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British Drama

Notes the play, audiences quickly ascertain that things are not what they seem. According to the Oxford
English Dictionary, the word “equivocation” has two different meanings - both of which are
applicable to this play.

Example: The using (a word) in more than one sense; ambiguity or uncertainty of meaning
in words; also misapprehension arising from the ambiguity of terms.
This definition as simple verbal ambiguity is the one that audiences are most familiar with—and
one that plays an important role in the play. The Porter’s speech on equivocation in Act 2, however,
refers to a more active type of equivocation.
This kind of equivocation is similar to lying; it is intentionally designed to mislead and confuse.
The intentional ambiguity of terms is what we see in the prophesies of the Weird Sisters. Their
speech is full of paradox and confusion, starting with their first assertion that “fair is foul and foul
is fair”. The witches’ prophesies are intentionally ambiguous. The alliteration and rhymed couplets
in which they speak also contributes to the effect of instability and confusion in their words. For
many readers, more than one reading is required to grasp a sense of what the witches mean. It is not
surprising, therefore, that these “imperfect speakers” can easily bedazzle and confuse Macbeth
throughout the course of the play.
Just as their words are confusing, it is unclear as to whether the witches merely predict or actually
affect the future. Banquo fears, for example, that the witches’ words will “enkindle [Macbeth] unto
the crown”—in other words, that they will awaken in Macbeth an ambition that is already latent in
him. His fears seem well-founded: as soon as the witches mention the crown, Macbeth’s thoughts
turn to murder. The witches’ power is thus one of prophecy, but prophecy through suggestion. For
Macbeth, the witches can be understood as representing the final impetus that drives him to his
pre-determined end. The prophecy is in this sense self-fulfilling.
The oracular sisters are in fact connected etymologically to the Fates of Greek mythology. The word
“weird” derives from the Old English word “word,” meaning “fate.” And not all fate is self-fulfilling.
In Banquo’s case, in contrast to Macbeth’s, the witches seem only to predict the future. For unlike
Macbeth, Banquo does not act on the witches’ prediction that he will father kings—and yet the
witches’ prophesy still comes true. The role of the weird sisters in the story, therefore, is difficult to
define or determine. Are they agents of fate or a motivating force? And why do they suddenly
disappear from the play in the third act?
The ambiguity of the Weird Sisters reflects a greater theme of doubling, mirrors, and schism between
inner and outer worlds that permeates the work as a whole. Throughout the play, characters, scenes,
and ideas are doubled.
The dramatic irony of Duncan’s trust is realized only later in the play. Similarly, the captain in
Scene 2 makes a battle report that becomes in effect a prophecy.
The passage can be interpreted as follows: Macbeth “disdains fortune” by disregarding the natural
course of action and becomes king through a “bloody execution” of Duncan; Macduff, who was
born from a Caesarian section and who neither “ne’er shook hands nor bade farewell” decapitates
Macbeth and hangs his head up in public.
As in all Shakespearean plays, mirroring among characters serves to heighten their differences.
Thus Macbeth, the young, valiant, cruel traitor/king has a foil in Duncan, the old, venerable,
peaceable, and trusting king. Lady Macbeth, who casts off her femininity and claims to feel no
qualms about killing her own children, is doubled in Lady Macduff, who is a model of a good
mother and wife. Banquo’s failures to act on the witches’ prophesy is mirrored in Macbeth’s drive
to realize all that the witches foresee.
Similarly, much of the play is also concerned with the relation between contrasting inner and outer
worlds. Beginning with the equivocal prophecies of the Weird Sisters, appearances seldom align
with reality. Lady Macbeth, for example, tells her husband to “look like the innocent flower, / but

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