Macbeth Act 1, Scene 5

Macbeth Act 1, Scene 5

1. Macbeth: "my dearest partner of greatness"

   • "partner" is very unusual for this time, women were seen to be men's property
     • L.Macbeth and Macbeth are equals
       • he knows that she is just as smart as him - also shares her understanding that society's rules don't allow her to succeed
         • Only way to succeed as a woman is through marriage to a successful man
   • contrasts with "thou"
     • encourages her to imagine being Queen

2. "I have thought good to deliver thee"

   • He has thought about whether he's going to tell her
     • Tells us he's anticipated her reaction - he knows she will formulate a plan to kill Duncan

3. He sends her a letter so she has time to think of a plan before he gets there

   • L.Macbeth: "It is too full o'the milk of human kindness"
     • Macbeth knows without her help he won't be able to kill Duncan
       • He writes to her to encourage her to help him
     • despite being bloodthirsty on the battlefield, he doesn't bring it into civilised life
     • "milk" suggests innocense with the accosiation with "white"
       • Later L.Macbeth says to him later "I shame to wear a heart so white"
         • symbol of cowardice and surrender - white flag
     • She has recently lost a baby - still lactating
       • asks the murdering ministers to come to her womans breasts and "take her milk for gall
       • her only child
         • we now understand the grief the couple feels
           • get an idea of the ambition of coming king might replace the hole of grief they have through the loss of their child
     • Feminises Macbeth by saying he is also still lactating from the loss of the baby
       • potrays him as the mother in this imagery

4. In the letter, Macbeth addresses L.Macbeth as thou

   • shows he addressing her as below him, but also in a loving way
   • the letter is written in prose (not pentameter)
     • Emphasises to L.Macbeth that they are both still low status

5. L.Macbeth"art not without ambition, but without The illness should attend it:"

   • Saying he's got the ambition, but it isn't enough
   • Two of Macbeth's harmatia's:
     • Lady Macbeth
     • Ambition
   • The fact he sent her a letter suggests he is using her deviousness to manipulate himself
     • he knows she will react like this

6. Lady Macbeth: "Fill me from the crown to the toe top-full Of direst cruelty"

   • She wants to be filled with cruelty
     • associates cruelty with masculinity and power
   • backwards - should be toe to the crown
     • emphasises the "crown" - she is fixated on the reward
       • to become king and queen, they must be the cruelest
         • Play is put on for King James - King James has the choice to be the most cruel by repressing Catholic terrorists - justified to seek out enemy within
           • Shakespeare is asking King James to pull back from this military, cruel solution to the problem
           • The fact they both die suggests that being the most cruel isn't a permenant solution

7. L.Macbeth: "look like the innocent flower, But be the serpent under't"

   • she asks Macbeth to feminise himself - "look like the innocent flower"
     • feminine image of innocence
   • "serpent" - relates to original sin and the temptation of Eve in the Garden of Eden
     • Lady Macbeth is the embodiment of it
     • Look Deeper - the serpent is the one who convinces her to take the apple - she is asking him to be the instigator
       • the "serpent" wrote the letter to "eve" to tempt her in to persuading Adam
         • emphasises that in a patriarchal society women are too often blamed
           • they have all been convinced this by daemonology - choose to ignore it
         • stops us seeing l.Macbeth as the most evil partner in the marriage
           • Macbeth is far more responsible for his downfall than L.Macbeth is

8. L.Macbeth: "Come you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts"

   • she is the master - spirits must do her bidding
   • her and Macbeth are the ones with evil thoughts, not the witches
   • evil is caused by a martial and patriarchal society, if Shakespeare softens this society, there will be less evil

9. Lady Macbeth has the last word - disrupts the Patriarchy - goes against god and social rules

   • Shakespeare might be pointing out that she deserves more power, if power were given to husbands and wives equally, they wouldn't use that power for evil and using it against society, so ambition wouldn't motiviate them to commit murder
   • when shakespeare shows partners are in agreement he has them share a 10 syllable line
     • this happens at the end of the scene
       • lady macbeth then does a 10 syllable line after, the perfect end to the scene
         • However, she then ends on a 6 syllable line, breaking the partnership - foreshadows lack of harmony
           • "Leave all the rest to me"
             • symbolises Macbeth has lost/transferred power to his wife - he needs her to create a plan to kill Duncan
             • Iambic pentameter emphasises "all" and "me" - conveys how she is assuming total control in the relationship
       • L.Macbeth: "unsex me"
         • Shakespeare is pointing out that this society only benefits men
           • to get benefits l.macbeth must become masculine
             • she wishes to take complete control in the relationship and kill Duncan herself, but is done by Macbeth
               • shows how Women are limited in a patriarchal society
                 • Rebellion is expected because society victimises her