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This
section of the seminar is an explanation of how the paradox and equivocation
theme is used to advance the plot.
The first place that Shakespeare uses the theme for plot advancement is
in Macbeth and Banquo's first encounter with the witches. The witches hail
Macbeth under three different titles, Glamis, Cawdor, and finally they
say; "All hail, Macbeth! that shalt be King hereafter."(1.3.50)
After
hearing this Banquo then asks to be told what the future holds for him.
The witches tell him he'll be, "Lesser than Macbeth, and greater." "Not
so happy, yet much happier." and
"Thou shalt get kings, though thou
be none: "(1.3.65-67) Macbeth and Banquo just look on skeptically
until Ross comes and tells Macbeth he has been honored with the title,
Thane of Cawdor. Now there is an air of unspoken possibilities betwixt
Macbeth and Banquo. Macbeth then becomes entranced in thought, wondering
how he will become king and if he should lend a hand.
Another instance of a paradox/equivocation plot advancement is in Macbeth's
second meeting with the witches, only this time it is Macbeth that goes
to them. Macbeth has the witches conjure up some apparitions and
upon hearing the prophecy that "...laugh to scorn the power of man,
for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth. "(4.1.79-81) He then
takes it to mean that no human can kill him and he is overwhelmed with
feelings of confidence. Macbeth then hears the third apparition
which says:
"Be lion-mettl'd,
proud, and take no care
Who chafes,
who frets, or where conspirers are:
Macbeth shall
never vanquish'd be until
Great Birnam
Wood to high Dunsinane Hill
Shall come
against him." (4.1.90-94)
Macbeth, being on cloud nine, is giddier than a school girl and says:
"That will
never be:
Who can impress
the forest, bid the tree
Unfix his
earth bound root?" (4.1.95-97)
These
prophecies, told by the apparitions, prove to relieve some of the stress
that Macbeth has been feeling. Macbeth is so eager for reassurance
he fails to second guess what he has been told which is very unlike the
Macbeth that we meet at the beginning of the play.
The final apparition is of Banquo and eight kings, all of whom resemble
Banquo. This kick in the teeth rains on Macbeth's blood thirsty pajama
party, however, Macbeth finds solace in the fact that although
he will have no heirs he is still, in his own mind, immortal.
Macbeth was tempted by the witches from the start and it is his thirst
for knowledge and his false sense of immortality which ultimately lead
to his downfall. Without the witches and their "...imperfect speaking"
this twisted tale of lust and regicide may not have been possible.
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