Question

Read this line from act V of Macbeth: MACBETH: I pull in resolution, and begin to doubt the equivocation of the fiend that lies like truth. (act V, scene V) How is this line spoken by Macbeth an allusion to the following quote from the Bible: Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar and the father of it. (John 8:44)

Answer 1

When the messenger tells Macbeth that the woods of the Birnam forests are moving towards Dunsinane, Macbeth gets terrified and angry with him. He fears the prophecy made by the witches and in his anger busts out at the messenger and warns him that if proven false, he will hang him alive from the very first tree which he’ll see. The lines spoken by Macbeth gives an allusion to the above quotation from the Bible where Jesus was considered to be the son of the devil. He was accused of being a devil and a murderer as his father for telling the truth. Both the messenger and Jesus were said to be liars in different circumstances and were threatened to get punishments for this act.

Answer 2

PLATO Answer: Macbeth realizes that the witches are agents of evil. He understands that the witches told only half-truths that led him to his impending doom. So, when Macbeth compares the witches to the devil who, in the guise of a serpant, lied to Eve, he is alluding to this biblical verse.

Explanation: