Act I: Scene 7
Summary
Alone,
Macbeth ponders the deed that he is about to perform. He 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, convince Macbeth that he should
take on the "horrid deed."
Analysis
The imagery
of Macbeth's soliloquy reveals the intentions he would like to achieve
("assassination," "success"), but its construction shows
the workings of a mind still very much in confusion. Notice the insistent
repetition of individual words — if, were, done, be, but, and here — each
repeated two or three times within the first few lines. Within the fluid
construction of this soliloquy, words and sounds constantly attract and suggest
each other, giving the impression of a train of thought. All this begs the
question of whether Macbeth, able to rationalize and express his thoughts, is
thereby revealed as an intelligent, poetic soul. And if that's the case, does
he appear more human, more or less capable of sinning, and, worrysome for the
audience, more or less capable of winning their sympathy?
It is the
thought of something after death that puzzles Macbeth. Throughout the speech,
his words recall those of Shakespeare's earlier tragic hero, Hamlet. In
paraphrase, Macbeth wonders whether the act of murder itself must, by
necessity, carry consequences in "the life to come" or whether
judgment will await him in this life. Macbeth is simultaneously aware of the
duplicity and imbalance of the proposed murder (he is Duncan's relative,
subject, and host, yet he is to be his killer) and of the equality and balance
of earthly and heavenly law: "this even-handed Justice / Commends the
ingredients of our poison'd chalice / To our own lips" (11-12).
Of further
concern to Macbeth is the disparity between his own reputation and the world's
perception of Duncan as a good and virtuous king. The final section of the
speech contains an apocalyptic vision in which he imagines Duncan's virtue and
pity proclaimed as if by angels and cherubim from a storm-filled sky. This
doom-laden vision, whose imagery (for example, "trumpet-tongued")
reflects that of the biblical Day of Judgment, gives way in turn to a nagging
self-doubt. Whereas he pictures the angels and cherubim "horsed upon the
sightless couriers of the air," Macbeth admits that he himself has
"no spur / to prick the sides of my intent but only / Vaulting ambition
which o'erleaps itself / And falls on the other [side]" (25-28).
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.
The next
paragraph commences with a shift in tone — no less pragmatic but even more
ruthlessly efficient — as 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.
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.
Glossary
trammel up
(3) obstruct, prevent
surcease (4)
death
shoal (6)
sandbank
faculties
(17) kingly powers
taking-off
(20) murder
sightless
couriers (23) invisible winds
ornament of
life (42) the crown
adage (44)
proverb
fitness (53)
appropriateness
sticking-place
(61) its limit
wassail (65)
entertainment
receipt . . .
limbeck (68)container for an alchemist's solution; here, Macbeth's plan
mettle (74)
courage
corporal
agent (81) physical part of myself
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