The Shakespeare Book

270

T

he Macbeths risk

everything to become king

and queen of Scotland. In

murdering King Duncan they are

committing the greatest of sins:

regicide. The couple is fully aware

that their desire for the crown is

criminal and diabolical, and yet

they resolve upon this course of

action that will bring calamity to

them both. Like Richard III, the

Macbeths discover to their despair

that gaining the throne will not

bring them contentment. Macbeth

is convinced that he will only rest

easy once he knows that he is

safely in power: “To be thus

is nothing / But to be safely thus”

(3.1.49–50). To be “safely thus”

would mean that there are no

contenders for the throne left alive.

The Macbeths find themselves

trapped in a cycle of violence,

haunted by their deed and the

“horrible imaginings” (1.3.137) that

ensue: “Blood will have blood”

(3.4.121). The killing must continue.

Macbeth is literally and

symbolically a dark play. About

two-thirds of it takes place at

night, lending the drama an eerie

intensity. Ghosts walk at night;

deadly deeds are committed

under the cover of darkness; and

nighttime brings nightmares for

those with a guilty conscience.

MACBETH

The audience’s relationship with

Macbeth also darkens scene by

scene as he falls from being a

trusted warrior to becoming

a Machiavellian murderer.

Traces of humanity are

gradually stamped out as the

drama progresses. Lady Macbeth

calls upon “spirits / That tend on

mortal thoughts” (1.5.39–40) to

“unsex” her, filling her with “direst

cruelty” (1.5.42). In order to fulfill

her murderous ambition, she must

in effect transform herself into a

merciless monster. Shakespeare

draws attention to her womanliness

in order to emphasize her fierce

rejection of her own femininity.

Fearing that her husband is “too

full o’th’ milk of human kindness”

(1.5.16), she encourages him to

harden his heart and place

ambition above consideration

for others: “I have given suck,

and know / How tender ’tis to love

the babe that milks me. / I would,

while it was smiling in my face, /

Have plucked my nipple from his

boneless gums / And dashed the

brains out, had I so sworn / As you

have done to this” (1.7.54–59).

As the couple settle upon their

homicidal plan, their dependency

upon one another strengthens, but

so, too, does their sense of

IN CONTEXT

THEMES

Ambition, kingship, fate,

the supernatural, betrayal

SETTING

Scotland and England

SOURCES

1587 Raphael Holinshed’s

Chronicles describes the reigns

of King Duncan and Macbeth

and features a woodcut

illustration of the weird sisters.

LEGACY

1664 William Davenant’s

adaptation of Macbeth

includes flying witches.

1812 Famed Welsh actress

Sarah Siddons performs Lady

Macbeth for the last time.

1847 Giuseppe Verdi’s opera

Macbeth is first performed.

1913 Arthur Bourchier directs

and stars in a German silent

film version of the play.

1957 Akira Kurosawa’s film

Throne of Blood, transposes

Macbeth to feudal Japan.

1967 The sci-fi TV series Star

Trek uses Macbeth as material

for two episodes.

1976 Ian McKellen and Judi

Dench play the Macbeths at

Stratford-upon-Avon.

2003 Vishal Bhardwaj

directs Maqbool an Indian

film adaptation of Macbeth set

in the Mumbai underworld.

2004 The film Harry Potter

and The Prisoner of Azkaban

film features a chorus of the

weird sisters’ incantation.

If it were done when ’tis done,

then ’twere well

It were done quickly.

Macbeth

Act 1, Scene 7

So foul and fair a day

I have not seen.

Macbeth

Act 1, Scene 3