Macbeth (2) From Act I scene iv onwards
The next scene establishes a world of order where right and wrong are clearly distinguished but the audience remains aware throughout of the other world of the supernatural where good and evil become mixed; this is because of the powerful and unforgettable nature of the scenes on the heath. The budding plan of Macbeth to murder Duncan also forms a background to a scene in which we see the King as trusting and innocent, not prone to suspicion and disillusioned when he has been deceived. He is told, in a formal speech by Malcolm, that the previous Thane of Cawdor died gallantly and honourably, confessing treason and bearing himself in manly fashion, begging forgiveness and repenting. This account adds to a definition of manhood which builds up during the play and against which we measure Macbeth. The comparison with Macbeth is strong as there is shown to be some good in the condemned traitor as there may be in the living man contemplating a worse crime. The strong and memorable line: "Nothing in his life/Became him like the leaving it" stresses the capacity in a man to choose good and act with dignity as the sentenced victim has treated his life as a trifle and behaved as though he had practised a dignified death. With heavy dramatic irony Duncan reveals his trusting nature, easily deceived and unaware of possible treachery in hand:
There's no art
To find the mind's construction in the face;
He was a gentlemen on whom I built
An absolute trust.
At the very moment when he is declaring that it is impossible to read a person's apppearance to detect his or her intention, Macbeth enters and is greeted warmly, thus proving the truth of the generalised statement or sententia.
Duncan is gracious, warm and genuine in his gratitude to Macbeth despite the formalised and courtly manner in which he says that he cannot repay with any possible recompense the service Macbeth has rendered and wishes that the hero had done less so that thanks and reward might have been proportionate. He ends simply with a monosyllabic line of pure and honest thanks: "More is thy due than more than all can pay." Macbeth's reply lacks such transparency and is hypocritical, using similar courtly language to cover his murderous thoughts and reminding us how right Duncan was to claim that detection of inner intentions by clues from superficial manner is impossible. Macbeth appears the ideal subject, stressing the bonds between ruler and ruled and using moral words such as "duties", "safe", "love and honour" to describe the structure of a perfect relationship, offering service with no hope for reward. The natural imagery of crop-growing used by Duncan adds to this sense of inherent good and promises Macbeth further development; it is a sign of Macbeth's ambition that he is not content to wait for the promised promotion in due course. When Duncan turns to Banquo we are reminded that the two men are compared and contrasted throughout, particularly when Banquo is happy merely to complete the metaphor of growth and wait without proactive intention for his own future possibilities. The imagery of plants contrasts with the atmosphere of the blasted heath where nothing flourishes.
Duncan's emotion is so strong he feels he may weep but this is perhaps a formal espression of gratitude as he he is sufficiently in control to make legal the naming of a successor to the throne: "We will establish our estate upon/Our eldest, Malcolm" who therefore takes the title of Prince of Cumberland. He also promises "signs of nobleness", rewards or titles as bright as stars, to all who have deserved them and states his intention to stay with Macbeth for further bonding. Macbeth replies in an equally respectful and ceremonious manner (though hypocritical) and promises he will do all he can and advise his wife of their visit. Duncan is merely acting correctly and responsibly to establish in public a future for the kingship but the announcement turns out to be, literally, fatal as the audience suspects it will be. Further possible dramatic irony is present.
Another aside shows Macbeth's true feeling as he sees a blockage to his own inheritance of the throne and uses imagery, firstly of a step to be stumbled over or crossed and secondly Duncan's own reference to stars which must hide their light and not see his proposed wishes or actions. There are oppositions in the language: light, fire and black; eye and hand. Light is connected with good and evil with depth and darkness; the hand is the agent of action and the eye is that of conscience. He seems resolved on the murder as he hopes that the eye of conscience will wink at or shut so as not to see the deed and his resolution has been triggered by the appointment of Prince of Cumberland. Duncan also praises and thanks Banquo with a play on his name, the banquet metaphor representing law, order and a peaceful society. With blunter dramatic irony, Duncan calls Macbeth, the planner of his murder, a "peerless kinsman."
Act I scene v
Lady Macbeth is the first character in the play to enter alone and this presents her immediately as independent, resourceful and in command. She is reading aloud the second part of a letter from Macbeth, which relates accurately the encounter with the witches, omitting that the reason why he was "rapt" was his contemplation of an evil act. He also leaves out any reference to Banquo or the promise made to him and we do not know if this was in the firts part. The overt purpose of the letter is to inform her of the prophecies and the truth of the second one. There is clearly absolute trust between them and the fact that the letter is in prose makes a contrast with the surrounding blank verse and catches our attention, even though we know its contents. He does not hint at his darker thoughts, perhaps knowing that her decisive nature will come to the same conclusion as he has without prompting, as he must know her to be eager for high position.
There is now a change from prose to blank verse to indicate a switch in register and emotion as Lady Macbeth is sensing elevated feelings about the content of the letter. She seems decisive and determined that Macbeth shall become King but does not speak these words outright, preferring circumlocutions and euphemisms to conceal her deepest thoughts: "shalt be/"What thou art promised" and "the nearest way [murder]". "Shalt be" repeats the prophecy of the Third Witch in the same terms and so Lady Macbeth seems allied to them. She fears that her husband's "nature" is too "full o'th' milk of human kindness" to kill. Both words: "nature" and "kindness" have strong and similar meanings indicating what is normal to a human being. The imagery of milk returns later but suggeste here that she feels that Macbeth is squeamish and sentimental despite being a blood-hardened warrior. Her analysis of him is accurate and perceptive as she knows him to be ambitious - a main theme in the drama - but lacking the "illness [evil]" needed to achieve the result. In the debate raised by the play, she has no doubt that action is necessary to produce what is fated. She thinks he might wish for something and yet want to bring it about by righteous means, wanting the effect to be achieved "wrongly" without having to perform "false" deeds himself. There are oppositions between good and evil here and she dismisses good as weakness.
The next part of the speech is problematic as it is difficult to ascertain how much should be in inverted commas and be the utterance of "that which cries", referring to the crown. Her meaning is clear, however, as she sees the murder of Duncan as essential and thinks that Macbeth will want it done even though he will be afraid to do it. She encourages him to arrive so that she can "pour" her "spirits" into his ear and incite him to the killing. Her knowledge of him is deep and she is sure of her power over him and her ability to "chastise with the valour of [her] tongue" anything that stops him from becoming king. The phrase "the golden round" is so glowing that it suggests that she can almost see the crown. Although she feels that fate and the witches, "metaphysical aid" have virtually ensured the coronation, she still feels the need to act as though those are mere accomplices.
She has spoken without knowledge of the King's arrival but, with sudden dramatic impact, a messenger brings the news that Duncan will stay with them that very night. This speeds up the pace of the plot and is so arresting that she exclaims: "Thou'rt mad to say it", questioning why Macbeth had not told her. Everything is now happening rapidly and breathlessly but Lady Macbeth is in control of herself and events. A sense of fate and forboding is expressed with the mention of the raven croaking hoarsely as Duncan enters the castle, advancing towards his death. She calls upon Spirits, supernatural powers who know human thoughts, to "unsex" her, to take away from her any female softness and fill her with "cruelty" from head to toe. The leitmotif of blood enters as she wishes hers to be thickened and then to have any entry for regrets blocked, thus suggesting that there is a gentler side to her nature which must be hardened. "Nature" is seen as kind and producing promptings of conscience, "compunctious visitings" which must not be allowed to intervene. She continues the image of desexualisation by asking the agents of murder, wherever they are, to take from her breasts the natural substance, with another refernence to milk, and replace it with gall. These agents are "sightless" as they must be blind and without conscience (mischief being a much stronger word then than now) and Night will serve the same purpose of concealment from remorseful pangs. Darkness, Hell, and smoke will assist so that the knife cannot see the wound and prevent Heaven from noticing their evil doings and stop them by crying, "Hold, hold!" The whole speech is built around opposites: cruelty/remorse; sight/concealment and darkness; soft femininity/evil. We sense that she is not as resolute or evil as she seemed at first since she has to ask for one side of her own nature to be obliterated. Her speech has been full of imperatives, instructions and commands and it has shown that, to her, to be womanly is to be weak. She knows that the murder is wrong and evil but is not torn by conscience: she is determined to overcome any doubts in herself and, presumably in Macbeth. The opportune arrival of Duncan seems like the workings of Fate.
When he enters she ignores his recent success in battle and takes for granted the triumph of being proclaimed Thane of Cawdor, concentrating on the "all-hail hereafter", the final promise of kingship. She is aware of her own powers of imagination which have taken her beyond the present moment and make her feel "The future in the instant", as though he is already royal. There is no sense of ambition for herself, only for him. So strong is the intuitive understanding between them that their dialogue contains hints and innuendos rather than plain speech: "Tomorrow, as he purposes" indicates that Duncan may not leave the next day and her response that the sun will never see that event shows that she has picked up his hidden meaning. She stresses the need to keep up appearances, "beguile the time" [deceive the world] and conceal their intentions, using the imagery of a book. With another image, possibly referring to the garden of Eden, she encourages him to be "the serpent" or Devil underneath the innocent flower of his manner which must be welcoming in look, deeds and speech. "Provided for " is further euphemism which, if overheard by a servant, could mean entertained but which means murdered. She dominates by commanding that she should be in charge of "This night's great business" [the killing] which will lead to their complete supremacy. There is a feeling of urgency and tension as they have only this night and the one chance for their actions. Whereas Macbeth wishes to "speak further" rather than decide now, she scorns him, sensing irresolution in his words, warning him not to change his facial expression, his "favour", in case it causes suspicion and to leave everything else to her. All he has to do is act his part as host, which stresses the theme of "seeming", appearance and reality, a good surface and an evil purpose. Her method of dealing with him is a mixture of haste, persuasion, scorn, insinuation, suggestion and instructions; he would have to be very firm to break through her rhetoric and oppose her.
Act I scne vi
The lexis and vocabulary of the opening speeches depict a natural, fruitful and agreeable environment, in ironic contrast to the heath and to the inner thoughts of Macbeth and his wife. It is light and day-time with good weather, another contrast with the darkness and foulness. of previous scenes. Duncan commends the air and Banquo comments on the bird-life, the martlet (swift or house-martin), connected to holiness, which finds the place and atmosphere conducive to breeding and has made its characteristic hanging nests wherever possible. Birds are a leitmotif in the drama and we recall that the fatal raven has been mentioned as present here also. Duncan greets Lady Macbeth in formal, convoluted but sincere language, thanking her for her loving attentions. The subject/king relationship would be ideal, if honest, as she replies in similar elevated terms, with some exaggeration, that they cannot repay the great honours accorded them. The dramatic irony is blatant as she is plotting his murder to obtain an even higher title. Such hyperbole would be expected and accepted and not taken as a sign of hypocrisy although we know it to be such. Duncan, in asking for Macbethj as Thane of Cawdor, recalls to us the disloyalty of the late Thane and reminds us that the present Thane is preparing the ultimate treachery. The King had tried to overtake him on the journey but had been outridden as Macbeth - and here there is further dramatic irony - travelled swiftly in order to prepare his murder with his wife, more than to get ready for his entertainment out of love. The formal and complicated speeches continue and do not need paraphrase but the moral terms should be noted: "love" and "grace" as well as the bonds implicit between guest and host which were very strong at the time, each having solemn duties to the other of protection and gratitude. This scene forefronts peace, trust and courtesy after the vicious emotions and passion of battle, the encounter with the witches and the planning of murder. Duncan, as peacetime ruler, is the ideal monarch (a change from history): dignified, appreciative and recognising the bonds between subject and king. The concept of his murder seems more vile because of his bearing and the balance in the drama is problematic as the audience must maintain some sympathetic understanding of the eponymous hero, Macbeth.
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The next scene establishes a world of order where right and wrong are clearly distinguished but the audience remains aware throughout of the other world of the supernatural where good and evil become mixed; this is because of the powerful and unforgettable nature of the scenes on the heath. The budding plan of Macbeth to murder Duncan also forms a background to a scene in which we see the King as trusting and innocent, not prone to suspicion and disillusioned when he has been deceived. He is told, in a formal speech by Malcolm, that the previous Thane of Cawdor died gallantly and honourably, confessing treason and bearing himself in manly fashion, begging forgiveness and repenting. This account adds to a definition of manhood which builds up during the play and against which we measure Macbeth. The comparison with Macbeth is strong as there is shown to be some good in the condemned traitor as there may be in the living man contemplating a worse crime. The strong and memorable line: "Nothing in his life/Became him like the leaving it" stresses the capacity in a man to choose good and act with dignity as the sentenced victim has treated his life as a trifle and behaved as though he had practised a dignified death. With heavy dramatic irony Duncan reveals his trusting nature, easily deceived and unaware of possible treachery in hand:
There's no art
To find the mind's construction in the face;
He was a gentlemen on whom I built
An absolute trust.
At the very moment when he is declaring that it is impossible to read a person's apppearance to detect his or her intention, Macbeth enters and is greeted warmly, thus proving the truth of the generalised statement or sententia.
Duncan is gracious, warm and genuine in his gratitude to Macbeth despite the formalised and courtly manner in which he says that he cannot repay with any possible recompense the service Macbeth has rendered and wishes that the hero had done less so that thanks and reward might have been proportionate. He ends simply with a monosyllabic line of pure and honest thanks: "More is thy due than more than all can pay." Macbeth's reply lacks such transparency and is hypocritical, using similar courtly language to cover his murderous thoughts and reminding us how right Duncan was to claim that detection of inner intentions by clues from superficial manner is impossible. Macbeth appears the ideal subject, stressing the bonds between ruler and ruled and using moral words such as "duties", "safe", "love and honour" to describe the structure of a perfect relationship, offering service with no hope for reward. The natural imagery of crop-growing used by Duncan adds to this sense of inherent good and promises Macbeth further development; it is a sign of Macbeth's ambition that he is not content to wait for the promised promotion in due course. When Duncan turns to Banquo we are reminded that the two men are compared and contrasted throughout, particularly when Banquo is happy merely to complete the metaphor of growth and wait without proactive intention for his own future possibilities. The imagery of plants contrasts with the atmosphere of the blasted heath where nothing flourishes.
Duncan's emotion is so strong he feels he may weep but this is perhaps a formal espression of gratitude as he he is sufficiently in control to make legal the naming of a successor to the throne: "We will establish our estate upon/Our eldest, Malcolm" who therefore takes the title of Prince of Cumberland. He also promises "signs of nobleness", rewards or titles as bright as stars, to all who have deserved them and states his intention to stay with Macbeth for further bonding. Macbeth replies in an equally respectful and ceremonious manner (though hypocritical) and promises he will do all he can and advise his wife of their visit. Duncan is merely acting correctly and responsibly to establish in public a future for the kingship but the announcement turns out to be, literally, fatal as the audience suspects it will be. Further possible dramatic irony is present.
Another aside shows Macbeth's true feeling as he sees a blockage to his own inheritance of the throne and uses imagery, firstly of a step to be stumbled over or crossed and secondly Duncan's own reference to stars which must hide their light and not see his proposed wishes or actions. There are oppositions in the language: light, fire and black; eye and hand. Light is connected with good and evil with depth and darkness; the hand is the agent of action and the eye is that of conscience. He seems resolved on the murder as he hopes that the eye of conscience will wink at or shut so as not to see the deed and his resolution has been triggered by the appointment of Prince of Cumberland. Duncan also praises and thanks Banquo with a play on his name, the banquet metaphor representing law, order and a peaceful society. With blunter dramatic irony, Duncan calls Macbeth, the planner of his murder, a "peerless kinsman."
Act I scene v
Lady Macbeth is the first character in the play to enter alone and this presents her immediately as independent, resourceful and in command. She is reading aloud the second part of a letter from Macbeth, which relates accurately the encounter with the witches, omitting that the reason why he was "rapt" was his contemplation of an evil act. He also leaves out any reference to Banquo or the promise made to him and we do not know if this was in the firts part. The overt purpose of the letter is to inform her of the prophecies and the truth of the second one. There is clearly absolute trust between them and the fact that the letter is in prose makes a contrast with the surrounding blank verse and catches our attention, even though we know its contents. He does not hint at his darker thoughts, perhaps knowing that her decisive nature will come to the same conclusion as he has without prompting, as he must know her to be eager for high position.
There is now a change from prose to blank verse to indicate a switch in register and emotion as Lady Macbeth is sensing elevated feelings about the content of the letter. She seems decisive and determined that Macbeth shall become King but does not speak these words outright, preferring circumlocutions and euphemisms to conceal her deepest thoughts: "shalt be/"What thou art promised" and "the nearest way [murder]". "Shalt be" repeats the prophecy of the Third Witch in the same terms and so Lady Macbeth seems allied to them. She fears that her husband's "nature" is too "full o'th' milk of human kindness" to kill. Both words: "nature" and "kindness" have strong and similar meanings indicating what is normal to a human being. The imagery of milk returns later but suggeste here that she feels that Macbeth is squeamish and sentimental despite being a blood-hardened warrior. Her analysis of him is accurate and perceptive as she knows him to be ambitious - a main theme in the drama - but lacking the "illness [evil]" needed to achieve the result. In the debate raised by the play, she has no doubt that action is necessary to produce what is fated. She thinks he might wish for something and yet want to bring it about by righteous means, wanting the effect to be achieved "wrongly" without having to perform "false" deeds himself. There are oppositions between good and evil here and she dismisses good as weakness.
The next part of the speech is problematic as it is difficult to ascertain how much should be in inverted commas and be the utterance of "that which cries", referring to the crown. Her meaning is clear, however, as she sees the murder of Duncan as essential and thinks that Macbeth will want it done even though he will be afraid to do it. She encourages him to arrive so that she can "pour" her "spirits" into his ear and incite him to the killing. Her knowledge of him is deep and she is sure of her power over him and her ability to "chastise with the valour of [her] tongue" anything that stops him from becoming king. The phrase "the golden round" is so glowing that it suggests that she can almost see the crown. Although she feels that fate and the witches, "metaphysical aid" have virtually ensured the coronation, she still feels the need to act as though those are mere accomplices.
She has spoken without knowledge of the King's arrival but, with sudden dramatic impact, a messenger brings the news that Duncan will stay with them that very night. This speeds up the pace of the plot and is so arresting that she exclaims: "Thou'rt mad to say it", questioning why Macbeth had not told her. Everything is now happening rapidly and breathlessly but Lady Macbeth is in control of herself and events. A sense of fate and forboding is expressed with the mention of the raven croaking hoarsely as Duncan enters the castle, advancing towards his death. She calls upon Spirits, supernatural powers who know human thoughts, to "unsex" her, to take away from her any female softness and fill her with "cruelty" from head to toe. The leitmotif of blood enters as she wishes hers to be thickened and then to have any entry for regrets blocked, thus suggesting that there is a gentler side to her nature which must be hardened. "Nature" is seen as kind and producing promptings of conscience, "compunctious visitings" which must not be allowed to intervene. She continues the image of desexualisation by asking the agents of murder, wherever they are, to take from her breasts the natural substance, with another refernence to milk, and replace it with gall. These agents are "sightless" as they must be blind and without conscience (mischief being a much stronger word then than now) and Night will serve the same purpose of concealment from remorseful pangs. Darkness, Hell, and smoke will assist so that the knife cannot see the wound and prevent Heaven from noticing their evil doings and stop them by crying, "Hold, hold!" The whole speech is built around opposites: cruelty/remorse; sight/concealment and darkness; soft femininity/evil. We sense that she is not as resolute or evil as she seemed at first since she has to ask for one side of her own nature to be obliterated. Her speech has been full of imperatives, instructions and commands and it has shown that, to her, to be womanly is to be weak. She knows that the murder is wrong and evil but is not torn by conscience: she is determined to overcome any doubts in herself and, presumably in Macbeth. The opportune arrival of Duncan seems like the workings of Fate.
When he enters she ignores his recent success in battle and takes for granted the triumph of being proclaimed Thane of Cawdor, concentrating on the "all-hail hereafter", the final promise of kingship. She is aware of her own powers of imagination which have taken her beyond the present moment and make her feel "The future in the instant", as though he is already royal. There is no sense of ambition for herself, only for him. So strong is the intuitive understanding between them that their dialogue contains hints and innuendos rather than plain speech: "Tomorrow, as he purposes" indicates that Duncan may not leave the next day and her response that the sun will never see that event shows that she has picked up his hidden meaning. She stresses the need to keep up appearances, "beguile the time" [deceive the world] and conceal their intentions, using the imagery of a book. With another image, possibly referring to the garden of Eden, she encourages him to be "the serpent" or Devil underneath the innocent flower of his manner which must be welcoming in look, deeds and speech. "Provided for " is further euphemism which, if overheard by a servant, could mean entertained but which means murdered. She dominates by commanding that she should be in charge of "This night's great business" [the killing] which will lead to their complete supremacy. There is a feeling of urgency and tension as they have only this night and the one chance for their actions. Whereas Macbeth wishes to "speak further" rather than decide now, she scorns him, sensing irresolution in his words, warning him not to change his facial expression, his "favour", in case it causes suspicion and to leave everything else to her. All he has to do is act his part as host, which stresses the theme of "seeming", appearance and reality, a good surface and an evil purpose. Her method of dealing with him is a mixture of haste, persuasion, scorn, insinuation, suggestion and instructions; he would have to be very firm to break through her rhetoric and oppose her.
Act I scne vi
The lexis and vocabulary of the opening speeches depict a natural, fruitful and agreeable environment, in ironic contrast to the heath and to the inner thoughts of Macbeth and his wife. It is light and day-time with good weather, another contrast with the darkness and foulness. of previous scenes. Duncan commends the air and Banquo comments on the bird-life, the martlet (swift or house-martin), connected to holiness, which finds the place and atmosphere conducive to breeding and has made its characteristic hanging nests wherever possible. Birds are a leitmotif in the drama and we recall that the fatal raven has been mentioned as present here also. Duncan greets Lady Macbeth in formal, convoluted but sincere language, thanking her for her loving attentions. The subject/king relationship would be ideal, if honest, as she replies in similar elevated terms, with some exaggeration, that they cannot repay the great honours accorded them. The dramatic irony is blatant as she is plotting his murder to obtain an even higher title. Such hyperbole would be expected and accepted and not taken as a sign of hypocrisy although we know it to be such. Duncan, in asking for Macbethj as Thane of Cawdor, recalls to us the disloyalty of the late Thane and reminds us that the present Thane is preparing the ultimate treachery. The King had tried to overtake him on the journey but had been outridden as Macbeth - and here there is further dramatic irony - travelled swiftly in order to prepare his murder with his wife, more than to get ready for his entertainment out of love. The formal and complicated speeches continue and do not need paraphrase but the moral terms should be noted: "love" and "grace" as well as the bonds implicit between guest and host which were very strong at the time, each having solemn duties to the other of protection and gratitude. This scene forefronts peace, trust and courtesy after the vicious emotions and passion of battle, the encounter with the witches and the planning of murder. Duncan, as peacetime ruler, is the ideal monarch (a change from history): dignified, appreciative and recognising the bonds between subject and king. The concept of his murder seems more vile because of his bearing and the balance in the drama is problematic as the audience must maintain some sympathetic understanding of the eponymous hero, Macbeth.
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