LEC052020 - ELIZABETH JACOB- SIGNIFICANCE OF EQUIVOCATOR IN MACBETH

 What is the significance of the reference to the equivocator in Macbeth?

  1. Equivocation is the deliberate use of ambiguous or evasive statements to conceal an important information from someone.

2. There are several instances in Macbeth where the characters use equivocal language.

3. The use of equivocal speech begins in the first scene in which the witches are huddled on the heath awaiting Macbeth.

4. Another main instance where equivocal language is presented with great significance is in Act 2, scene 3, where the porter meets an equivocator who could not bluff God to enter heaven.

 5. Though Macbeth is portrayed as a master equivocator, he falls prey to those “juggling fiends” who speak in a “double sense”. 


Critically discuss the significance of the reference to the equivocator in Macbeth.

Draft 1

1. An equivocator is a person who uses evasive or ambiguous speech to mislead someone.

2. In the play Macbeth, Equivocation is used as a tool which amplifies Macbeth's tragedy.

3. The theme of equivocation is expounded in the Porter's scene, which foreshadows the tragedy awaiting Macbeth like the 'great equivocator' who is doomed to hell.

4. Being master equivocators do not help Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to see beyond the evasive speech of the witches.

5. Macbeth employs ambiguous speech as a tool to fulfil his vaulting ambition but the same leads to his downfall.

Draft 2

1. The principle of equivocation lies in deceiving the listener by quibbling on the words spoken.

2. The reference to the equivocator in the Porter scene "that could swear in both the scales against either scale" may be the allusion to the trial of Henry Garnet the Jesuit priest who defended equivocation and who was accused of complicity in the Gunpowder plot of 1605. 

3. Shakespeare uses the equivocator reference in the Porter scene perhaps to express the popular feeling against the Catholic equivocators.

4. The three witches who palter and speak in riddles, play a significant role in escalating the malignity of Macbeth's mind.

5. Macbeth sees evasive speech as an instrument to satisfy his vaulting ambition but the same paves way to his downfall.








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