Enter Macbeth’s Wife, alone, with a letter. LADY MACBETH, reading the letter They met me in the
day of success, and I have learned by the perfect’st
report they have more in them than mortal knowledge.
When I burned in desire to question them further, they
made themselves air, into which they vanished. 5
Whiles I stood rapt in the wonder of it came missives
from the King, who all-hailed me “Thane of Cawdor,”
by which title, before, these Weïrd Sisters saluted me
and referred me to the coming on of time with “Hail,
king that shalt be.” This have I thought good to deliver 10
thee, my dearest partner of greatness, that thou
might’st not lose the dues of rejoicing by being ignorant
of what greatness is promised thee. Lay it to thy
heart, and farewell.
Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be 15
What thou art promised. Yet do I fear thy nature;
It is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness
To catch the nearest way. Thou wouldst be great,
Art not without ambition, but without
The illness should attend it. What thou wouldst 20
highly,
That wouldst thou holily; wouldst not play false
And yet wouldst wrongly win. Thou ’dst have, great
Glamis,
That which cries “Thus thou must do,” if thou have 25
it,
And that which rather thou dost fear to do,
Than wishest should be undone. Hie thee hither,
That I may pour my spirits in thine ear
And chastise with the valor of my tongue 30
All that impedes thee from the golden round,
Which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem
To have thee crowned withal. Enter Messenger. What is your tidings? | Lady Macbeth receives a letter from her husband, calling her his "dearest partner of greatness," and telling her all about his encounter with the witches and what they said. Lady Macbeth quickly decides three things: her husband is going to be king; he might be a little too meek to pull it off on his own; and...she's going to spur him into action. |
MESSENGER
The King comes here tonight. 35 LADY MACBETH Thou ’rt mad to say it.
Is not thy master with him, who, were ’t so,
Would have informed for preparation? MESSENGER
So please you, it is true. Our thane is coming.
One of my fellows had the speed of him, 40
Who, almost dead for breath, had scarcely more
Than would make up his message. | A messenger enters to tell Lady Macbeth that the King, Duncan, is coming to Inverness tonight. Lady Macbeth thinks he must be wrong, because surely her husband would send word if that was the case. The messenger says that Macbeth did send word, and he'll be there shortly himself. |
LADY MACBETH Give him tending.
He brings great news. Messenger exits.
The raven himself is hoarse 45
That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan
Under my battlements. Come, you spirits
That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,
And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full
Of direst cruelty. Make thick my blood. 50
Stop up th’ access and passage to remorse,
That no compunctious visitings of nature
Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between
Th’ effect and it. Come to my woman’s breasts
And take my milk for gall, you murd’ring ministers, 55
Wherever in your sightless substances
You wait on nature’s mischief. Come, thick night,
And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell,
That my keen knife see not the wound it makes,
Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark 60
To cry “Hold, hold!” Enter Macbeth. Great Glamis, worthy Cawdor,
Greater than both by the all-hail hereafter!
Thy letters have transported me beyond
This ignorant present, and I feel now 65
The future in the instant. | While the messenger is there, Lady Macbeth says, "That's great news." When the messenger is gone, she says that the night Duncan spends at Inverness will be his last night on earth. Then she appeals to the spirits to "unsex" her, and make her more like a man so that she can carry out the evil deeds that must be done (killing the king, helping her husband kill the king, whatever) without feeling bad about it or getting cold feet. When her husband enters, she tells him how excited she is about the news he shared in his letter. She can already feel what it will be like for him to be King. |
MACBETH My dearest love,
Duncan comes here tonight. LADY MACBETH And when goes hence? MACBETH
Tomorrow, as he purposes. 70 LADY MACBETH O, never
Shall sun that morrow see!
Your face, my thane, is as a book where men
May read strange matters. To beguile the time,
Look like the time. Bear welcome in your eye, 75
Your hand, your tongue. Look like th’ innocent
flower,
But be the serpent under ’t. He that’s coming
Must be provided for; and you shall put
This night’s great business into my dispatch, 80
Which shall to all our nights and days to come
Give solely sovereign sway and masterdom. MACBETH
We will speak further. LADY MACBETH Only look up clear.
To alter favor ever is to fear. 85
Leave all the rest to me. They exit. | Macbeth tells his wife that Duncan will be staying with them tonight and leaving in the morning. Lady Macbeth says, "Oh no he won't. He's not going to see the sun rise tomorrow." She tells her husband to play innocent and leave everything to her—she'll take care of the king. Macbeth, remember, had decided to leave everything to chance, so he says, "We'll talk about this later." He's not quite as into the whole kill-the-king plan as his wife is, which is how she thought he would be ("too full of the milk of human kindness"). That's why she plans to take the reins. |