulnerability. As a result, he continues in his wicked ways and is beheaded by Macduff.
Charmed life, bloody/bold, great Birnam wood
Before his death, Macbeth realizes the witches have equivocated. Macduff’s mother had not born him naturally at his birth, and Birnam Wood does move up the hill, as soldiers cut down boughs to shield themselves in their attack. Ironically, by feeling safe, Macbeth is set upon a straight path to his destruction. Further irony can be found in this; in one of the three prophecies, the witches did not equivocate, but Macbeth did not recognize the truth when it was presented to him. “Beware Macduff!” was not misleading at all.
Key point 3
Macbeth killing banquo and attempting to kill sons as a result of them being a threat to the crown. “Thou shall begets kings, but thou be none.” This equivocation led to Macbeth going down a path of murder and using violence to solve his problems when it just made people realise he was a tyrant and needs to be taken down.
Key point 4
Its use in Macbeth is intentional, and it refers primarily to the second set of predictions given by the witches. With the first set of predictions, the witches lure him with small truths: calling him by his present title, Glamis, his upcoming “promotion” with an added title of “thane of Cawdor,” and finally with the clincher, the man who will be king. (This last prediction might be included as a form of equivocation—they fail to mention that in order to be king, Macbeth must first murder Duncan.)
“All hail Macbeth that shalt be King hereafter”
