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GCSE English Literature · key term
The use of ambiguous or double-meaning language to mislead while appearing to tell the truth.
Used by AQA, Edexcel, OCR and Eduqas
Paper 1
The use of ambiguous or double-meaning language to mislead while appearing to speak truthfully.
Revise: ContextEquivocation means misleading through language that allows more than one meaning. The joke suggests that verbal cleverness cannot deceive divine judgement or excuse treason committed under a claim of religious duty.
The use of ambiguous or misleading language to conceal the truth or allow different interpretations.
Compare the apparitions’ actual words with Macbeth’s interpretation to explain how equivocation works.
Explain both parts of each equivocation: what Macbeth assumes the promise means, and how events fulfil its actual wording.
Distinguish equivocation from a straightforward lie: misleading language can be technically fulfilled without delivering the reassurance a listener expects.
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Language that allows different interpretations and can therefore mislead without being straightforwardly false.
Language with more than one possible meaning, used to mislead. The apparitions' promises encourage Macbeth to expect safety while allowing outcomes that destroy him.
The use of ambiguous or double-meaning language to mislead: a statement can be fulfilled literally while encouraging a false expectation.
Language that exploits more than one possible meaning to mislead while appearing truthful.
The use of ambiguous language or a concealed qualification to mislead while claiming that the words are technically true.
Language which permits different meanings, often used to mislead without making an openly false statement.
Paper 1
Revise: ContextHe argued that information received under the seal of confession could not be disclosed. He had urged against violence. His trial also brought public attention to equivocation, a practice his writings defended in restricted circumstances but which the authorities condemned as deceit.
The use of ambiguous or double-meaning language to mislead or avoid giving a straightforward answer.
Language that allows more than one interpretation, often used to mislead without making a directly false statement.
Language with more than one possible meaning, used to mislead. The apparitions’ assurances encourage Macbeth to mistake conditional safety for invulnerability.
Language that allows more than one meaning and can mislead while remaining technically true.
The use of ambiguous language or a hidden meaning to mislead. In Macbeth, apparently reassuring predictions conceal threatening possibilities.
Paper 2
The use of ambiguous language to mislead while avoiding an openly false statement.
Revise: ContextEquivocation means using ambiguous language to mislead without making a straightforwardly false statement. It became especially controversial through the trial of the Jesuit priest Father Henry Garnet after the plot. Garnet’s defence of equivocation contributed to public suspicion of deceptive language associated with treason.
Language with more than one possible meaning, used to mislead while appearing truthful.
The deliberate use of ambiguous language to mislead or avoid a direct answer.
Ambiguous wording that encourages a misleading interpretation while allowing another meaning to be true.
Ambiguous wording that misleads through more than one possible meaning. Macbeth discovers that the apparitions' assurances can come true without protecting him.
The use of ambiguous language to encourage a misleading interpretation while allowing another meaning to remain true.
Component 1
The use of language with more than one possible meaning, often to avoid revealing the truth or making a direct commitment.
Revise: Family and marriageIn Act 3 Scene 5, she therefore uses equivocation: language that allows different listeners to understand different meanings.
Language that conceals or misleads through ambiguity, double meanings or an unstated qualification.
Language that uses ambiguity or a double meaning to mislead while appearing truthful.
The use of ambiguous or misleading language to conceal the truth or avoid a direct commitment.
Language that conceals the truth through ambiguity or a misleading double meaning, allowing a listener to draw a false conclusion.
Language that allows more than one interpretation, enabling someone to mislead while appearing to tell the truth. The witches' promises conceal the circumstances in which Macbeth can be defeated.
Using ambiguous language or a concealed meaning to mislead while appearing to speak truthfully.
Language that permits different meanings, allowing someone to mislead without necessarily making an outright false statement.
Deliberately using ambiguous language or double meanings to conceal an intention or avoid a direct answer.
Ambiguous language that misleads by allowing more than one meaning, sometimes remaining technically true.
The use of ambiguous or double-meaning language to mislead someone without necessarily making a statement that is literally false.
Language with more than one possible meaning, used to mislead while appearing to tell the truth.
Language that misleads through ambiguity or a concealed meaning. In Macbeth, predictions can come true while defeating the expectations they encourage.
Language that permits more than one meaning and can therefore mislead. Macduff’s unusual birth exposes the misleading reassurance of the prophecy about those born of women.
Language that conceals or misleads through ambiguity or a double meaning, while appearing to tell the truth.
The use of ambiguous or double-meaning language to mislead while avoiding a straightforward false statement.
Language that allows more than one meaning, often misleading someone without making a straightforwardly false statement.
