The Shakespeare Book

THE KING’S MAN 273

of hurt minds, great nature’s
second course, / Chief nourisher
in life’s feast” (2.2.33–38).

Infected minds
The desire to unburden one’s self
of problems by telling others is all
too human. Shakespeare skillfully
depicts the breakdown of a
marriage under stress, which
leaves Lady Macbeth vulnerable
psychologically. Lacking her
husband’s attention, she ruinously
divests herself of her troubles
while speaking in her sleep:
“Out, damned spot; out, I say.
One, two,—why, then ’tis time to
do’t. Hell is murky. Fie, my lord,
fie, a soldier and afeard? What need
we fear who knows it when none
can call our power to account? Yet
who would have thought the old
man to have had so much blood
in him?” (5.1.33–38).
As the Doctor diagnoses,
“infected minds / To their deaf
pillows will discharge their secrets”
(5.1.69–70). Lady Macbeth’s

disclosure puts her own life and

her husband’s at risk. Shakespeare

draws a stark contrast between his

initial portrait of Lady Macbeth and

her final depiction. While she was

once strong and controlling, she

becomes a pitiful shadow of her

former self. Her deadly secret has

drained the life from her, and she

is left to obsess about death. Her

own will follow soon enough.

Is this a dagger which

I see before me,

The handle toward my hand?

Come, let me clutch thee.

Macbeth

Act 2, Scene 1

At moments of extreme crisis or

violence, Shakespeare has Macbeth

voice some of the playwright’s most

poetic reflections upon the nature

of existence itself. The murder of

Duncan prompts thoughts on the

soothing qualities of sleep, while

Lady Macbeth’s death encourages

a meditation upon the transitory

nature of life: “Out, out, brief

candle. / Life’s but a walking

shadow, a poor player / That struts

and frets his hour upon the stage, /

And then is heard no more. It is a

tale / Told by an idiot, full of sound

and fury, / Signifying nothing”

(5.5.22–27).

Banquo’s ghost

Having killed the king, Macbeth

faces a future of “restless ecstasy”

(3.2.24). His mind is “full of

scorpions” (3.2.37) and his every

thought is about the fact that he

has “scorched the snake, not killed

it” (3.2.15). While Banquo lives,

Macbeth fears exposure. He is also

angered by the witches’ prophecy ❯❯

King Duncan

and his guards

are stabbed.

Macbeth

is beheaded.

Lady Macbeth

mysteriously dies,

wracked with guilt.

Banquo is

stabbed.

The Macduff

family is

stabbed.

DEATH TOLL