Discuss the theme of equivocation in Shakespeare's Macbeth.

In Shakespeare's Macbeth,
equivocation plays a central part in bringing about the death of
Macbeth.

Equivocation is defined
as...

...the
misleading use of a term with more than
one meaning...

It can also be
described as "doublespeak" or "doubletalk," which is…

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...language that deliberately disguises,
distorts, or reverses the meaning of
words.

Its use in Macbeth is
intentional, and it refers primarily to the second set of predictions given by the
witches. With the first set of predictions, the witches lure him with small truths:
calling him by his present title, Glamis, his upcoming "promotion" with an added title
of "thane of Cawdor," and finally with the clincher, the man who will be king. (This
last prediction might be included as a form of equivocation—they fail to mention that in
order to be king, Macbeth must first murder Duncan.)

When
Hecate, the queen of the witches, learns that the witches have been trafficking with
Macbeth, but only playing with him, she is angry. She wants to be a
part of the "fun," and she believes that the evil they serve has not been "uplifted" in
any way—she tells the weird sisters that they must make sure to lure Macbeth to his
ultimate destruction.

It is here that we remember Banquo's
warning to Macbeth when he told his friend that the powers of evil
win a man with small truths, and then trick him with the big
lie—the one that makes all the difference—when he already is a believer in the truth of
their words…

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BANQUO:

...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.132-136)

As Banquo
warned Macbeth in Act One, there is little truth to what the witches predict in Act
Four; Macbeth will learn too late that he has been
deceived.

Foolishly, Macbeth thinks he can control the
witches. They serve a darker power, but they let he think he can
command them. When Macbeth demands new predictions, they
equivocate.

Each new prediction is delivered by an
apparition or vision, and it says to watch out for Macduff—this is true
enough:

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FIRST
APPARITION:

Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth!
Beware Macduff;

Beware the Thane of Fife.
(IV.i.79-80)

The second
apparition "reels" a "hooked" Macbeth in; the vision tells Macbeth that only a man born
of a woman can harm him. Literally, all men are born of a woman,
but technically, a child can be "born" in more than one way. This is where they trick
Macbeth:

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SECOND
APPARITION:

Be bloody, bold, and resolute;
laugh to scorn

The power of man, for none of woman
born

Shall harm Macbeth.
(88-90)

Macbeth thinks he's
safe, sure there is no one who does not fit that description.
Later, Macduff will tell Macbeth that he was "born" by caesarean
section.

The final apparition reinforces Macbeth's "false
sense of security." This vision says that Macbeth will never be defeated until the woods
can move to the hill. Macbeth figures woods cannot move. However, the technicality here
is that Malcolm's army will camouflage itself with tree branches,
so it looks as if the woods are
moving.

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THIRD
APPARITION:

…Macbeth shall never vanquish’d
be until

Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane
Hill

Shall come against him.
(103-105)

These equivocations
lure Macbeth to his doom for he unwisely forgets the nature of the "women" who advise
him. By the time he realizes this, it is too
late.

Additional
Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equivocation