In the play Macbeth, some of the most significant characters rely on their ability to equivocate, to hide their treacherously greedy or purely malicious intentions. Most of the characters take part in these acts of subterfuge, but the three witches, the doorman, and especially Macbeth are the most significant. While Macbeth employs these tactics of language manipulation and ambiguity as do the others, he ultimately falls victim to this game of deception himself, a prisoner of his own inability to see the deception hidden in the witches' words. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay When Macbeth is introduced, he is undoubtedly a respected and noble Thane, with unabashed loyalty to his country. It is only when the witches' prophecies tempt him with the possibility of a future kingdom that he becomes the deceitful and deceitful murderer who plagues Scotland in the later acts of the play. Macbeth's skill at deception is first put to the test after the murder of Duncan, when, with the intent of appearing innocent, he attempts to mislead Banquo, Macduff, Malcolm and the other nobles into believing that he was nothing more than a loyal subject of his king. . He tried to appear as shocked and surprised as they were by this brutal and unexpected murder. In an effort to promote his innocence, Macbeth says, “Who can be wise, astonished, tempered and furious, loyal and neutral, in a moment? No man. By saying this, Macbeth attempts to justify his seemingly impulsive action of killing the guards who were supposed to protect Duncan. He states that in a moment of such emotional intensity, no man can be expected to behave rationally. By stating this, however, Macbeth establishes himself as a master equivocator by having cunningly contradicted his own proclamation. Although he claims that man's actions during a time of conflict must typically be irrational, he actually acted in a very rational manner. His actions were concisely based on a very well thought out plan. Overall, Macbeth's intent with this statement was to create a veil that hid his murderous intent. For all his efforts to protect himself and his future kingship, Macbeth left himself vulnerable to the hidden intentions of the witches, cleverly woven into their gnomic prophecies. Because the witches' misunderstandings almost primarily involve Macbeth, they are the most significant and most devastating statements in the play. In Act I, Scene III, the three witches begin their dubious prophecies by greeting Macbeth with a title he has not yet received. Banquo, angered by their apparent favor towards Macbeth, demands that the witches also turn to him. Frank Kermode, author of "The Language of Shakespeare", recognizes this meeting as the beginning of the witches' misunderstandings. In his essay he writes about the ambiguity of the scene: The scene in which Macbeth and Banquo meet the sisters fully displays the new and peculiar ambiguous and doubling mode. Are these figures inhabitants of the earth or not? Men or women? Alive or not? They respond with their prophecy: He is already Glamis, he will be Cawdor, he will be King. Banquo answers Macbeth with questions, why does he fear what seems so right to him? Then he turns to the sisters: “Are you fantastic, or just what you show on the outside? Are you what you seem or mere apparitions? Why are you talking to him and not to me? If you can look into the seeds of time and tell which grain will grow and which will not, then speak to me, who neither beg nor fear your favor nor your hatred. Here the rhythms reinforce the return to the original question: what iscan learn from the future in the present? He/me, growing/not growing, being/fear, favors/hatred, even when they are not, so to speak, necessary, are part of the substance, oppositions and alternatives continually resonate. Kermode states that witches exude ambiguity not only in the positive/negative attributes of their speech but also in the physical sense. This point is demonstrated by Banquo's statement: "You should be women and yet your beards prevent me from so playing you" (3.1.20). Furthermore, in response to Banquo's request, the witches hail him by saying, “Lesser than Macbeth, and Greater” (3.1.19) and “Not so happy, but much happier.” (3.1.19) After hearing these words , Banquo immediately responds with "Stay, ye imperfect speakers" (3.1.19) demonstrating his feeling of uncertainty regarding the witch's words, demonstrating that due to their indiscernible nature, these words are, by definition, a misunderstanding concerns the meaning of these statements, it is revealed that these prophecies, as well as all the other prophecies made by the witches, prove true and foreshadow what is destined to transpire later in the play "Lesser than Macbeth and Greater" yes refers to the nobility and moral issues of both Banquo and Macbeth. Banquo will never acquire the higher title of king, as Macbeth will, making him of lower nobility in society than Macbeth. However, Banquo is greater than Macbeth by standards moral because while both characters were offered the possibility of great power by the witches' prophecies, Banquo did not bloody his hands as Macbeth did by resorting to murder to secure an illegitimate fate. The second quote, "Not so happy, but much happier", also compares Banquo and Macbeth, this time due to the upcoming emotional conflicts they will experience. Banquo, who will soon be murdered, will not have the same luck as Macbeth, who will then have become king. However, as guilt and fear of mutiny weigh heavily on Macbeth, his life becomes a living hell despite his current kingship, and it is Banquo, now at peace in heaven, who has the last laugh. Additionally, Shakespeare created a character in Macbeth for the purpose of providing comic relief, which is ironic for such a dark and dramatic play. The ulterior purpose of this character, however, was not to provide a lighthearted touch to an incredibly intense work, but rather to further enunciate the influence that equivocal language has on every aspect of the work. The doorman himself is a paradox, appearing as a drunken prankster in a clearly very serious comedy. Then he continues speaking in a completely twisted and paradoxical language: “Lust, sir, provokes and does not provoke. It provokes desire, but takes away performance. Therefore it can be said that much drinking is a misunderstanding with lust. It makes and ruins it. It makes him resist and not resist; in short, he misunderstands him in his sleep and, contradicting him, abandons him. (2.3.63) In this particular passage, the doorman refers to alcohol as a brutal misconception because of its characteristic of encouraging men to come forward, then robbing them of their ability to act upon it. This rippling effect that alcohol gives to men is directly related to Macbeth's ferocity and cowardice as a king. When he kills men he is ruthless and single-minded, yet when the ghosts of those men fill his thoughts, his once emboldened fortitude is shattered, leaving him cowering under the gaze of his now apprehensive nobles. One of the witches' prophecies on which Macbeth based his strength of mind was “Be bloody, bold and resolute. Laugh to scorn the power of man, for none born of woman shall harm Macbeth” (4.1.127).Hearing this, Macbeth reacted by saying: “Then live Macduff; what do I have to fear from you?” (4.1.128). Macbeth implied that the meaning of this phrase was that he is untouchable by any human being, including Macduff. Why then should he fear the revenge of a man who cannot harm him? Since this misinterpretation was the witches' intention, Macbeth has fallen into their misunderstanding, which effectively lulls him into a false sense of security, causing him to fail his expectations.guard. This vulnerability ultimately leads to his death at the place where the "Great Birnam Wood" meets "High Dunsinane Hill". Furthermore, the prophecy of the other witches to which Macbeth's resilience and blind courage can be attributed is: “Be brave, be proud, and do not care who is vexed, who is agitated, or where the plotters are. Macbeth will never be defeated until the Great Birnam Wood and the high Hill of Dunsinane come against him” (4.1.127). As he had done before, Macbeth falls for the witches' deception by failing to see the paradoxical nature of their words. This prophecy was a paradox because it can easily be misinterpreted (as demonstrated by Macbeth) as a completely illogical statement, and as a result the statement loses relevance due to its sheer improbability. Macbeth responds to this prophecy by saying, “It will never happen! Who can impress the forest, command the tree, loosen its earth-bound root? Sweet forebodings, good!» (4.1.127). His flaw here was interpreting this quote from a strictly logical point of view. He relies on the knowledge that an entire forest, such as the “Great Birnam Wood,” obviously cannot be picked up and moved as if it were a small object. He then goes further and praises the prophecy for curing his paranoia regarding the safety of his crown. However, the prophecy turns out to be true when the attacking army led by Macduff literally carries the "Great Birnam Wood" to the "high hill of Dunsinane", where Macbeth and his castle are located, both on the verge of being besieged. According to Maureen Mcfeely, author of “Fair is Foul, Foul is Fair”: The Paradoxes of Macbeth, The most significant paradox of Macbeth is: “The one at the center of the play: the relationship between Macbeth, Lady Macbeth and murder. " Upon hearing of the strange sisters' prediction that her husband will become king, Lady Macbeth's mind immediately turns to murder. Her greatest fear is that "the milk of human kindness" flows too strongly in Macbeth's veins to allow to do the deed" (Mcfeely 7) To reconcile herself to Macbeth's perceived inadequacy, Lady Macbeth begs the "murderous ministers" to "take her milk for gall," thus initiating what Mcfeely identifies as “a ritual sex change” (Mcfeely 7). The great paradox is that despite this initial attempt by Lady Macbeth to fill herself with sass, and Macbeth's onset of paranoia after killing Duncan, both characters develop. gradually until she represents the cliché of the male or female role. Lady Macbeth, despite her attempts to become masculine enough to face the murder, ultimately gives in to great anxiety over the events that have occurred, her character. goes from madness to suicide. Macbeth, previously troubled by his treacherous murder, has become accustomed to it and now proceeds without a second thought. His "milk of human kindness" had in fact become the gall that Lady Macbeth believed he had desperately lacked. Remember: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Overall, Macbeth becomes a victim of the witches' misconceptions because the illusion of the.