Hi again,
There are various themes in Macbeth which I've put under the banner of 'Truth'. They are:
Here's a reminder about the 'providential' reading of the play:
According to this interpretation, the purpose of the play is to teach us about good and evil. We might see Banquo and Macduff as foils for Macbeth in this sense. They are there to show us how to act. They could be said to represent goodness. For example, in 1.3, Banquo's response to the witches is more sceptical, more measured and more careful:
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. (Act 1 Scene 3)
Here, Banquo recognises the power offered by the witches as 'honest trifles', far less important that the 'deepest consequence' of committing a sin and going to hell.
He is, of course, correct. He's describing equivocation - and the witches do turn out to be equivocators. Banquo sees this immediately, but it takes Macbeth much longer.
In Act 3 Scene 1, he considers the possibility of his having given away his soul for nothing:
For Banquo's issue have I filed my mind;
For them, the gracious Duncan have I murdered,
Put rancours in the vessel of my peace,
Only for them, and mine eternal jewel
Given to the common enemy of man,
To make them kings, the seed of Banquo kings.
His 'eternal jewel' (his soul) has been given to the 'common enemy' (the devil). Macbeth here accepts this moral truth, which Banquo had the 'wisdom' to realise at the start.
But Macbeth represses this idea, trusting in fate rather than morality:
Rather than so, come Fate into the list, / And champion me to th'utterance.
He chooses to blindly put his trust in the witches. In the end, he sounds foolish when he finally accepts that this was a mistake in Act 5 Scene 5:
I hope this helps. I might knock together a Quizlet set on this theme later. For now, I'm done. Is the Royal Wedding stuff done yet?
Mr M
Somebody asked me about the possibility of a witches question yesterday. Check this out.
- Truth vs Deception
- Appearance vs Reality
- Equivocation (where the truth is unclear)
- Goodness/Honour/Honesty vs Evil/Dishonour/Lies
Here's a reminder about the 'providential' reading of the play:
According to this interpretation, the purpose of the play is to teach us about good and evil. We might see Banquo and Macduff as foils for Macbeth in this sense. They are there to show us how to act. They could be said to represent goodness. For example, in 1.3, Banquo's response to the witches is more sceptical, more measured and more careful:
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. (Act 1 Scene 3)
Here, Banquo recognises the power offered by the witches as 'honest trifles', far less important that the 'deepest consequence' of committing a sin and going to hell.
He is, of course, correct. He's describing equivocation - and the witches do turn out to be equivocators. Banquo sees this immediately, but it takes Macbeth much longer.
In Act 3 Scene 1, he considers the possibility of his having given away his soul for nothing:
For Banquo's issue have I filed my mind;
For them, the gracious Duncan have I murdered,
Put rancours in the vessel of my peace,
Only for them, and mine eternal jewel
Given to the common enemy of man,
To make them kings, the seed of Banquo kings.
His 'eternal jewel' (his soul) has been given to the 'common enemy' (the devil). Macbeth here accepts this moral truth, which Banquo had the 'wisdom' to realise at the start.
But Macbeth represses this idea, trusting in fate rather than morality:
Rather than so, come Fate into the list, / And champion me to th'utterance.
He chooses to blindly put his trust in the witches. In the end, he sounds foolish when he finally accepts that this was a mistake in Act 5 Scene 5:
I pull in resolution and begin
To doubt th' equivocation of the fiend
That lies like truth.
Of course, the modern reading of the play (see above) is more unsettling and nihilistic. It puts forward the idea that everybody equivocates and that Macbeth's crime and eventual death do not change that.
A great discussion on this subject comes in the great scene with Lady Macduff and her son:
Son
Then the liars and swearers are fools,
for there are liars and swearers enough to beat
the honest men and hang up them.
What is a traitor?LADY MACDUFF
Why, one that swears and lies.Son
And be all traitors that do so?LADY MACDUFF
Every one that does so is a traitor, and must be hanged.Son
And must they all be hanged that swear and lie?LADY MACDUFF
Every one.Son
Who must hang them?LADY MACDUFF
Why, the honest men.Son
Then the liars and swearers are fools,
for there are liars and swearers enough to beat
the honest men and hang up them.
Consider the last part of this extract. Here, the innocent son sees liars and equivocators everywhere. Macbeth's crime has not caused Scotland to become sick - it was sick already. Perhaps Macbeth's crime was a result of this moral sickness.
When the murderers arrive moments later, Lady Macduff seems to concur:
I have done no harm. But I remember now
I am in this earthly world; where to do harm
Is often laudable, to do good sometime
Accounted dangerous folly.
I am in this earthly world; where to do harm
Is often laudable, to do good sometime
Accounted dangerous folly.
When, at the end, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are dead, truth doesn't return. Malcolm describes them as 'this dead butcher and his fiend-like queen' which doesn't do justice to the complexity of these characters. This is propaganda designed to legitimise his claim to the throne. Malcolm himself has equivocated and lied during the play. He ends it by offering up earldoms and prizes to those that were loyal to him, just as Macbeth did.
Remember, Macbeth is full of equivocation from beginning to end. As the witches say:
Fair is foul and foul is fair.
It is also full of hallucinations, confusion and unnatural omens. All of these motifs plug into the theme of TRUTH.
There is a lot of good stuff on this theme out there:
- This is a great article on equivocation, including its importance in 1605-6.
- There's more on appearance and reality on the BBC Bitesize site.
- This vid
- Check out all of these APPEARANCE/REALITY quotes! They're everywhere!
I hope this helps. I might knock together a Quizlet set on this theme later. For now, I'm done. Is the Royal Wedding stuff done yet?
Mr M
Somebody asked me about the possibility of a witches question yesterday. Check this out.
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