The Idea Of Equivocation In William Shakespeare's Macbeth

In the play Macbeth, William Shakespeare uses the idea of equivocation to show how everything in the play is not what it appears to be. In the beginning of the play, Macbeth is seen as the holy grail who has the complete trust of the entire kingdom of Scotland, but by the end of the play he is seen as a tyrannical ruler who has destroyed Scotland. Macbeth’s character is influenced greatly because of the witches’ prophecies these foretellings were vague and ambiguous which caused Macbeth to go against his morals and turn wicked. Macbeth first encountered the witches with Banquo, the witches foretold that Macbeth would be Thane of Cawdor then rise to become the new king. Furthermore, the witches try to destroy Macbeth by filling him …show more content…
Macbeth was loyal to the kingdom of Scotland, but after the witches prophesied “All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter” (Shakespeare 1.3.52), Macbeth was over thinking too much about how he would become king. Macbeth did not comprehend the ambiguity of this passage; Macbeth did not know if he could become king rightfully. Macbeth had to decide to either kill King Duncan or wait for him to die from natural causes. The prophecy is vague and Macbeth has to choose how to handle the information and he at first decides that he will not kill King Duncan telling his wife: “We will proceed no further in this business” (Shakespeare 1.7.33), but he later decides to kill King Duncan instead of waiting to be crowned king deservedly. Macbeth was tricked by the witches because he did not know if he had to kill the king, or if he had to wait to become the heir to the throne. The witches deliberately did not tell Macbeth what to do so that he would choose for himself, after the prophecy was told to Macbeth the witches left and did not answer any further questions from Macbeth. After Macbeth was hailed as the new king he became paranoid of everyone, even his closest friends. Macbeth killed anyone who questioned …show more content…
The witches prophesied this for Macbeth because in the end of the play the forest appears to look like it is moving signaling that Macbeth’s reign of terror will soon come to an end. Once the watch guard tells Macbeth what he saw, Macbeth says, “Liar and slave!” (Shakespeare 4.5.39). He is so surprised and caught off guard he does not believe what he has just heard. The forest appears to be moving towards Dunsinane because of Malcolm 's orders which