DEVIKA. P LEC052018 essay Equivocator, Macbeth

           Critically analyze the role of equivocator in the play Macbeth

          The play Macbeth by Shakespeare is depicted on the theme of deception, mystery and ambiguity, where the role of an equivocator is highly significant. Equivocation is the practice of deliberately deceiving a listener by using ambiguous language. This is used quite often in Shakespeare 's play  named Macbeth mostly with the prominent characters.

          The characteristics of an  equivocator can be clearly seen in some of the characters of this play mainly with Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, when they try to hide the fact that they plan to kill Duncan, the King of Scotland. The role of three witches are also very important in this regard, for instance the dialogue uttered by the Witches in the very the first scene in the first act, " Fair is foul and foul is fair." These line possess a double meaning, that is the good for noble man is evil for witches and vice versa.  Not only tge characters but also some scenes possess a few traits of equivocation.

          The scene of Porter in the Act ll and scene lll has a great role in it. when Macduff finds the bloody corpse of King Duncan, the porter that is still drunk from drinking in the night says that he is the porter of hell and says  "equivocator, that could swear in both the scales against either scale..." This line is considered a reference to the book "A Treatise of Equivocation". The book was about how Catholics dealt with dangerous questions from Protestant inquisitors. If the Catholics told the Protestants that they were Catholics they would get in serious trouble and it would be a sin against God. So they decided to equivocate. The Catholic equivocators would tell the Protestants what they wanted to hear, but God would know that they would be telling the truth. This in another equivocation but doesn't necessary make it a good thing. 

          The application of Equivocation helps the readers to predict the climax of the play Macbeth. Since by analysing the predictions of witches which has hidden meanings, help the readers to get hints about the later events of the play.

          To be conclude the portrayal of equivocator is evident from beginning to the end of the play. Many scenes and dialogues are clearly shown the features  of equivocators. Their deeds could bring the mind of  readers to the world of deception so that they will be capable of identifying truth and false in their real life situations.

                                Bibliography

Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Calicut University, Central cooperative Stores LTD.

https://macbeth-themes.weebly.com/equivocation.html#:~:text=Equivocation%20is%20the%20use%20of,plan%20to%20kill%20King%20Duncan.&text=So%20they%20decided%20to%20equivocate

https://www.jstor.org/stable/460744?seq=1


Comments

  1. Aparna Reghunathan19 January 2021 at 10:34

    The essay missed to put forward a hypothesis. As a result, the rest of the essay lacked proper paragraphs containing topic sentences. Citations were not included in the essay. The MLA 8 format was overlooked in the writing as well as bibliography. Grammatical and punctuation errors were also noticed.
    The essay requires a solid hypothesis, wider research and systematic explication.

    ReplyDelete
  2. DEEPTHI M20 January 2021 at 07:10

    The first paragraph of the essay should have focussed on putting forth a strong hypothesis. The lack of a strong hypothesis, renders the rest of the essay incoherent. There are a few grammatical errors and spelling mistakes in the write-up. Citations are not included in the essay. The write-up as well as the works cited does not conform to the MLA 8 stylesheet.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anu.S20 January 2021 at 07:53

    The essay is failed to put forward the hypothesis which leads the lack of topic sentences in the paragraphs. Dialogue quoted in the essay should be cited properly. Punctuation and spelling errors were noted.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Christy Mariya Joy20 January 2021 at 18:36

    The essay should have concentrated on the critical aspect of equivocation in the play. Lack of a wider research is reflected in the essay as it lacks in-text citations. There is no hypothesis and arguments in the last two paragraphs which make it difficult to regard them as a paragraph.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Devika20 January 2021 at 18:45

    Thank you friends for your valuable commets. Definitely it will help me to write an essay in well manner.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ardra A.P20 January 2021 at 19:50

    Even though this is a well written write up, the lack of a strong hypothesis is visible there. There are some grammatical as well as punctuation errors too.The lack of proper citation also noticed.

    ReplyDelete

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