Macbeth Equivocation Essay

     In Shakespeare’s classic tragedy of Macbeth the main character Macbeth is driven from his status as a well respected warrior and lord of not one, but two Scottish regions to a dishonest, unloyal murderer. Macbeth gets caught in a web of lies and vile acts of murder in which he brings about his own demise. His criminal actions lead up to his tragic ending of life. ‘ They have tied me to a stake; I cannot fly, But bearlike I must fight the course.’ His great ambition and gullibility of the witches predictions are two of the biggest factors of his downfall;however, Lady Macbeth was probably the biggest influence in the whole tragedy.

The notorious Shakespearean play Macbeth illustrates a natural evil and greed for power present in the human race. Even in modern times, society relates to Macbeth as people are consistently striving for a higher rank and power. Sometimes, people are even prepared to get into difficult situations to achieve their goals, and this gives rise to conflicts. There are three main types of conflict present in the Macbeth play: man vs man, man vs nature, and man vs self.

"Macbeth" is a tragic play that was written by William Shakespeare in the early 1600’s. It revolved around the character Macbeth and his urge to become king of Scotland. Macbeth had to do anything possible to become the king including murder, lying, and deception. However, Macbeth committed these evil deeds due to some influential people in his life. Between Macbeth’s wife persuading him to do anything to become king and the witches prophesying over him causes Macbeth to try and bury the past and control the future.

In Macbeth, Shakespeare uses the theme of equivocation to effectively illustrate the evil nature of the witches. Equivocation is the use of ambiguous expressions in order to mislead. The prophecies of the witches play a mischief in this play, as they are a form of deception that at times use vague language to dodge an issue. The three influential prophecies, which the witches make in this play, are that the protagonist Macbeth will become the king of Scotland, Banquo will be the father of the king of Scotland, and Macbeth will not be killed until the Birnam wood moves to Dunsinane hill. The sources of these prophecies are the witches who put together the devious words into Macbeth 's mind, which demonstrates

Underline the reason (topic sentence) in each body paragraph. Is the reason clearly connected to the overarching argument? If not, how might the writer address this?

An important character in ‘Macbeth’ by William Shakespeare was Macbeth. Macbeth is shown as the protagonist of the play and is the person who drives the plot of the drama. Macbeth changes dramatically throughout the play as in the start he is portrayed as the tragic hero who would do anything for his King and country. As the plays continue he becomes ambitious and, encouraged by a prophecy. After that, he ends up killing a lot of people/becoming a tyrant.

In William Shakespeare 's play, Macbeth, the theme of ambiguity and equivocation stands our quite clearly. The Oxford definition of equivocation is: ‘use of ambiguity to conceal the truth '. Macbeth 's voluntary misinterpretation of the ambiguity and equivocation of the witches relates to the play 's theme. After the first of the witches ' prophecies comes true, Macbeth begins to believe in their truth. However, he also believes that the prophecies must all lead to his enrichment and empowerment. The use of equivocation in Macbeth also incorporates a sub-theme of appearance versus reality and the powers of evil. In the end, he twists the witches ' words to fit his own purposes, ignoring the possibility that the prophecies might have

Shakespeare is one of the most influential and famous playwrights of modern times. A major reason his work is loved by so many is because of his insightfulness into the human mind, and one of Shakespeare’s greatest works demonstrating this is Macbeth. This famous play is about nobleman and military man Macbeth and how his tragic choices lead to his inevitable demise. The first and most trying choice that Macbeth has to make is whether or not to kill Duncan, the king of Scotland. Macbeth has to make this decision while being pulled in different directions by two conflicting forces. The force pulling him away from murder is his loyalty and humanity towards Duncan. The other force pulling him towards murder is his loyalty towards Lady Macbeth

In Act 1, Scene 5 of Macbeth, William Shakespeare uses metaphor, foreshadowing, personification and a dark tone in order to establish the theme of appearance versus reality as displayed throughout the course of the play. In this scene, as Macbeth voices his authentic opinion on the Prince of Cumberland, he compares him to a “step On which I must fall down, or else o’erleap” (1.4.48-49) this metaphor unveils the way in which Macbeth sees the Prince. He believes as though Malcolm is just an obstacle that needs to be conquered and is under the impression that he is utterly in the way. This quote assists the audience in establishing an opinion on the character of Macbeth. Throughout the course of the play, Shakespeare’s use of foreshadowing is

In the Elizabethan Era, society was highly suspicious of the power of supernatural forces and it was commonly accepted that one’s life was governed by fate and was predetermined. Shakespeare’s Macbeth challenges the Elizabethan ideology of fate by privileging that although Macbeth was a victim of his “vaulting ambition” (1:VII 27), he was ultimately responsible for his villainous actions. Shakespeare has foregounded certain events to privilege that a person has free will and a concience and the cosequences of going against one's conscience, thus challenging the assumption of the Elizabethan Era. The audience is invited to sympathise with the protagonist, Macbeth, and see him as a tragic hero. Before his descent into evil, Macbeth

Over the course of the tragedy of Macbeth, Shakespeare uses various literary devices to bring to attention the importance of his diction, as well as relate the speech to the common theme of death and life’s worthlessness. Beyond the figurative language mentioned above, there are elements that are significant on their own, specifically foreshadowing, metaphors, repetition and alliteration. Shakespeare hints at an important upcoming event using Macbeth’s boastful attitude when he describes the walls surrounding his main character. This element of foreshadowing allows for the reader to predict that something tragic and significant will soon take place. As the speech progresses, the author continues to emphasize Macbeth’s idea that life is brief

In life, there are two types of people: those who do the right thing and those who don’t. In the play Macbeth, by Shakespeare, the main character Macbeth is given a prophecy by three witches that says he will become king; however, there is no descending line of kings of his own blood. With the knowledge of the Witches’ prophecy, Macbeth’s ambition, and manipulation from his wife, Lady Macbeth, Macbeth is quickly dragged into a never-ending, bloody murder rampage to obtain the crown and get rid of those who stand in the way of obtaining it as well. Macbeth constantly battles with his moral dilemmas; however, he easily falls victim to influences that go against his morals. Influences on major characters emphasize how easily one’s decision making can be negatively affected, resulting in one going against his or her morals/integrity.

Laurence Sterne once wrote, “No body, but he who has felt it, can conceive what a plaguing thing it is to have a man’s mind torn asunder by two projects of equal strength, both obstinately pulling in a contrary direction at the same time.” This passage embodies one of the over arching themes of Macbeth. The character Macbeth, in Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth, could easily identify with this passage due to the fact that he is pulled in opposite directions by both his desire to do what is right and his desire for power.

In the beginning of the play Macbeth and Macduff are very similar in many aspects including rank, leadership, belief, and loyalty. But as the play unfolds, Shakespeare reveals these two characters are as different as night from day. In this essay I will compare and contrast the characters of the murderous Macbeth, and the forthright Macduff. I will consider their status within the Scottish society and the depth of their intelligence. I will also evaluate their actions and their relationships with other characters, including their families and I will discuss their degrees of ambition.

The play ‘Macbeth’ uses soliloquies with great effect to express the thoughts of individual characters, particularly in the case of the protagonist, Macbeth. In Act V Scene V, strong words from Macbeth convey to the reader two themes of the play.  This soliloquy demonstrates the play's use of irony and the use of the disparity between the great opposition of light and darkness as symbols for both life and death.  This soliloquy is quite significant to the play as a whole since it demonstrates two very important themes as well as leading to a better understanding of Macbeth.