Knock, knock! Who’s there, in the other devil’s name? Faith, here’s an equivocator that could swear in both the scales against either scale, who committed treason enough for God’s sake, yet could not equivocate to heaven. Oh, come in, equivocator.
– William Shakespeare
Macbeth, Act 2, Scene 3. The role of the Porter, drunk after a night of drinking, is to provide comic relief in what is a serious and tense play. Pretending to be the gatekeeper to hell, he lets in the latest arrival. This is the “equivocator,” likely a reference to Catholic priest Henry Garnet, who was executed for his part in the Gunpowder Plot and was accused of equivocating. This passage also refers to Macbeth’s own equivocation in the play.