Macbeth Act 5 Scene 1

Macbeth Act 5 Scene 1

1. Gentlewoman: "Why, it stood by her: she has light by her continually; 'tis her command"

   • As queen, she now sleeps apart from her husband
     • Shakespeare wants us to realise that Macbeth is not present
   • The "light" would prevent him sleeping
   • The irony of "Macbeth doth murder sleep" is that it appears he now sleeps well, but his wife does not
     • he murdered his wife's sleep
     • Macbeth has accepted his fate, while Lady fears hers, and so can't sleep
       • Macbeth doesn't really believe in the concept of hell
   • Shakespeare uses contrast to reveal the change in his character since we first met her
     • she began the play praising the dark powers of nature, symbolised by "the raven"
       • and the supernatural with "the dunnest smoke of hell"
         • now, she is adicted to "light"
     • makes us pay attention to this by asking about her light
   • "light" shows her desperation to escape her past self
     • she has light "continually" and does not ever lit it go out, which is "her command"
       • symbolises her regret at killing Duncan in the first place
         • also reveals her fear of hell - "light" is symbolic of God in the Christian tradition
       • "light" is used in this symbolic way because this light is useless to her: she can't see it because she is sleepwalking
   • the phrase "stood by her" reveals her symoblic meaning
     • she wants God to stand by her, to save her soul from hell - personification of light

2. L.Macbeth: "Out, damned spot! out, I say! - One: two: why, then 'tis time to do't. -Hell is murky! - Fie, my

   • Lost status within nature - asking to be unsexed and purged of the "milk"
     • symbolises a woman's nurturing nature, she has also damaged her sanity
   • hallucinates the "dammned spot" while macbeth is no longer having visions
     • Bill's audience will want her to be punished for turning against the role society gives her gender
       • before her death, Bill first drives her mad
   • Tries to distance herself from her soul's damnation by calling the spot of blood "damned"
     • as though if she could just clean that off, her soul would be saved
       • reveals her desperation
       • reinforces Bill's theme in dissuading his watching audience of nobles from regicide
   • Sleepwalking is also caused by becoming Macbeth
     • "One;two: why, then 'tis time to do't" - these are Macbeth's thoughts
       • He is waiting for her to signal with two rings of the bell, thinking "the bell invites me"
         • Suggests that hse is also horrified at what she feels she has made Macbeth do, and so actually dreams of herself as Macbeth

3. L.Macbeth: "The thane of Fife had a wife: where is she now.......my lord"

   • Mabe she feels she has created a monster
     • Her dreams leap from their first crime to Macbeth's latest
       • She is especially troubled by Macbeth's killing of the innocent, Macduff's family
   • Perhaps she focuses on "wife" because she is making a comparison to her own status
     • Macbeth's "firstlings of the heart" mean that he no longer consults her
       • she has been marginalised, and can see that her role as "wife" is now dead
       • they also appear to no longer be sleeping together, perhaps their sexual relationship is also dead
   • Internal rhyme of "Fife" and "wife" also gives this line a childlike, nursery rhyme quality
     • implies that she is regressing mentally, losing her adult identity, and trying ot find a time when she felt more innocent, less "damned"
     • Or, she is trying to not think of all Macduff's slaughtered children
       • it is a painful remainder of her own dead child

4. L.Macbweth: "Here's the smell of the blood still: all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. Oh, oh, oh!

   • smell has the most impact on memory and cannot be easily disguised
     • All the perfumes in arabia aren't enough to hide it
   • regicide leads to madness and eternal damnation
   • This soliloquy is delivered in prose, sometimes iambic, sometimes trochaic with lines of irregular length
     • this reflects her troubled mind, unable to organise itself
       • Bill also uses it to reveal her loss of status - her soul will go to hell
   • focus on senses - Macbeth was tricked by his sense of "sight", and she is tricked by "smell"
     • This "smell" is much more powerful
       • Mabeth can look elsewhere, or even command Banquo's ghost to "quit my sight" and be obeyed
         • Macbeth can't escape the "smell of blood" - shows how her sense of guilt is much greater than Macbeth's
   • The "perfumes of Arabia" are the best that money can buy, symbolising how her status as queen has been worthless
     • The joy of being queen has brought is destroyed by the guilt at what she has done
       • "Arabia" also symbollises great distance, and her desire to escape her present state
   • Echoes Macbeth's lament that "all great Neptune's oceans" wouldn't wash the blood from his hands
     • symbolises thier partnership - continuing love for each other
       • Explains why Macbeth has tried to keep her "innocent" of his murderous plans, as though realising the psychological damage her guit is causing her
         • Lady also focuses on innocence - characterises her hand as "little" in the hope that it is too small to be guilty
           • the desire for it to "sweeten" is also a childlike use of perfume, rather than to be used for sexual attraction as a woman
             • regressing into this childlike state to escape responsibility for what she has done
   • Use of triplets throughout this scene
     • childlike feature used in so many story structures for children
       • also a strong reminder of the three witches
         • however, this scene explores her regrets, so the witches are not mentioned - nor does she mention her desire to be unsexed, nor her desire to seek the aid of "murdering ministers"
           • This implies that she does not really believe in the power of the supernatural - refusal in the scene to believe in the ability of Banquo to return as a ghost
             • hints at Bill's own lack of belief in witchcraft
           • And/or, she is taking full responsibility for what she has done - doesn't blame the witches
   • Whereas Lady is defined by patriarchal society which has made her, she still believes in God, in heaven and "hell"
     • still believes in being feminine, focuses on "perfume", "little hand" and the image of the "wife"
       • she also still believes in serving her husband - even in her dreams she still addresses Macbeth formally as "my Lord" and "your" and is still subservient to his status

5. L.Macbeth: "What's done cannot be undone. - To bed, to bed, to bed!

   • Focus on marriage
     • tells herself that her guilt serves no purpose - she must accept what she has done
   • inviting macbeth "To bed, to bed, to bed" - indicates both a sexual passion for her husband, and a plea that she should let her soothe his mind, and relieve his guilt
     • she has succeeded in this
       • Macbeth is no longer troublled by his lack of sleep, nor his guilt
         • Reaction to his crime is still to continue killing - because he has already accepted that his kingship is a "fruitless crown"
           • He has a nihilistic view of life and God, perhaps an atheistic view

6. Doctor: "Will she go now to bed?"

   • Bill implies that this is the cause of her tradegy
     • Each time she sleepwalks, her speech begins with her guilt
       • Bill makes the doctor ask if she will now go to bed, and the gentlewoman has no hesitation in saying "directly"
         • We did not need to be told this
           • This is the part of her sleepwalking she can't escape - she returns to bed with macbeth in her imagination because, in her real bed, she is alone

7. Sleepwaalking is a symptom and symbol of her guilt