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Macbeth flashcards

Sabarish Sendhil-Kumaran English GCSE Englisch 95 Karten

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  1. 1Macbeth's initial thoughts on what the witches have said (Act 1 Scene 4)The imagery at this point in the scene largely refers to growth and fertility. The king clearly sees Macbeth as a potential successor: "I have begun to plant thee, and will labour / To make thee full of growing" (28-29). The metaphor is continued by Banquo, who promises the king that, if he too is allowed to grow in the king's favor, he will dedicate "the harvest" to Duncan.
  2. 2Macbeth's initial thoughts on what the witches have said (Act 1 Scene 4)Macbeth, frustrated and angry at the news of Malcolm's investiture as Prince of Cumberland, breathes to himself the words "Stars! Hide your fires! Let not light see my black and deep desires" (50-51).
    Here, the juxtaposition of images of starlight and the cancellation of starlight emphasizes the great opposition between the king and Macbeth and between good and evil, an opposition that is ironically reinforced by the king's final lines to Banquo, once more praising Macbeth.
  3. 3Macbeth's initial thoughts on what the witches have said (Act 1 Scene 4)The phrase "peerless kinsman" gives added poignancy: The historical Macbeth was the cousin of Duncan, and his crime will not simply be regicide, but the willful destruction of the patriarch of a family.
  4. 4Lady Macbeth's desires and plotting (Act 1 Scene 5)Lady Macbeth's monologue is one of the most famous quotations in Macbeth. In this speech Lady Macbeth is clearly willing to do whatever is necessary to seize the throne. Her strength of purpose is contrasted with her husband’s tendency to waver. This speech shows the audience that Lady Macbeth is the driving force behind Macbeth and that her ambition will be strong enough to drive her husband forward. At the same time, the language of this speech touches on the theme of masculinity— “unsex me here / . . . / . . . Come to my woman’s breasts, / And take my milk for gall,” Lady Macbeth says as she prepares herself to commit murder. The language suggests that her womanhood, represented by breasts and milk, usually symbols of nurture, impedes her from performing acts of violence and cruelty, which she associates with manliness. Later, this sense of the relationship between masculinity and violence will be deepened when Macbeth is unwilling to go through with the murders and his wife tells him, in effect, that he needs to “be a man” and get on with it.
  5. 5Lady Macbeth's desires and plotting (Act 1 Scene 5)To catch the nearest way. Thou wouldst be great, / Art not without ambition, but without / The illness should attend it. (Act 1 Scene 5)
    Lady Macbeth's determination to succeed is clear here. She is insistent that Macbeth will become King ('shalt be what thou art promised') However, she recognises that he is 'too full o'th'milk of human kindness' and that this could stand in their way. It is interesting that she describes the necessary ruthless streak as an 'illness'. This suggests that even at this stage she knows what she is doing is wrong.
  6. 6Lady Macbeth's desires and plotting (Act 1 Scene 5)Lady Macbeth has just learned her husband's news about the Witches' predictions and that King Duncan will be staying with them that very night. In a scene of shocking ambition she calls upon the powers of evil to assist her ('Come, you spirits' / 'Come ... you murd'ring ministers'). In this respect she is very much like the Witches casting a spell to summon up evil spirits. She feels that the most important thing for her to achieve is her 'fell purpose' and will stop at nothing to accomplish this. She even wishes to remove her own feminine qualities ('unsex me') and trade 'remorse' for 'direst cruelty'. All of this would have been doubly shocking to Shakespeare's original audience because it was spoken by a woman.
  7. 7Macbeth and Lady Macbeth's relationship/change of heart/manipulation (Act 1 Scene 7)Macbeth is aware of the powerful reasons for murdering the king, but is nagged by self-doubt arising from his fear of retribution both in heaven and on earth and by his likely loss of reputation. However, any such fears are dismissed by his wife in the same practical tone that she used in Act I. Her taunting of her husband's weakness, coupled with the efficiency of her own plan and emasculation, convince Macbeth that he should take on the "horrid deed."
  8. 8Lady Macbeth's desires and plotting (Act 1 Scene 5)Lady Macbeth must immediately detect Macbeth's self-doubt. When Macbeth admits to her that his golden reputation might lose its "gloss," she sets out to strengthen his resolve by mocking his perceived weakness. Her questions drive further the wedge between daring and doing, between courage and action, between desire and fulfillment. To these, she adds a distinction between masculinity and femininity: In contrast to her own self-proclaimed manliness, she pours scorn upon her husband's lack of courage. She tells him he is "green," "a coward," and that he resembles the proverbial "poor cat" who wanted the fish but would not get its paws wet. Finally, and most damningly, she tells him that her own lack of pity would extend to murdering her own child as it suckled at her breast. With this one terrifying example, she confirms that "the milk of human kindness" is absent in her.
  9. 9Lady Macbeth's desires and plotting (Act 1 Scene 5)Lady Macbeth switches her attention to the details of the murder itself. Her plan to drug the guards with alcohol is couched in metaphorical language derived from the ancient science of alchemy. The words "receipt," "fume," and "limbeck" specifically refer to this process, whose purpose was to turn base metal (such as lead) into gold. It is heavily ironic that, in the Macbeths' experiment, that which is gold — the king himself — will become base and doubly ironic that Macbeth's golden reputation will be reduced to worthlessness
  10. 10Macbeth's result of Lady Macbeth's desires and plotting (Act 1 Scene 5).Macbeth has been convinced. In words that uncannily recall his wife's, he now puts on the mantle of murderer: the monosyllabic "False face must hide what the false heart doth know" has a certainty to it that completely overturns his earlier vacillation.
  11. 11Macbeth's dagger scene (Act 2 Scene 1)‘Is this a dagger which I see before me’ is often staged, and filmed, with the dagger suspended in mid-air. But this makes the implied boundary between the real and the hallucinatory too clear-cut: as numerous critics have pointed out, the point is that Macbeth believes that the dagger is real at first, rather than knowing it to be an illusion from the outset. For this reason, perhaps we’re better off picturing a dagger resting on a nearby table, lying flat; this also makes it easier to understand how the ‘handle’ of the dagger is ‘towards’ Macbeth’s hand, as if inviting him to pick it up.To some extent as he was chose to hold the 'dagger' by the supernatural and as if he was 'worthy' of the mission give to him to kill king Duncan.
  12. 12Macbeth's dagger scene (Act 2 Scene 1)He tried to clutch it. His hand went right through it: it was still there and yet he couldn’t feel it. Was it only a dagger of the mind, a false creation of a fevered brain?
    He could still see it as he drew his own, real, dagger: it was pointing the way to Duncan’s room. He knew he was seeing things and yet it was so real. And now there was blood on it, which hadn’t been there before.
    It was ridiculous. There was no such thing. He knew it was the violence in his mind that was coming out in the form of a bloody dagger.
    His mind was filled with images of fear and horror and he stood there, overwhelmed by them, until a bell rang and brought him back to the business in hand.
    ‘I go, and it is done: the bell invites me.’ He began walking. ‘Don’t hear it, Duncan; for it’s a knell that summons you to heaven or to hell.’the symbolic significance is that Macbeth feels torn between guilt and temptation about the murder of Duncan
  13. 13Macbeth's dagger scene (Act 2 Scene 1)a ‘fatal vision’ or hallucination, it appears to be one that is assailing his sense of sight only. In other words, ‘sensible’ here means pertaining to the senses, rather than the modern meaning of the word. Macbeth is a play obsessed with touch and the tangible, with what can be grasped and touched: it is a play full of hands, a most hand-y play.
    But here, we are seeing the first of many hallucinatory (or are they merely hallucinatory, or perhaps supernatural?) experiences Macbeth will have. The question is whether this dagger is a result of his ‘heat-oppressed’ (the second word should be pronounced with three syllables, for the metre of the line) or fevered brain.
  14. 14Macbeth's dagger scene (Act 2 Scene 1)Another piece of implied stage direction: the actor playing Macbeth goes to his belt (or similar) to draw a real dagger he has in his possession (the one he will use to murder Duncan shortly after this scene).
    Thou marshall’st me the way that I was going;
    More implied stage direction – the dagger seems to point in the direction of the room where Duncan lies asleep. But which dagger? Still the imagined one, presumably. Though this isn’t certain: it could be that Shakespeare is now referring to the real dagger that Macbeth has just drawn, and which audiences in the theatre can see with their own eyes. The very soliloquy seems to blur the boundaries between real and imaginary, as if we ourselves are meant to lose track of the real dagger and the imagined one.
  15. 15Macbeth's dagger scene (Act 2 Scene 1)Witchcraft celebrates
    Pale Hecate’s offerings, and wither’d murder.
    Alarum’d by his sentinel, the wolf,
    Whose howl’s his watch, thus with his stealthy pace,
    With Tarquin’s ravishing strides, towards his design
    Moves like a ghost.
    Hecate, the goddess of witchcraft in classical mythology, performs ‘offerings’ or rituals – we’re back to Macbeth’s encounter with the three Witches or Weird Sisters. The word ‘murder’ should perhaps be capitalised (it is in some editions) to make it clear that Macbeth is personifying it as Murder: Murder has been roused awake by his watchdog, the wolf, and like Tarquin – the man who raped Lucrece in a story Shakespeare had earlier written about in his narrative poem The Rape of Lucrece, hence ‘ravishing’ – moves towards his prey, silently and stealthily like a ghost.
  16. 16Macbeth's dagger scene (Act 2 Scene 1)Thou sure and firm-set earth,
    Hear not my steps, which way they walk, for fear
    Thy very stones prate of my whereabout,
    And take the present horror from the time,
    Which now suits with it.
    Macbeth calls upon the earth to render his steps similarly silent, so that nobody will be alerted to his plans as he enters Duncan’s chamber and murders him. It’s become clear by this point that the dagger appearing to him has made Macbeth’s mind up: he plans to go through with the deed.
    The phrase ‘take the present horror from the time’ is a little more difficult to interpret: the most likely meaning is that Macbeth thinks that if he moves silently that will remove the horror from this moment, since the sound of his footsteps will fill him with fear over what he is going to do. As things stand, though, horror and this moment are perfectly ‘suited’ or matched, e.g. ‘Which now suits with it.’
  17. 17Macbeth's regret and Lady Macbeth's continue manipulation (Act 2 Scene 2)Lady Macbeth has placed daggers in the hands of the sleeping chamberlains to implicate them in Duncan's death, as planned. In lines 12 and 13, she says of Duncan, ''Had he not resembled/My father as he slept, I had done't.'' The plan all along has been for Macbeth to murder Duncan, but here, Lady Macbeth indicates that she would have killed Duncan herself if he had not looked so much like her father. This is the first sign of weakness in Lady Macbeth in the play.
  18. 18Macbeth's regret and Lady Macbeth's continue manipulation (Act 2 Scene 2)A Shakespearean audience might respond to Lady Macbeth as a woman who is devoted to her husband, as she helps Macbeth achieve his ambition killing the king even though there is the risk of getting caught. She is aware of this in Act 2, Scene 2 as she jumps at every noise such as the owl and crickets chirping which were thought by the Elizabethans to herald death. In Act 5, Scene 1 the audience would be sympathetic at the sight of her suffering. They would see how pathetic Lady Macbeth had become and that she could no longer bear the strain of suppressing her real feelings.
  19. 19Macbeth's regret and Lady Macbeth's continue manipulation (Act 2 Scene 2)“Had he not resembled My father as he slept, I had done ‘t.
    This quotation shows that Lady Macbeth was prevented from killing Duncan herself because of the “picture” of the king seeming like her father. I think her character is strong in this scene and she is very practical as she prepares for the murder-drugs the guards and lays out the daggers for Macbeth. In Act 5, Scene 1 I have more sympathy for her as all her chances of being a good queen are spoiled by the evil of her ambitions. She is obviously disturbed since the death of the king and haunted by her guilt. In Act 2, Scene 2 Lady Macbeth can suppress her feelings but in this scene she is constantly reminded of the night of the murder.
  20. 20Macbeth's regret and Lady Macbeth's continue manipulation (Act 2 Scene 2)Lady Macbeth is a complex character who seems to be flawed with the same ambition as Macbeth, which makes this play such a tragedy. Although she does not have as many soliloquies as Macbeth does we do get an insight into her character. She appears to lose her strength when Macbeth stops confiding in her and he is obsessed with his own fear and guilt. Lady Macbeth was his “dearest partner of greatness” but when her suicide is reported to him Macbeth simply says, “She should have died hereafter” as he feels life is meaningless and so does not grieve for the death of his wife. By the end of the play Lady Macbeth had lost capacity for feeling, which I think is shocking because she seemed to be a brave and strong character who could support both herself and Macbeth. However she suppressed her feelings, this invites some sympathy for her though no audience would condone her actions.
  21. 21Macbeth's regret and Lady Macbeth's continue manipulation (Act 2 Scene 2)Macbeth then enters the scene and tells Lady Macbeth that he has killed Duncan. Macbeth reports that while he was in Duncan's chamber, he heard the chamberlains awake, praying. ''I could not say 'Amen',/When they did say God bless us,'' Macbeth confesses to his wife in lines 26 and 27. In this passage, Macbeth is beginning to feel guilty about the murder and is unable to pray. Lady Macbeth suggests that he should put the matter out of his thoughts.
  22. 22Macbeth's regret and Lady Macbeth's continue manipulation (Act 2 Scene 2)Line 32 focuses on sleep, an important motif in the play. From this point on, sleep becomes something the Macbeths crave. They desire to sleep more than anything, but once Duncan is murdered, sleep eludes them. ''Methought I heard a voice cry, Sleep no more!'' Macbeth says, in a passage that foreshadows the sleeplessness that will follow the couple for the rest of their short lives.
  23. 23Reactions & unnatural effects after Duncan’s murder (Act 2 Scene 3/4)This busy scene begins with a moment of light comedy, which serves to heighten the suspense. The porter of Macbeth's castle, drunk from the previous night's revels, complains that his job is worse than that of the porter of hell. In a private game with the audience, he engages in a piece of stand-up comedy in which he imagines himself as that beleaguered servant, opening and closing the gate on the damned. The first two examples he uses (that of a farmer and an equivocator) have specific religious and historical connotations. A few months before Macbeth was performed at court in front of the Protestant King James I, the infamous Gunpowder Plot (the aim of which was to murder the English king) took place.
  24. 24Reactions & unnatural effects after Duncan’s murder (Act 2 Scene 3/4)The conspirators, including Guy Fawkes, may have been encouraged by a Catholic convert called John Garnett, whose nickname was "farmer." The practice of lying in court about one's religion by employing confusing or ambiguous language was known as equivocation. Many examples of ambiguous language are heard throughout Macbeth, and of course the words of the Witches themselves are not entirely clear. So the porter's examples are not entirely without significance, even though they may be unintentional.
  25. 25Reactions & unnatural effects after Duncan’s murder (Act 2 Scene 3/4)The humor continues when the porter unbolts the door to Macduff and Lennox and offers a series of bawdy jokes, momentarily distracting the audience from the fact that Macbeth must at this very moment be washing his hands of the blood of the previous scene. Then Macbeth enters, apparently at ease, to direct Macduff to the king's room.
  26. 26Reactions & unnatural effects after Duncan’s murder (Act 2 Scene 3/4)While Macduff goes to wake the king, Lennox remarks upon the extraordinary weather of the previous night. His catalogue of unnatural events — high winds, screaming and wailing voices, the calling of birds, and tremors in the earth — is apocalyptic in character and suggests a direct connection between the events of the universe at large and the events within the castle. Macbeth's response — "@'Twas a rough night" — is so anticlimactic as to provoke incredulity. Is Lennox's subsequent line — "My young remembrance cannot parallel / A fellow to it" (64-65) — intended to be spoken with puzzlement at Macbeth's reaction?
  27. 27Reactions & unnatural effects after Duncan’s murder (Act 2 Scene 3/4)At this moment, the dam breaks. Note that the literal truth of Macduff's announcement — "Our royal master's murdered" — is preceded by several lines in which the murder is depicted in a figurative or metaphorical fashion, almost as if Macduff dare not name the deed: "Murther hath broke ope / The Lord's anointed Temple," "destroy your sight / With a new Gorgon," and "see / The great doom's image!" It's interesting to compare these lines of Macduff's, spoken in all innocence, with those of the all-too-guilty Macbeth, who also approaches the matter metaphorically: "The wine of life is drawn . . . " and "The spring, the head, the fountain of your blood / Is stopp'd . . . ."
  28. 28Reactions & unnatural effects after Duncan’s murder (Act 2 Scene 3/4)Excusing his own outburst of passion in killing the guards of the king's chamber, Macbeth explains that he could not act otherwise when he saw the king: "Here lay Duncan, / His silver skin laced with his golden blood; / And his gashed stabs looked like a breach in nature / For ruin's wasteful entrance" (113-116). That Macbeth cannot refrain from the use of metaphor may be an indication that he, too, cannot bear to consider the bloody truth. His words are at once highly poetic and, at the same time, enormously revealing of the deep ironies of which Macbeth must be aware. Not only has he "murdered sleep," but he has destroyed the actual fabric of nature.
  29. 29Reactions & unnatural effects after Duncan’s murder (Act 2 Scene 3/4)For whatever reason — perhaps because Lady Macbeth thinks that Macbeth's powerfully rhetorical speech is the precursor to an admission of their combined guilt — she suddenly faints. Certainly, as soon as she is carried from the stage, the pace changes. There is no more time for speculation: Macbeth and the other thanes rapidly swear to meet "in manly readiness" to avenge this act of "treasonous malice." Malcolm and Donalbain alone remain to voice their understandable concerns: Their semi-proverbial sentences "To show an unfelt sorrow is an office / Which the false man does easy" (138-139) and "Where we are / There's daggers in men's smiles" (141-142) both uncomfortably recall the language of earlier scenes.
  30. 30Reactions & unnatural effects after Duncan’s murder (Act 2 Scene 3/4)Like the Witches, the Old Man is a traditional figure in many works of literature. In contrast to the Witches' vision of what will be, the old man exemplifies the certainty of what has been: The notion of age, tradition and natural continuity, as well as wisdom are all bound up in this single figure. In words that recall those of the much younger Lennox in the previous scene, the old man describes how the world that he knows and trusts has been turned on its head. All the named events are not simply natural disasters; they are reversals of the expected natural order: Daylight has been replaced by night; a falcon (a bird of prey) has been killed by an owl, a much smaller creature; and the horses of the king's stables are said to have eaten each other.
  31. 31Reactions & unnatural effects after Duncan’s murder (Act 2 Scene 3/4)The entry of Macduff allows Shakespeare to consolidate the first half of the play and to confirm that Macbeth has been named king and has already gone to Scone, the traditional place of coronation for Scottish kings, to be crowned. The imagery of this scene acts partly as a bridge between the first half of the play and the second. It recalls the first soliloquy of Lady Macbeth in Act I, Scene 5 ("Come, you Spirits"), and it foreshadows the language at the end of Act III, Scenes 2 and 3, concerning the murder of Banquo. The subplot of this second murder forms the basis of the whole of the next act.
  32. 32Reactions & unnatural effects after Duncan’s murder (Act 2 Scene 3/4)In Act 2 Scene 4, Ross converses with an Old Man who shares some news with him. Ross notes that, even though day should have arrived "by th' clock . . . dark night strangles the traveling lamp" (2.4.6-7). The hour has arrived which should bring broad daylight, but it is still pitch dark outside. The Old Man notes that a "falcon, towering in her pride of place,/ Was by a mousing owl hawked at and killed" (2.4.13-14). This event symbolizes that an owl (though also a raptor, still a lesser bird) kills the more majestic falcon (Duncan).
  33. 33Reactions & unnatural effects after Duncan’s murder (Act 2 Scene 3/4)Ross also notes that Duncan's beautiful and swift horses "[t]urned wild in nature, broke their stalls, flung out,/ Contending 'gainst obedienace, as they would/ Make war with mankind) (2.4.15-17). Nature rebels against the unnaturalness of regicide. The Old Man replies that they "eat each other" (2.4.18); these noble steeds (representing the nobility of Scotland) become cannibals just as the nobility of Scotland will begin to turn against and kill one another.
    These strange events represent the unnatural murder of a king who treated his murderers like his own children, but it also represnts the unnatural suspicion which falls on Duncan's beloved and faithful sons.
  34. 34Banquo’s suspicion & Macbeth’s fears now he’s king (Act 3 Scene 1 & 2)Banquo's short soliloquy has two purposes: It reminds the audience of the details of the Witches' prophecy in Act I, and it reveals his own suspicion that Macbeth is Duncan's murderer. Ironically, his tone also recalls the ambitious tone of Macbeth in earlier scenes. Macbeth and his wife make arrangements for the feast with all the confidence of their new rank. Note particularly Macbeth's adoption of the royal "we," The use of the plural in place of the singular pronoun is a traditional figure of speech by which the monarch expresses not only unity with his people but also his absolute authority over them. Banquo, once equal in status with Macbeth, acknowledges Macbeth's new position by addressing him throughout the scene as "my lord."
  35. 35Banquo’s suspicion & Macbeth’s fears now he’s king (Act 3 Scene 1 & 2)Other aspects of language confirm Macbeth's new status: strong verse rhythms, for example, appear in lines such as "Here's our chief guest" and "Fail not our feast." Macbeth's apparent disregard for time — of which he now has plenty — is clear in expressions such as "but we'll take tomorrow" and "But of that tomorrow." The word "tomorrow," like "hereafter," is full of irony in Macbeth. Tomorrow should be full of hope for the future, but the word comes back to haunt him later in the play. His use of the word here foreshadows the famous "Tomorrow and tomorrow" speech in Act V.
  36. 36Banquo’s suspicion & Macbeth’s fears now he’s king (Act 3 Scene 1 & 2)Even with his new title and robes of office, Macbeth does not feel entirely at ease: The security of his kingship rests partly on his own children's succession to the crown of Scotland. However, because he has no children of his own, his treacherous act of regicide — the murder of a king — appears pointless and has been committed on behalf of Banquo's promised successors. The soliloquy that Macbeth delivers is filled with the language of contrast. His split with Banquo is emphasized by opposing pronouns: "They hailed him father to a line of kings: / Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown, / And put a barren sceptre in my grip . . . " (60-62).
  37. 37Banquo’s suspicion & Macbeth’s fears now he’s king (Act 3 Scene 1 & 2)The line "To make them kings, the seed of Banquo kings!" (70) is almost incredulous, as if Macbeth is trying to convince himself that the Witches could not possibly have spoken the truth. Whereas Banquo still trusts in the fateful prophecy, Macbeth is all too ready to dismiss it. In Act I, Scene 2, the wounded captain reported that Macbeth the warrior-hero was prepared to disdain Fortune. Now Macbeth the murderer goes one step further by literally challenging Fate itself to a tournament (or "list"): "Rather than so, come, fate, into the list / And champion me to the utterance" (71-72). Note that the verb "to champion" here has its original meaning: to fight against, not for.
  38. 38Banquo’s suspicion & Macbeth’s fears now he’s king (Act 3 Scene 1 & 2)The entry of the hired murderers is a crucial element in the development of Macbeth's character. His use of others to do his dirty work presents him as politically powerful but morally weak. Long gone are the days when Macbeth would meet his enemy "front to front." Now he must commit murder with the seeming protection of distance — "something [distant] from the palace" (133). Shakespeare also contrasts ironically the murderers' pragmatic reaction to the idea of murder with Macbeth's conscience-stricken one.
  39. 39Banquo’s suspicion & Macbeth’s fears now he’s king (Act 3 Scene 1 & 2)Dramatically and poetically, this scene precisely mirrors Act I, Scene 5. Then, Duncan's death was being plotted; now, the death is Banquo's (although Lady Macbeth is initially unaware of this). In the earlier murder, Lady Macbeth was most in command; in this murder, Macbeth is. Where formerly Macbeth was the one who needed convincing, now the weaker role passes to his wife. Macbeth's line "make our faces vizards (visors) to our hearts" recalls Lady Macbeth's earlier words "[t]o beguile the time, look like the time." Similarly, Macbeth's injunction to the spirits of darkness "Come, seeling night . . . " is an echo of the speech of Lady Macbeth's beginning "Come, thick night . . . ."
  40. 40Banquo’s suspicion & Macbeth’s fears now he’s king (Act 3 Scene 1 & 2)Despite Macbeth's personal bravado, neither he nor his wife seems entirely at ease. Lady Macbeth talks of her "doubtful joy" and Macbeth of his "restless ecstasy." In the world that the Macbeths have created for themselves, total peace no longer exists, and what has been achieved is only a half-measure. Even the dead King Duncan is able to achieve more totally what Macbeth never can: a respite from "life's fitful fever."
  41. 41Banquo’s suspicion & Macbeth’s fears now he’s king (Act 3 Scene 1 & 2)While Lady Macbeth appears to be looking back at the previous murder, Macbeth looks forward, anticipating the next murder, of which Lady Macbeth is not yet fully aware. That distinction between their two states of knowledge allows Shakespeare to play once more on the power relationship between husband and wife. Here, then is yet another reversal of character, and it is shown in two major ways: first, by Lady Macbeth's innocent-sounding questions and, second, by Macbeth's adoption of animal imagery. In Act I, Scene 5, Lady Macbeth was the one who spoke of "the raven" and "the serpent." Now Macbeth takes on the same language of horror, imagining his mind to be "full of scorpions," and speaking of the "bat" and the "shard-born (dung-bred) beetle."
  42. 42Banquo’s suspicion & Macbeth’s fears now he’s king (Act 3 Scene 1 & 2)The most powerful moments of the scene are the final ones in which Macbeth calls for the cancellation of the bond between himself and the world. "Bond" is more than simply a simile from the world of legal jargon. Just as Lady Macbeth earlier wanted to lose her sex, Macbeth now desires to be rid of his humanity. His direct connection with the natural world into which he was born threatens to keep him "pale" or fearful. A final point to make about these lines is the way in which the rhythmical stress falls unusually on the first syllable of the word "cancel":
    "And, with thy bloody and invisible hand
    Cancel and tear to pieces that great bond . . . ." (49-50)
    Metrically, as well as dramatically, Macbeth is moving inexorably toward his tragic destiny. Meanwhile his wife, once so calm and collected, is losing that composure. Macbeth's line "Thou marvell'st at my words" suggests, like a stage direction, some moving response in her.
  43. 43Lady Macbeth- similarities & differences in her character now compared to the start of the play (Act 3 scene 2)In act 3, scene 2, Lady Macbeth is beginning to regret that she and her husband murdered Duncan to gain the throne, saying "our desire is got without content." In other words, she means that they have gotten exactly what they wanted, the crown, but are not at ease or content with it: it hasn't brought either of them happiness.
    This is a significant change for Lady Macbeth. Before Duncan's death, she was absolutely sure she wanted to be queen and did everything in her power to manipulate her husband into doing the murderous deed. She even called on dark powers to "unsex" her and kill her compassion so that she could goad her husband into killing his king.
  44. 44Lady Macbeth- similarities & differences in her character now compared to the start of the play (Act 3 scene 2)In other words, she is doing an about-face. She is realizing the price of destruction (murder) that Macbeth had tried to explain to her before he killed Duncan: it means neither she nor Macbeth can ever again have real joy or peace. She is starting to understand that it is not worth it to be queen under these conditions.
    Lady Macbeth and Macbeth, once so close, now try to hide from each other the depth of their unhappiness, though Macbeth's pain is so apparent that Lady Macbeth tells him to appear cheerful at the night's banquet. Macbeth hints to her that he is going to have Banquo killed, but no longer is confiding in her. The two are growing further and further apart, neither wanting to admit to the other what they both know to be true: that the murder was a mistake, and they both are miserable.
  45. 45Lady Macbeth- similarities & differences in her character now compared to the start of the play (Act 3 scene 2)By act 3, scene 2, Lady Macbeth has started to come to the conclusion that the grass isn't always greener on the other side. She and Macbeth thought that it would be so great to be king and queen, but they are not nearly as happy as they expected to be once they attain these positions of power. Before Macbeth enters the room, his wife says to herself,
    Naught's had, all's spent
    Where our desire is got without content.
    'Tis safer to be that which we destroy
    Than by destruction dwell in doubtful joy. (3.2.6-9)
    She means that she and Macbeth have done all they can to get where they are, and now that they have what they wanted, they find that they are not happy. It would be easier to be among the dead, like the king they murdered, than to find that they can only feel apprehensive and nervous as a result of the destruction they've caused.
  46. 46Lady Macbeth- similarities & differences in her character now compared to the start of the play (Act 3 scene 2)However, Lady Macbeth presents a somewhat different face to her husband. Despite her obvious misgivings about their present situation, she presents herself as calm and unruffled to her husband. She tells him, "Things without all remedy / Should be without regard. What's done is done" (3.2.13-14). When he presents his own concerns—which are quite similar to the ones she expressed in private—she tries to soothe him. She encourages him to "leave" the trains of thought that bother him so much (3.2.40).
  47. 47Lady Macbeth- similarities & differences in her character now compared to the start of the play (Act 3 scene 2)The scene helps to show us how the Macbeths' relationship is changing. Lady Macbeth says very little in this scene, especially compared to act 1, scene 7, in which she actually speaks more often and with lines of longer duration than Macbeth. Whereas she seemed to be in control of their actions then, by act 3, scene 2, she seems to have lost that control. She isn't honest with Macbeth about her own fears and concerns, and he keeps his plans from her for the first time in the play. They were such a team prior to Duncan's murder, but this scene shows how their partnership is beginning to disintegrate.
  48. 48Lady Macbeth- similarities & differences in her character now compared to the start of the play (Act 3 scene 2)n Act 3, scene 2 of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth begin to be afraid and unhappy about Macbeth's murder of Duncan. She says at the beginning of the scene: "Naught's had, all's spent/Where our desire is got without consent/'Tis safer to be that which we destroy/Than by destruction dwell in doubtful joy" (lines 6-9). In other words, she and Macbeth have gained nothing, or naught, when they have spent or risked all to kill Duncan, as their "desire," or Macbeth's attainment of the crown, is achieved through wrong means. She thinks it safer to be like the dead king than to live with "doubtful joy," or a troubled existence.
  49. 49Lady Macbeth- similarities & differences in her character now compared to the start of the play (Act 3 scene 2)By this point in the play, she is clearly regretting the doubt and uncertainly in which she and her husband must live after the regicide. However, she has not yet become insane, and, later in the scene, she instructs her husband to pretend everything is normal, even though he is also starting to be afraid. Macbeth is frightened that Banquo knows he has killed the king, and Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth to "sleek o'er your rugged looks. Be bright and jovial/Among your guests tonight" (lines 31-32). In other words, she instructs him to neaten himself up and act happy when people come to the castle that night. Macbeth is already plotting to kill Banquo, but he does not tell Lady Macbeth at this point. Instead, he says, "Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck,/Till thou applaud the deed" (lines 51-52). In other words, he says that she won't know what he's planning until she sees Banquo is dead at his hand. At this point in the play, Lady Macbeth is turning to doubt, but she has not lost her mind yet.
  50. 50Banquo's ghost (Act 3 Scene 4)Onstage stands a table heaped with a feast. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth enter as king and queen, followed by their court, whom they bid welcome. As Macbeth walks among the company, the first murderer appears at the doorway. Macbeth speaks to him for a moment, learning that Banquo is dead and that Fleance has escaped. The news of Fleance’s escape angers Macbeth—if only Fleance had died, he muses, his throne would have been secure. Instead, “the worm that’s fled / Hath nature that in time will venom breed” .
  51. 51Banquo's ghost (Act 3 Scene 4)Returning to his guests, Macbeth goes to sit at the head of the royal table but finds Banquo’s ghost sitting in his chair. Horror-struck, Macbeth speaks to the ghost, which is invisible to the rest of the company. Lady Macbeth makes excuses for her husband, saying that he occasionally has such “visions” and that the guests should simply ignore his behavior. Then she speaks to Macbeth, questioning his manhood and urging him to snap out of his trance. The ghost disappears, and Macbeth recovers, telling his company: “I have a strange infirmity which is nothing / To those that know me”. As he offers a toast to company, however, Banquo’s specter reappears and shocks Macbeth into further reckless outbursts. Continuing to make excuses for her husband, Lady Macbeth sends the alarmed guests out of the room as the ghost vanishes again.
  52. 52Banquo's ghost (Act 3 Scene 4)Macbeth mutters that “blood will have blood” and tells Lady Macbeth that he has heard from a servant-spy that Macduff intends to keep away from court, behavior that verges on treason. He says that he will visit the witches again tomorrow in the hopes of learning more about the future and about who may be plotting against him. He resolves to do whatever is necessary to keep his throne, declaring: “I am in blood / Stepped in so far that, should I wade no more, / Returning were as tedious as go o’er”. Lady Macbeth says that he needs sleep, and they retire to their bed.
  53. 53Banquo's ghost (Act 3 Scene 4)At Forres, Macbeth and his wife welcome the thanes of Scotland to the banquet. Immediately prior to the feast, one of the murderers appears at a side door and reveals to Macbeth the truth about the mission: their success in the killing of Banquo and their failure to murder Fleance. Macbeth recomposes himself and returns to the table. As he raises a toast to his absent friend, he imagines he sees the ghost of Banquo. As with the ethereal dagger, the ghost of Banquo appears to come and go, propelling Macbeth into alternating fits of courage and despair. Lady Macbeth invites the thanes to depart and, once alone, tries one last time to soothe her husband. But Macbeth's paranoid mind is already on to the next murder, that of Macduff. To ascertain his future with greater certainty, he makes clear his intention to visit the Weird Sisters once more.
  54. 54Banquo's ghost (Act 3 Scene 4)Macbeth's words and phrases to the thanes, such as "You know your own degrees" and "Both sides are even: here I'll sit i'th'midst" suggest a renewal of order and symmetry in Scotland, yet the audience knows that this is not the case. Both sides are not even, because Banquo is missing. Degree, or rank order, has been effectively perverted by Macbeth by his killing of the king and his usurpation of the throne. As in Act I, Scene 6, Lady Macbeth's words of introduction disguise her true feelings. Once again, the Macbeths act with suspicious confidence. This confidence is about to desert Macbeth, however, as his dark secret comes back to greet him in the form of the First Murderer.
  55. 55Banquo's ghost (Act 3 Scene 4)At first, Macbeth is pleased with the murderer, telling him he is "the best," "the nonpareil" (without equal); moreover, Macbeth's own supposed invincibility is shown when he says that he feels "as broad and general as the casing air," but on hearing the unwelcome news that Fleance escaped his treachery, Macbeth's language abruptly changes: "But now I am cabin'd, cribbed, confin'd, bound in / To saucy doubts and fears". The alliteration of the hard c sounds reveals Macbeth's sense of constraint, in contrast to the freedom which he claims to have enjoyed previously.
  56. 56Banquo's ghost (Act 3 Scene 4)The imagery of confinement and constraint plays an increasing part in his language from now on. For example, these words foreshadow the point in Act V, Scene 7 when, recognizing that he is physically trapped by the advancing English army, Macbeth cries out, "They have tied me to a stake, I cannot fly" (flee). Now, though, something altogether more terrifying holds him down and prevents him from moving: In the very place reserved for him at the table, Macbeth sees, or thinks he sees, the spirit of the assassinated Banquo.
  57. 57Banquo's ghost (Act 3 Scene 4)The rich banquet, a symbol of great orderliness and generosity, now becomes a hellish parody of itself. Instead of Macbeth sitting "in the midst," dispensing his largesse as he would wish, his throne has been usurped by the bloody apparition of his former friend. Macbeth's language reflects this change. The ghost, so hideous that it would "appall the devil," appears to have risen from a grave or a "charnel-house." Macbeth cannot understand why what is dead should "be alive again," when its bones should "be marrowless" and its blood "cold." Finally, he challenges the all-too-real apparition to "dare me to the desert with thy sword."
  58. 58Banquo's ghost (Act 3 Scene 4)In contrast to the urgent horror of Macbeth's addresses to the gruesome apparition are moments of comparative calm. Each time the ghost vanishes, Macbeth's relief is recorded in softer, more lyrical expression: "Can such things be / And overcome us like a summer's cloud, / Without our special wonder?". Indeed, the entire structure of this scene shows a man swinging from one state of mind to another, recalling the structure of the earlier dagger speech. Three times Macbeth sees the ghost, and three times he appears to recover his senses. This alternating structure adds strongly to the impression of Macbeth's loss of control.
  59. 59Banquo's ghost (Act 3 Scene 4)Lady Macbeth, on the other hand, remains constant in her judgement. Unlike Macbeth, she cannot see the ghost, and her tone is typically pragmatic and down-to-earth: "When all's done, / You look but on a stool." She appears to want to calm his rages, but anger simmers beneath her conciliatory words. Once more she upbraids her husband for his apparent lack of manhood. A specific parallel with the murder scene occurs when Macbeth accuses his wife of being able to "keep the natural ruby of your cheeks, / When mine is blanched (whitened) with fear". Here, the words "ruby" and "blanched" clearly recall the distinction that Lady Macbeth made between the "red" hands of murder and the "white" heart of a coward.
  60. 60Banquo's ghost (Act 3 Scene 4)With the departure of the guests, Macbeth appears to regain some of his earlier self-confidence. He announces his decision to visit the Weird Sisters once more, this time of his own accord. His language in this coda to the banquet scene is mysterious and prophetic: The short scene is dominated by the repeated word "blood" and by the idea that a tide of murder has now been initiated which Macbeth is powerless to stop.
  61. 61Macbeth meets with the witches again (Act 4 Scene 1)In a dark cavern, a bubbling cauldron hisses and spits, and the three witches suddenly appear onstage. They circle the cauldron, chanting spells and adding bizarre ingredients to their stew—“eye of newt and toe of frog, / Wool of bat and tongue of dog”. Hecate materializes and compliments the witches on their work. One of the witches then chants: “By the pricking of my thumbs, / Something wicked this way comes”.
  62. 62Macbeth meets with the witches again (Act 4 Scene 1)In fulfillment of the witch’s prediction, Macbeth enters. He asks the witches to reveal the truth of their prophecies to him. To answer his questions, they summon horrible apparitions, each of which offers a prediction to allay Macbeth’s fears. First, a floating head warns him to beware Macduff; Macbeth says that he has already guessed as much. Then a bloody child appears and tells him that “none of woman born / shall harm Macbeth”. Next, a crowned child holding a tree tells him that he is safe until Birnam Wood moves to Dunsinane Hill. Finally, a procession of eight crowned kings walks by, the last carrying a mirror. Banquo’s ghost walks at the end of the line. Macbeth demands to know the meaning of this final vision, but the witches perform a mad dance and then vanish. Lennox enters and tells Macbeth that Macduff has fled to England. Macbeth resolves to send murderers to capture Macduff’s castle and to kill Macduff’s wife and children.
  63. 63Macbeth meets with the witches again (Act 4 Scene 1)Macbeth returns to the Weird Sisters and boldly demands to be shown a series of apparitions that tell his future. The first apparition is the disembodied head of a warrior who seems to warn Macbeth of a bloody revenge at the hands of Macduff. The second is a blood-covered child who comforts Macbeth with the news that he cannot be killed by any man "of woman born." The third is a child wearing a crown, who promises that Macbeth cannot lose in battle until Birnam wood physically moves toward his stronghold at Dunsinane.
  64. 64Macbeth meets with the witches again (Act 4 Scene 1)Encouraged by the news of such impossibilities, Macbeth asks, "Shall Banquo's issue ever reign in this kingdom?" The Witches present an image of a ghostly procession of future kings, led by Banquo. All this serves only to enrage Macbeth, who, trusting in his own pride, reveals in an aside to the audience his determination to slaughter the family of Macduff.
  65. 65Macbeth meets with the witches again (Act 4 Scene 1)This scene can be roughly divided into three: the Witches' casting of a spell; the supernatural answers to Macbeth's demands; and Macbeth's return to the cold world of political and social reality. The scene's structure deliberately recalls the opening scenes of the play. Once more, Macbeth's destiny is in question. Once more, he receives three prophecies. Once more, he is left on his own to decide how best to interpret those prophecies. And once more he fails to understand that Fate is inevitable, however he chooses to act.
  66. 66Macbeth meets with the witches again (Act 4 Scene 1)The Witches' charm is fantastic: Its ingredients, thrown into a bubbling cauldron, are all poisonous. Moreover, these ingredients are all the entrails or body parts of loathed animals or human beings, which, taken together, can be interpreted as making a complete monster: tongue, leg, liver, lips, scales, teeth, and so on. The strong implication is that Macbeth himself is no longer a complete human being; he himself has become a half-man, half-monster, a kind of chimera.
  67. 67Macbeth meets with the witches again (Act 4 Scene 1)Macbeth arrives at the Witches' lair with extraordinary boldness, knocking at the entrance in a way that ironically recalls the entry of Macduff into Macbeth's castle in Act II, Scene 3. When he "conjures" the Witches to answer him, his language is uncompromising: He matches their power with a powerful curse of his own, demanding to have an answer even if it requires the unleashing of all the elements of air, water, and earth; even if all the universe — natural or manmade — "tumble" into ruin. His most defiant act, by far, is to desire to hear the prophecy of his future not from the Witches, who are themselves only "mediums" of the supernatural, but from their "masters," that is, the controlling Fates.
  68. 68Macbeth meets with the witches again (Act 4 Scene 1)Macbeth's demand is answered by a sequence of apparitions. Unlike the dagger and Banquo's ghost, these supernatural visions cannot be simply the workings of Macbeth's "heat-oppress'd brain." They are definitely summoned by the Witches. Once again, the audience is required to assess the extent to which Macbeth is responsible for his own actions. What is certain is Macbeth's response to each prophetic apparition: He appears to be super-confident, even flippant, in his replies. There is little fear or respect, for example, in his reply to the First Apparition: "Whate'er thou art, for thy good caution, thanks." And his punning reply to the Second Apparition's "Macbeth, Macbeth, Macbeth" — "Had I three ears, I'd hear thee" — displays a comic arrogance.
  69. 69Macbeth meets with the witches again (Act 4 Scene 1)Apart from the first, all the apparitions, including the fourth and final one of a procession of future kings, contain children. The juxtaposition of children (pictures of innocence) and images of death, warfare, and blood, is dramatic and terrifying, but especially so for Macbeth: For a man who has no offspring, the image of children can only fill him with hatred and loathing.
  70. 70Macbeth meets with the witches again (Act 4 Scene 1)Having rejected as impossible the second two prophecies, Macbeth asks for one last favor. The result appalls him, drawing all strength from him and reducing his earlier courage. The children who appear in this procession are the children of Fleance. The reflected light of their golden crowns "does sear (cut into) mine eye-balls" and causes his eyes to jump from their sockets. The climax to Macbeth's reaction occurs in the line "What! will the line (of inheritance) stretch out to the crack of doom?" in which he finally realizes the possibility of an entirely Macbethless future.
  71. 71Macbeth meets with the witches again (Act 4 Scene 1)In a scene rich with special effects — thunder, ghosts and (possibly flying) Witches — Shakespeare adds a final visual stroke: The eighth child-king carries a mirror that reflects the faces of many more such kings. The effect of infinite regression can be achieved by looking at a mirror while holding a smaller mirror in your hand in which the reflection is reflected.
    The Witches confirm the inevitability of what Macbeth has seen: "Ay sir, all this is so." There can be no equivocation, no argument, with Fate.
  72. 72Macbeth meets with the witches again (Act 4 Scene 1)Emerging into the cold light of day, Macbeth seems immediately to forget the final prophecy, as he returns to the practicalities of what is increasingly a battle for his own political survival. On being informed that Macduff has fled to England, he announces his intention to wreak a terrible revenge on Macduff's wife and children.
  73. 73Family of MacDuff is murdered (Act 4 Scene 2)At Macduff’s castle, Lady Macduff accosts Ross, demanding to know why her husband has fled. She feels betrayed. Ross insists that she trust her husband’s judgment and then regretfully departs. Once he is gone, Lady Macduff tells her son that his father is dead, but the little boy perceptively argues that he is not. Suddenly, a messenger hurries in, warning Lady Macduff that she is in danger and urging her to flee. Lady Macduff protests, arguing that she has done no wrong. A group of murderers then enters. When one of them denounces Macduff, Macduff’s son calls the murderer a liar, and the murderer stabs him. Lady Macduff turns and runs, and the pack of killers chases after her.
  74. 74Family of MacDuff is murdered (Act 4 Scene 2)This scene and the next should be considered together, for both deal with the question of treachery and loyalty, and both consider the nature of genuine courage, as opposed to the arrogant bravado of Macbeth.
  75. 75Family of MacDuff is murdered (Act 4 Scene 2)Here is a woman apparently abandoned by her husband. She has been left to fend for her children like a mother bird in the nest. Even the tiny wren would show more spirited defense of her own family against a predator than Macduff has done, she argues. Her conclusion can be only that her husband "wants the natural touch" — that is, he lacks human kindness. It's interesting to hear in this phrase an ironic echo of the words of Lady Macbeth, who accused her husband of having precisely too much of "the milk of human kindness."
  76. 76Family of MacDuff is murdered (Act 4 Scene 2)Ross' speech diverts Lady Macduff's justifiable anger away from her husband, whom he calls "noble, wise, judicious," toward the cruelty of the circumstances in which the country as a whole finds itself. The terror of Macbeth's Scotland is that no one can be sure of another's loyalty or treachery "when we are traitors, / And do not know ourselves; when we hold rumour / From what we fear, yet know not what we fear".
  77. 77Family of MacDuff is murdered (Act 4 Scene 2)Left on their own, Lady Macduff and her son converse further on the subject of her husband's loyalty. To her, Macduff has acted dishonestly, but her son, however naïve his view of the world, comforts her by his practical statement that the world is full of dishonest men. The entry of another messenger increases the urgency of the scene. Left on her own once more, Lady Macduff reflects, as Ross did, on the unpredictability and topsy-turvy nature of human society where "to do harm" is praiseworthy and to do good is dangerous.
  78. 78Family of MacDuff is murdered (Act 4 Scene 2)The audience should not be surprised, given the direct and courageous speech of the young boy in his conversation with his mother, at the spirited defense he puts up against the murderers. His words ("Thou liest, thou shag-haired villain") foreshadow those of the brave Young Siward to Macbeth in Act V, Scene 7 ("Thou liest, abhorred tyrant") and remind us of the indomitable spirit of honor and justice that must ultimately prevail.
  79. 79Malcolm and MacDuff- trust or tyrant (Act 4 Scene 3)In act 4, scene 3, Macduff visits Malcolm in England and attempts to persuade him to return to Scotland to dethrone the tyrant Macbeth. Although Macduff's intentions are good, Malcolm is reasonably suspicious of him and cleverly decides to test Macduff's loyalty before becoming his ally. Malcolm begins to test Macduff by questioning his decision to leave his wife and children behind in Scotland, where they are in grave danger. Macduff responds by lamenting Macbeth's tyrannical reign and claims that he would not be the villain Malcolm suspects him to be if he was offered the entire kingdom of Scotland.
  80. 80Malcolm and MacDuff- trust or tyrant (Act 4 Scene 3)Malcolm continues to test Macduff's loyalty by listing his numerous flaws and vices, which would make Macbeth seem "pure as snow." Malcolm claims to be lascivious, greedy, and lacking every positive quality of a righteous king. Macduff responds to Malcolm's false claims by saying that he is not fit to live, let alone rule. Macduff then demonstrates his genuine nature by crying for Scotland and commenting that all hope is lost.
  81. 81Malcolm and MacDuff- trust or tyrant (Act 4 Scene 3)Malcolm recognizes that Macduff's reaction is genuine and takes back every negative thing he said about himself. Malcolm knows that if Macduff was Macbeth's spy, it would not have mattered what he said about himself because Macduff would be intent on luring him back to Scotland. Malcolm's false claims elicit a certain response from Macduff, which allows him to accurately judge his intentions. Once Malcolm discovers that Macduff is trustworthy and honest, he agrees to be his ally and begins formulating plans to dethrone Macbeth.
  82. 82Malcolm and MacDuff- trust or tyrant (Act 4 Scene 3)Malcolm gives a litany of reasons why he wouldn't be a good king. Malcolm says he's lustful, greedy and has no desire to even become the king. When Macduff suggests that Malcolm's better qualities would out-weight those vices, Malcolm replies by saying, "But I have none." Malcolm makes it very clear that he would be a very bad king. After listing his bad qualities, he gives Macduff an opportunity to make a plea for the kingship. Macduff, however, does not wish to be king and repeats his statement of support for Malcolm, all the time weeping for Scotland. This assures Malcolm that Macduff is loyal and will help his cause against Macbeth.
  83. 83Malcolm and MacDuff- trust or tyrant (Act 4 Scene 3)In England, Duncan's son Malcolm tests the loyalty of his newest recruit, Macduff. By demeaning his own nobility and professing himself to be a greater tyrant than Macbeth, Malcolm hopes to goad Macduff into an open display of his loyalties. This attempt at reverse psychology has its desired effect.
    Macduff is thrown into a fit of anger against the "untitled tyrant" Macbeth, and Malcolm enlists his help in the struggle. When Ross appears with news of the slaughter of Macduff's family, Macduff is finally convinced not only to engage in the rebel army but also to take personal revenge upon Macbeth. This scene also includes a passage in which it is reported that England's king, Edward the Confessor, has provided more than political aid to Malcolm; he has been healing the sick by supernatural means.
  84. 84Malcolm and MacDuff- trust or tyrant (Act 4 Scene 3)This scene develops further the important issues of loyalty and courage found in the preceding scene, and it is structured in two halves: the first concerns the testing of Macduff's loyalty by Malcolm; the second evokes the great passion of Macduff in the face of terrible grief and his sworn revenge on Macbeth.
  85. 85Malcolm and MacDuff- trust or tyrant (Act 4 Scene 3)It is helpful to think of this scene as a job interview. Malcolm begins by suggesting that Macduff may be prepared to betray him as "a sacrifice" to his previous leader, Macbeth. Macduff passes this stage of the interview by boldly announcing, "I am not treacherous." Still, Malcolm persists: Men may look as bright as angels on the outside but still harbor secret feelings within. Why, he asks, did Macduff desert his wife and children? At this point, Macduff nearly fails the test: He cannot believe that Malcolm is so short-sighted not to realize that his interests lie in defending not only his family but the whole nation of Scotland.
  86. 86Malcolm and MacDuff- trust or tyrant (Act 4 Scene 3)As in Ross' speech in Act IV, Scene 2, the context of this entire scene has been set in terms of the country as a whole: Macduff explains to Malcolm that "Each new morn . . . new sorrows / Strike heaven on the face, that it resounds / As if it felt with Scotland". Later, Macduff cries out "O Scotland, Scotland . . . O nation miserable!" Macbeth's motivation in murdering Duncan may have been personal, but its effects have become very much public.
  87. 87Malcolm and MacDuff- trust or tyrant (Act 4 Scene 3)Malcolm's next move is a daring piece of reverse psychology: He claims that as a future king, he himself will be even more malicious and barbarous than Macbeth. To understand this scene, the audience must be aware from the start that Malcolm is lying when he suggests that he possesses no virtues, no nobility, no honor, and no qualities of kingship.
  88. 88Malcolm and MacDuff- trust or tyrant (Act 4 Scene 3)Macduff's response to this suggestion is at first cautious. His speech beginning with the words "Boundless intemperance in nature is a tyranny . . . " has a diplomatic tone. Macduff argues, probably against his better judgment, that certain human sins are forgivable, even in a king. Even avarice, the sinful desire for wealth, is "portable" when balanced against the good qualities of kingship.
  89. 89Malcolm and MacDuff- trust or tyrant (Act 4 Scene 3)"But I have none," replies Malcolm, listing exactly those qualities which he does have and which, of course, Macbeth lacks. At this point, Macduff snaps. He cannot endure the thought that the country might have to undergo another reign even more vicious than Macbeth's. Seeing Macduff's clearly emotional response, Malcolm relents, revealing as fake the self-portrait he has previously given.
  90. 90Malcolm and MacDuff- trust or tyrant (Act 4 Scene 3)The next 20 lines may appear curious to a modern audience, for two reasons: first, because they were probably added as a flattering direct address to King James I, for whom the play was performed; and second because of what they reveal about the miraculous healing powers ascribed to his forebear, Edward the Confessor. According to legend, Edward had been able to cure scrofula, or the King's Evil, a glandular inflammation, simply by touching the diseased patient. But the passage is dramatically ironic as well: The king of England is shown to be a monarch of genuine goodness and to use the supernatural for beneficial purposes.
  91. 91Malcolm and MacDuff- trust or tyrant (Act 4 Scene 3)Coming almost immediately after Macbeth's visit to the Witches, this contrast is made even more clear. Moreover, the speech introduces us to the choric (or commentating) figure of the Doctor, who speaks of disease but is powerless to cure the more severe, mental affliction of Lady Macbeth in the subsequent scene.
  92. 92Malcolm and MacDuff- trust or tyrant (Act 4 Scene 3)When Ross enters, his report consolidates this idea of disease. According to him, the entire country is "teeming" with illness: He reveals that "sighs, and groans, and shrieks . . . rent the air" and that "good men's lives expire before the flowers in their caps, / Dying or ere they sicken". However, the worst news is for the ears of Macduff alone. In a piece of dialogue heavy with emotion, Ross relates the story of the murder of Lady Macduff and her little children. His speech wavers, as he tries to avoid telling Macduff the truth.
  93. 93Malcolm and MacDuff- trust or tyrant (Act 4 Scene 3)On hearing the news about his family, Macduff's reaction is understandable. Shakespeare gives him an implied stage direction in Malcolm's line "What man! ne'er pull your hat upon your brows," which suggests that Macduff must cover his face to prevent any unmanly show of grief. But Malcolm suggests that Macduff's tears should become "medicines . . . / To cure this deadly grief."
  94. 94Malcolm and MacDuff- trust or tyrant (Act 4 Scene 3)Macduff, however, feels he can only blame himself. With ironic reference to his wife's words of the previous scene, he alludes to his "poor chickens," slaughtered by the "fell swoop" of a bird of prey. The emotional impact of this scene reaches its climax in Macduff's response when Malcolm tells him to "[d]ispute it like a man": "I shall do so / But I must also feel it as a man."
  95. 95Malcolm and MacDuff- trust or tyrant (Act 4 Scene 3)From this moment onwards, Macduff becomes the stereotypical avenging hero. It was he who first discovered the murder of Duncan, having arrived, Christ-like, at the gates of hell in Act II, Scene 3. Now he must take on himself the personal act of revenge. The scene is set for the final act.

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GCSE English Karteikarten am Macbeth flashcards, erstellt von Sabarish Sendhil-Kumaran am 17/01/2023.
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