Act 5 Scene 3

Act 5 Scene 3

1. Macbeth: "I have lived long enough my of life Is fall'n into the sear"

   • Macbeth does not believe he is invincible, he isn't an idiot - he knows his end is coming, he just doesn't know how
   • He embraces nihilism and accepts the approach of death
     • The iambic stress is on "have" and "long" as though he is answering a question about whether he has lived a long time, he says yes
       • Iambic form is broken with a double stress on "my way" as though he accepts full responsiblity for his actions - doesn't blame ohers
       • To emphasise this length of time he's lived, he chooses words with long vowel sounds, and forces the actor to linger on the alliteration of "lived long" to show that Macbeth is ready to welcome death
         • compressing time in this way allwos him to feel old, so that his life is "fall'n into the sear"
           • "Fall" is also a deliberate allusion to the "fall" of Adam and Eve - Bill reminds us of macbeth's great sin

2. Macbeth: "I'll fight till from my bones my flesh be hack'd Give me my armour"

   • He is in a hurry to end his life, but will not commit suicide - wishes to die in battle
     • welcomes this extremely violent and painful death - violent imagery
       • Ironically, he is referred to by Malcolm at the end as a "butcher" , whereas here his semantic field reminds us of a butcher
         • reflection of how he sees his own treatment of his victims
           • Because he has butchered others, he expects to be butchered himself - great pride
   • Iambic emphasises this pride - stress is not on "give" but "me"
     • emphasises his own pride and identity at the same time as he imagines losing that identity in death
       • Consolation is that he will die as a "soldier" - the only role he fully inhabits

3. Seyton: "'Tis not needed yet"

   • Macbeth uses the imagery of clothing to define his feelings
     • We get the sense that he is throwing off the "borrowed robes" of kingship when he puts on his "armour" he becomes his true self
       • even though "tis not needed yet"

4. Macbeth: "Cure her of that Cast thou not minister to a mind diseased, Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow,"

   • Bill interrupts this urgency to fight, with the arrival of the Doctor
     • Doctor could easily have entered first - news of the "ten thousand" English could have interrupted him
       • The reason is he takes time out of the urgency of his preparations and the nihilism he feels to look after Lady
         • Reveals Macbeth's love for his wife
         • At first, Macbeth addresses the doctor formally, asking after "your patient"
           • Once he receives a poor diagnosis, he reverts to "thou"
             • He asks for a "cure" for her mental naguish and guilt, rather than his own
               • Metahpor "rooted sorrow" doesnt apply to him, as though he himself does not feel "sorrow" for his crimes

5. Macbeth: "If thou couldst, doctor, cast The water of my land, find her disease, And purge it to a sound and pristine health"

   • His feelings are for Lady, he then asks the doctor a rhetorical question =>
     • double reference to "disease" must be deliberate - implying that Soctalnd and Lady have both been infected, amde ill
       • This audience see this infection as Macbeth
       • However, Macbeth could be asking a deeper question
         • What is it which has caused repeated war, betrayal and woman desperate for power and control ,what is the disease?
           • This is a social question - the answer is the martial nature of this patriarchal society - addicted to violence and social status