Equivocation and Free Choice in Macbeth
Tragedy to the ancient Greeks included fate or the gods presenting man with an unavoidable destiny. In The Tragedy of Macbeth, Shakespeare's witches give voice to Macbeth's destiny. However, the unfolding action demonstrates not the inevitability of fate, but Macbeth's own role in what takes place. By establishing an equivocal use of opposing images, Shakespeare enhances his development of the conflict between fate and man's choice. The continual conflict is designed to keep the tension heightened and prepare the reader/viewer for the effects this has on the mind and destiny of man.
The blending of right and wrong, good and evil, and a general equivocal position begins with the ominous appearance of the witches in Act I, Scene 1 of the play. For Shakespeare they serve the role of the Greek gods in ancient tragedy. With their comments "the battle's lost and won" (Macbeth I.i.8) and "Fair is foul and foul is fair" (I.i.11), we are prepared for the equivocal uneasiness that pervades the entire work. When Banquo describes the witches saying "you should be women, / And yet your beards forbid me to interpret / That you are so" (I.iii.45-47), the overall effect of the eeriness and disturbing picture they are to present is completed. Banquo shows perceptive insight into the role the witches serve and their potential affecting of the lives of both he and Macbeth when he says:
But 'tis strange;
And oftentimes, to win us to our harm,
The instruments of darkness tell us truths,
Win us with honest trifles, to betray 's
In deepest consequence. (I.iii.122-125)
Banquo here demonstrates knowledge of the dangers and consequences facing him and Macbeth as they are confronted with a tantalizing hint of a bright future without a full picture.
Although speaking of someone else, Ross' comments about "that most disloyal traitor, / The thane of Cawdor" (I.ii.52-53) foreshadow Macbeth's own traitorous acts. Duncan proclaims "No more that thane of Cawdor shall deceive / Our bosom interest" in Act I, Scene 3 (63-64) followed by "What he hath lost, noble Macbeth hath won." (I.iii.67) Afterwards Duncan proceeds to allow the new thane of Cawdor, Macbeth, to deceive him at the cost of Duncan's life and cause what the first thane of Cawdor had lost (the uprising against the king) to be won by Macbeth. We again encounter double meanings when Angus speaking of the first thane of Cawdor says "But treasons capital, confess'd and prov'd / Have overthrown him." (I.iii.115-116) Examples like these pervade the play thoroughly enhancing the double meaning to be found almost everywhere.
Macbeth's first appearance in the play finds him repeating the witch's words from the opening scene: "So foul and fair a day I have not seen." (I.iii.38) After the witches first encounter with him and Banquo, Macbeth says in an aside, "If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me / Without my stir." (I.iii.143-144) At this moment Macbeth demonstrates a belief in the controlling force of fate. He indicates that if this is truly meant to be it will happen without help from him. However, he almost immediately turns around and begins to take matters into his own hands as he communicates with his wife and begins to plot the murder of Duncan. He has begun to equivocate claiming fate will make it happen while still taking matters into his own hands demonstrating a lack of faith in the fate he believes gives him grounds for his claim to the throne.
Macbeth ostensibly claims to share the tale with his wife for her amusement so she can anticipate the joy to come (I.v.9-11), but in actuality he is preparing the way for the beginning action to fulfil his destiny for himself. In a soliloquy spoken when first reading his account of the encounter with the witches, Lady Macbeth states:
Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be
What thou art promis'd. Yet do I fear thy nature;
It is too full o' the milk of human kindness
To catch the nearest way: thou wouldst be great;
Art not without ambition, but without
The illness should attend it: what thou wouldst highly,
That wouldst thou holily; wouldst not play false,
And yet wouldst wrongly win: thou'ldst have, great Glamis,
That which cries, 'Thus thou must do,' if thou have it;
And that which rather thou dost fear to do
Than wishest should be undone. Hie thee hither,
That I may pour my spirits in thine ear,
And chastise with the valour of my tongue
All that impedes thee from the golden round
Which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem
To have thee crown'd withal. (I.v.13-28)
This speech is full of the conflicting ideas about allowing destiny to fulfill itself, but these ideas are accompanied by the need to take matters into their own hands if they are to achieve the desired destiny. Lady Macbeth confirms the impact of this missive when she says "Thy letters have transported me beyond / This ignorant present, and I feel now / The future in the instant." (I.v.54-56) With the words of destiny spoken by the witches they both become impatient with the present and seek to make their own future immediate rather than waiting on the predicted destiny to take care of itself. Her soliloquy also contains the description of Macbeth as full of a kindness that will prevent his acting. But just a few scenes later (II.ii), this kind man plunges a knife into the man to whom he owes loyalty as subject to king a protection as host to guest. (I.vii)
Act II, Scene 3 opens with Macbeth's porter answering the ringing of the bell. In his speech he utters the words, "Faith, here's an equivocator that could swear in both the scales against either scale; who committed treason enough for God's sake, yet could not equivocate to heaven." (8-10) The Doctrine of Equivocation
Justified speaking untruthfully by the use of words with equivocal meanings accompanied with mental reservations; but this sort of deception might be practiced only in accordance with a set of contorted moral principles justifying such means because of the end to be attained. One may "equivocate," but it must be "for God's sake." (Paul 237)
According to the textual notes of the play (1320), this is a reference to a current political situation of Shakespeare's day. As a skilled playwright, he uses the situation to enhance the double meanings that have pervaded The Tragedy of Macbeth to describe Macbeth's own actions and set up his attempts to justify those actions to himself. In simpler terms equivocation stood for justifying a lie on the basis of a larger picture just as Macbeth justifies murdering Duncan to become king so he can fulfill his destiny. Macbeth finally finds himself betrayed by his stance when he says "I pull in resolution, and begin / To doubt th' equivocation of the fiend / That lies like truth." (V.v.41-43)
Ultimately, the equivocal stance takes its toll on both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. She loses her sanity and commits suicide. He fluctuates between a faith in the predictions of the witches and fear that everything will be undone. He blindly tries to fulfill only the positive predictions about himself while attempting to prevent the fulfilling of the predictions about Banquo. As he also begins to lose his grasp of reality, Macbeth's actions become more and more intent on justifying his actions by silencing any opposing viewpoint. Thus madness is born out of the equivocal self-justification they both assume as a means to make themselves appear right in what they do.
Ultimately, in The Tragedy of Macbeth, Shakespeare shows Macbeth fulfilling his future as predicted by the instruments of fate, the witches, but having this occur through chosen actions rather than inevitable destiny. Through use of the equivocating statements filled with ambiguous, double meaning, Shakespeare establishes mood and tension while also establishing the role of self-justification in attempts to fulfill destiny through one's own actions and the dangers this can cause as evidenced by the instability it creates for those trying to live with two sides of existence at the same time.
