We discussed equivocation in Monday's class, and how it affected Shakespeare's audience at the time. There was no greater threat to national security than an equivocator, especially a Catholic one. They may claim to be loyal to the crown, but in fact they could be carrying malice and treachery in their hearts, and all without the sin of lying because, well, they weren't lying. Not really.
After witnessing the gruesome ghost of Banquo at his dinner, Macbeth began to doubt everything about himself. Whom could he trust? Were his senses lying to him? He had to return to the witches to demand they show more about his future. Of course, the witches did not seem to mind, though they warned him that he might not like what he saw. What he saw terrified him, but also gave him resolve and courage. He now knew that his was a charmed life, one that would not be ended as easily as others. Well, that's what he thought, at least.
But why did the witches take such interest in Macbeth? Could they really see the future, or did they hope to change the future by swaying Macbeth's opinions? After all, they did not seem to benefit from Macbeth's actions; then again, they do not seem to care as much about this world as do those who actually live on it. Both Macbeth and Banquo at the beginning of the play pondered that the Devil could only speak the truth, and perhaps this is the case for the witches as well. For this post, discuss whether you think the witches intentionally lied to Macbeth, or told him the absolute truth. Were they equivocating to him the whole time, leaving out crucial information, or were they being completely honest? Are witches even capable of being honest - or even capable of lying? What do they stand to gain by Macbeth's actions? Please begin your post with your student number.
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ReplyDeleteI think the witches were equivocating. I think that the weird warnings they gave Macbeth would actually be true, that they'd somehow get the forest to attack his castle. So I think the witches were telling the truth through what would seem impossible. The witches are witches, they may gain excitement from Macbeth's actions, seeing chaos erupt around Scotland.
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ReplyDeleteI think that the witches told the whole truth from the beginning but Macbeth just couldn't understand
parts of the truth. For example, the specific appearances of the three apparitions. Also, I don't think the witches gained anything from Macbeth's actions.
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ReplyDeleteI think the witches told him the absolute truth and knew what would happen to Macbeth. They were probably equivocating to him and were capable of lying when they tell him what they know, but not everything. The witches may have found it entertaining to watch them, how humans could be so greedy and selfish. They may also have thought it was funny, watching humans struggle with what they wanted to obtain and the many obstacles to overcome.
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ReplyDeleteThe witches didn't necessarily lie they just covered the truth, they seemed to have equivocated the entire time. They never once told him how to do something, they just said it was going to happen. They left out information for a reason they know they couldn't be exact with their prophecy, they tried to make him believe what he was doing was part of his destiny. They dont seem to gain anything just by macbeths actions so why would they continue to tell him the future.? They are honest in a way...
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ReplyDeletei think that the witches were not telling Macbeth the whole truth because the apparition told him to fear Macduff, but Malcolm is also planning to unleash an army towards Macbeth. i think that witches are able to tell the truth but may manipulate your mind and change your perspective.
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ReplyDeleteI think that the witches intentionally lied to Macbeth. I think that there was always something hidden in the stuff they told Macbeth and left out crucial information such as how something will happen, or even what Macbeth should do or why they are even telling stuff to him. I do think that the witches are capable of both telling the truth and lying, and they can be honest or not whenever they want. Some stuff they've told Macbeth are actually (partially at least) true, but I have never thought about why they care about what Macbeth does.
On one hand, they might get happy and satisfied by bloodshed and death; or they might get some sort of increase in power or evilness when Macbeth (or anyone else they pick on) does something wrong or evil like killing someone else.
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ReplyDeleteI think that the witches tell "the truth", which is whatever they see (the future). However, the way they see it, as do all mystical things, and the way they describe it to mortals is always shrouded in mystery and laced with riddles and hidden meanings. Yes, some things were equivocations, but that likely wasn't on purpose, and they were eventually discovered by Macbeth (right before he died). The witches seem to like to cause misery (such as what they did to the sailor and his wife) and might have said these things to Macbeth for no apparent reason, but merely because they're bored.
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ReplyDeleteI think the witches were equivocating to macbeth the whole time. They outright told him to be afraid of Macduff, though they vaguely said things about someone not being born from a woman and a forest moving. Obviously these things sound absurd to anyone... Everyone's born from a woman, and forests don't move!
But obviously if the witches are even mentioning these things, there has to be a possibility that they can happen, otherwise they wouldn't make any sense whatsoever. The witches are telling Macbeth the truth, but also withholding the truth. They aren't lying, but they aren't telling the whole story.
By equivocating, the witches can control Macbeth's emotions. Since they told him to fear Macduff, he tries to eliminate him, but since he doesn't know that Macduff wasn't born from a woman, he doesn't know that he is a bigger threat to Macbeth than he thought.
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ReplyDeleteGiven that they are witches with some serious dark stuff going on, what with the cauldrons and all, I'm going to go ahead and assume these witches are telling the truth - sort of. I think they are leaving out some pretty important stuff, like how long Macbeth will be king (a week? a year? forever?), among other information that might be significant to Macbeth's reign. I'm no expert on the mechanics of Elizabethan era witches, but I would think that witches can do whatever they want, being powerful as they are. Why would they lie if they can get an equally or more so entertaining result by telling the truth? I don't quite see what the witches might get out of all this drama, but I imagine it would be pretty entertaining to watch first-hand (if you're an evil witch with a beard, that is).
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ReplyDeleteI think that the witches told him the absolute truth because in the beginning of the story, they told him that he would become Thane of Cawdor, which he did, and then he would become king, which is also did. However, even though it may seem that they lied to him when they showed him the apparitions, they actually didn't. All the apparitions showed him what would happen, it's just that Macbeth chose to see it differently than what it was really; he didn't realize that the first apparition was actually his own head severed from his body, that the bloody child was Macduff, and that the child with the tree was actually Malcolm. I think that witches are capable of lying, but what do these witches have to lie about, they really have nothing to gain or lose no matter what happens, they take care of themselves and it really won't affect them who is the king and who isn't.
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ReplyDeleteI think the witches took such interest in Macbeth because they really could see the future, and were aware that Macbeth will eventually be crowned king. I also think the witches wanted to tell Macbeth their prophesies to sit back and watch the madness this would cause in Macbeth's life, and Scotland. The witches were most definitely leaving out crucial information in their predictions. For example, when they told Macbeth no man born from a woman will ever defeat him, they left out that the man could be born of C-section (V, iii, 6-8). I believe, just as humans, the witches are capable to telling the truth, as well as failing to mention crucial details of the truth that may change the situation. The witches gain entertainment from Macbeth's actions and insanity due to their prophesies.
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ReplyDeleteI believe that in a sense the witches were equivocating to Macbeth. The reason I believe this is because of the way they spoke. For example when they say that no one born of a women will harm Macbeth they are not lying but they are speaking in a misleading way (and leaving out crucial information) as with all the other apparitions made by them. In my opinion I think witches are capable of lying, especially if they are evil witches. I do not think the witches gain much from the actions of Macbeth, but maybe they just want to bring havoc to Scotland because they don't care much for it, they are more powerful than humans and maybe just want to toy with them.
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ReplyDeleteThe witches are being honest, because they have nothing to gain or lose by lying to Macbeth. I think the witches are indeed equivocating, not intentionally but only because their methods of communication are not entirely clear to Macbeth.
Macbeth thinks that he is invincible because of the second and third apparation. How can someone exist that is not born of woman, and how can a forest move? But clearly there is some sort of twist to it that the witches are not telling him. I think they are incapable of lying because if they didn't intend to tell Macbeth, they simply would not have appeared before him.
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ReplyDeleteI think the witches intentionally lied to Macbeth. They were equivocating to him the whole time, leaving out crucial information. Information like how he will be king, what they meant by no one that is of woman born shall harm him. I think that the witches are even capable of lying. I think for them it’s just entertainment. It’s fun for them to watch Macbeth doing crazy things he should not have done with all their equivocations.
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ReplyDeleteI feel the witches were being honest but at the same time, deceptive. They left out crucial details such as the reason as to why Macbeth should fear Macduff and this resulted in his death. I think the reason they might have manipulated Macbeth in this way was that because they can see into the future, perhaps Macbeth's actions could have set off a chain of events that would eventually benefit the witches. Either this or that the witches had been living so long that they wished for entertainment in their lives and being particularly conniving, they wouldn't find entertainment in skipping rope or an enthralling game of Rock-Paper-Scissors. They instead found amusement in messing with the lives of humans.
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ReplyDeleteI believe that the witches were being honest to Macbeth because the future is never exact and is always changing. Perhaps if Macbeth did not do what he did, he may have stayed king for a longer time. Are the witches capable of lying though? I believe so due to the fact that they are able to create natural disasters and predict the future. Since they are seemingly malicious, they would gain a world of pain and chaos from Macbeth's actions.
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ReplyDeleteThe witches may seem to have taken interest in Macbeth because he would have seemed to be in a vulnerable position after winning a war and also because they do not seem like the type to see the after affects of their actions. The term witches seem to conjure up in most people’s minds of magic and mysterious beings so there is a possibility that these witches could have indeed have the ability to see into the future. But then there is also the fact that they might have wanted to see how much of an impact they had on mortals and to see how far a human being could go in order to achieve dreams. These witches promised him great futures but leave out that fact of what he may have to do in order to secure these great futures. My honest opinion is that they may have just been equivocating the entire time and may not have known the whole truth. Even though they are witches I believe they too have the power and control how much they lie and tell the truth like any being. Whether they choose to what at any time is up to them. Last, the witches stand on no ground to gain by Macbeth’s actions but only their own. I see it as if they were able to persuade such great a human being like Macbeth than they can control anyone. Whether Macbeth won king and stayed alive or not was not their problems. As in the beginning of their play, they seem very involved with their own lives and do not care much for mortals. As witches and outcasts of society their actions heed no dilemmas to them.
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ReplyDeleteI think the witches were intentionally equivocating to Macbeth. They purposly did not explain exactly what they meant. Some things the witches said were so confusing that it almost became a lie. For example the witches told Macbeth "for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth". This made Macbeth feel safe and invincible as he believed every man is born form a woman's womb. In the end he was killed by Macduff who was "from his mother's womb ultimely ripped".Macduff was delivered by a cesarean operation as so this still fit in with what the witches predicted but fooled Macbeth. The witches have nothing to gain by Macbeth's actions but they show that they do have some power or influence over what happens.
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ReplyDeleteI think the witches were just playing around. They were being honest, but at the same time they were persuading Macbeth into wanting to kill everyone just for the chance to become king.
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ReplyDeletethe whitchs probably could see the future but to get Macbeth to actually try to become king they had to leave out the crucial information, maybe to get his ambition higher. The Whitches could be planning to actually take over the castle by being friendly to Macbeth if he becomes king.
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ReplyDeleteThe witches in Macbeth were leaving out important information that could have benefited Macbeth to know, however they told him the truth. Although vague, the witches informed Macbeth of his destiny and how he was to be defeated. I believe that everyone is capable of lying, however due to the witches' super natural characteristics, they are compelled to tell the truth, even if it is partly the truth.