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Kevin van Baal

V.H5ENB

Profielwerkstuk

Contents PagenumberFront Page 1Contents 2Introduction 3Shakespeare - Biography 4Shakespeare – Last Will and Testament 6Hamlet - Bookreport 9MacBeth - Bookreport 19MacBeth - annotations 29MacBeth - Fair is Foul and Foul is Fair 64Logbook 66

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The main reason I chose Shakespeare is the amount of influence this man has had on the way we speak English and indirectly the way people speak in other countries as well (as many words are derived from the English language). William has shown us a new way of speaking and opens up a new way of thinking with it. Thinking out of the box is something one could easily connect with Shakespeare. As such did I. Shakespeare is in my opinion the heart of modern day English.In this project you will see two classic Shakespeare plays, MacBeth and Hamlet. I found it fulfilling to make this project and I hope those reading it will see this. Furthermore I wish you fun and success as there is enough to be read. Have fun!

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Once upon a time, April, 23, 1564 to be exact, ‘ere was a man born from a woman. A man so powerful in writing he would stop the literary world in its tracks and lift it to a whole new level. A man that could unsex the play and make kings die. A man who would change not only the life of his peers, but also the lives of us and many generations to come. This blessed man was called William Shakespeare. A name never to be forgotten, for it has brought us joy and sadness for centuries.

Shakespeare – Biography

For all his fame and celebration, William Shakespeare remains a mysterious figure with regards to personal history. There are just two primary sources for information on the Bard: his works, and various legal and church documents that have survived from Elizabethan times. Naturally, there are many gaps in this body of information, which tells us little about Shakespeare the man.

William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, allegedly on April 23, 1564. Church records from Holy Trinity Church indicate that he was baptized there on April 26, 1564. Young William was born of John Shakespeare, a glover and leather merchant, and Mary Arden, a landed local heiress. William, according to the church register, was the third of eight children in the Shakespeare household—three of whom died in childhood. John Shakespeare had a remarkable run of success as a merchant, alderman, and high bailiff of Stratford, during William's early childhood. His fortunes declined, however, in the late 1570s.

There is great conjecture about Shakespeare's childhood years, especially regarding his education. Scholars surmise that Shakespeare attended the grammar school in Stratford. While there are no records extant to prove this claim, Shakespeare's knowledge of Latin and Classical Greek would tend to support this theory. In addition, Shakespeare's first biographer, Nicholas Rowe, wrote that John Shakespeare had placed William "for some time in a free school." John Shakespeare, as a Stratford official, would have been granted a waiver of tuition for his son. As the records do not exist, we do not know how long William may have attended the school, but the literary quality of his works suggests a solid educational foundation. What is certain is that William Shakespeare never proceeded to university schooling, which has contributed to the debate about the authorship of his works.

The next documented event in Shakespeare's life is his marriage to Anne Hathaway on November 28, 1582. William was 18 at the time, and Anne was 26—and pregnant. Their first daughter, Susanna, was born on May 26, 1583. The couple later had twins, Hamnet and Judith, born February 2, 1585 and christened at Holy Trinity. Hamnet died in childhood at the age of 11, on August 11, 1596.

For the seven years following the birth of his twins, William Shakespeare disappears from all records, finally turning up again in London some time in 1592. This period, known as the "Lost Years," has sparked as much controversy about Shakespeare's life as any period. Rowe notes that young Shakespeare was quite fond of poaching, and may have had to flee Stratford after an incident with Sir Thomas Lucy, whose deer and rabbits he allegedly poached. There is also rumor of Shakespeare working as an assistant schoolmaster in Lancashire for a time, though this is circumstantial at best.

It is estimated that Shakespeare arrived in London around 1588 and began to establish himself as an actor and playwright. Evidently Shakespeare garnered some envy early on, as related by the critical attack of Robert Greene, a London playwright, in 1592: "...an upstart crow, beautified with our feathers, that with his Tiger's heart wrapped in a player's hide, supposes he is as well able to bombast out a blank verse as the best of you: and being an absolute Johannes fac totum, is in his own conceit the only Shake-scene in a country."

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Greene's bombast notwithstanding, Shakespeare must have shown considerable promise. By 1594, he was not only acting and writing for the Lord Chamberlain's Men (called the King's Men after the ascension of James I in 1603), but was a managing partner in the operation as well. With Will Kempe, a master comedian, and Richard Burbage, a leading tragic actor of the day, the Lord Chamberlain's Men became a favorite London troupe, patronized by royalty and made popular by the theatre-going public.

Shakespeare's accomplishments are apparent when studied against other playwrights of this age. His company was the most successful in London in his day. He had plays published and sold in octavo editions, or "penny-copies" to the more literate of his audiences. Never before had a playwright enjoyed sufficient acclaim to see his works published and sold as popular literature in the midst of his career. In addition, Shakespeare's ownership share in both the theatrical company and the Globe itself made him as much an entrepreneur as artist. While Shakespeare might not be accounted wealthy by London standards, his success allowed him to purchase New House and retire in comfort to Stratford in 1611.

William Shakespeare wrote his will in 1611, bequeathing his properties to his daughter Susanna (married in 1607 to Dr. John Hall). To his surviving daughter Judith, he left £300, and to his wife Anne left "my second best bed." William Shakespeare allegedly died on his birthday, April 23, 1616. This is probably more of a romantic myth than reality, but Shakespeare was interred at Holy Trinity in Stratford on April 25. In 1623, two working companions of Shakespeare from the Lord Chamberlain's Men, John Heminges and Henry Condell, printed the First Folio edition of his collected plays, of which half were previously unpublished.

William Shakespeare's legacy is a body of work that will never again be equaled in Western civilization. His words have endured for 400 years, and still reach across the centuries as powerfully as ever. Even in death, he leaves a final piece of verse as his epitaph:

Good friend, for Jesus' sake forbeareTo dig the dust enclosed here.Blessed be the man that spares these stones,And cursed be he that moves my bones.

Source:

http://www.bardweb.net/man.html

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Shakespeare’s Last Will and Testimony

After some research I found what seems to be Shakespeare’s last will and testimony. I thought it would be a much needed variation and addition to this work.

Vicesimo Quinto die Januarii Martii Anno Regni Domini nostri Jacobi nucn Regis Angliae etc decimo quarto & Scotie xlixo Annoque Domini 1616

TestamentumWillemi ShackspeareRegistretur

In the name of god Amen I William Shackspeare of Stratford upon Avon in the countrie of Warr' gent in perfect health and memorie god by praysed doe make and Ordayne this my last will and testament in manner and forme followeing that ys to saye first I Comend my Soule into the hands of god my Creator hoping and assuredlie beleeving through thonelie merittes of Jesus Christe my Saviour to be made partaker of lyfe everlastinge And my bodye to the Earthe whereof yt ys made.

Item I Gyve and bequeath unto my sonne in Law and Daughter Judyth One Hundred and fyftie pounds of lawfull English money to be paied unto her in manner and forme follewing That ys to saye One Hundred Poundes in discharge of her marriage porcion within one yeare after my deceas with consideracion after the Rate of twoe shillinges in the pound for soe long tyme as the same shalbe unpaid unto her after my deceas & the fyftie pounds Residewe therof upon her surrendering of or gyving of such sufficient securitie as the overseers of this my will shall like of to Surrender or graunte All her estate and Right that shall discend or come unto her after my deceas or that she nowe hath of in or to one Copiehold tenemente with theappertenances lyeing & being in Stratford upon Avon aforesaied in the saide countie of warr' being parcell or holden of the mannor of Rowington unto my daughter Susanna Hall and her heires for ever.

Item I gyve and bequeath unto my saied Daughter Judyth One Hundred and ffyftie Poundes more if shee or Anie issue of her bodie Lyvinge att thend of three yeares next ensueing the daie of the date of this my will during which tyme my executors to paie her consideracion from my deceas according to the Rate afore saied. And if she dye within the saied terme without issue of her bodye then my will ys and and I doe gyve and bequeath One Hundred Poundes therof to my Neece Eliabeth Hall and ffiftie Poundes to be sett fourth by my executors during the lief of my Sister Johane Harte and the use and proffitt therof cominge shalbe payed to my saied Sister Jone and after her deceas the saied L li shall Remaine Amongst the childredn of my saied Sister Equallie to be devided Amongst them. But if my saied daughter Judith be lyving att thend of the saeid three yeares or anie issue of her bodye then my will ys and soe I devise and bequeath the saied Hundred and ffyftie poundes to be sett out by my executors and overseers for the best benefit of her and her issue and the stock not to be paied unto her soe long as she shalbe marryed and Covert Baron by my executors and overseers but my will ys that she shall have the consideracion yearelie paied unto her during her lief and after her deceas the saied stock and condieracion to bee paid to her children if she have Anie and if not to her executors or Assignes she lyving the saied terme after my deceas provided that if such husbond as she shall att thend of the saied three yeares by marryed unto or attain after doe sufficiently Assure unto her and thissue of her bodie landes answereable to the portion gyven unto her and to be adjudged soe by my executors and overseers then my will ys that the saied CL li shalbe paied to such husbond as shall make such assurance to his owne use.

Item I gyve and bequeath unto my saied sister Jone XX li and all my wearing Apprell to be paied and delivered within one yeare after my deceas. And I doe will and devise unto her the house with

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thappurtenances in Stratford where in she dwelleth for her naturall lief under the yearelie Rent of xiid

Item I gyve and bequeath unto her three sonnes William Hart—Hart and Michaell Harte ffyve pounds A peece to be payed within one yeare after my decease to be sett out for her within one yeare after my deceas by my executors with thadvise and direccons of my overseers for her best proffitt untill her marriage and then the same with the increase thereof to be paied unto her.

Item I gyve and bequath unto her the said Elizabeth Hall All my Plate (except my brod silver and gilt bole) that I now have att the date of this my will.

Item I gyve and bequeath unto the Poore of Stratford aforesaied tenn poundes; to Mr Thomas Combe my Sword; to Thomas Russell Esquier ffyve poundes and to ffrauncis collins of the Borough of Warr' in the countie of Warr' gent. thriteene poundes Sixe shillinges and Eight pence to be paied within one yeare after my deceas.

Item I gyve and bequeath to mr richard Hamlett Sadler Tyler thelder XXVIs VIIId to buy him A Ringe; to William Raynoldes gent XXVIs VIIId to buy him a Ringe; to my godson William Walker XXVIs VIIId in gold and to my ffellowes John Hemynges, Richard Burbage and Heny Cundell XXVIs VIIId A peece to buy them Ringes.

Item I Gyve Will Bequeth and Devise unto my Daughter Susanna Hall for better enabling of her to performe this my will and towardes the performans thereof All that Capitall Messuage or tenemente with thappertenaces in Stratford aforesaid called the newe plase wherein I now Dwell and two messuags or tenementes with thappurtenances scituat lyeing and being in Henley Streete within the borough of Stratford aforesaied. And all my barnes, stables, Orchardes, gardens, landes, tenementes and herediaments whatsoever scituat lyeing and being or to be had receyved, perceyved or taken within the townes and Hamletts, villages, ffieldes and groundes of Stratford upon Avon, Oldstratford, Bushopton and Welcombe or in anie of them in the saied countie of warr And alsoe All that Messuage or tenemente with thappurtenances wherein one John Robinson dwelleth, scituat, lyeing and being in the blackfriers in London nere the Wardrobe and all other my landes tenementes and hereditamentes whatsoever. To Have and to hold All and singular the saied premisses with their Appurtenances unto the saied Susanna Hall for and during the terme of her naturall lief and after her deceas to the first sonne of her bodie lawfullie yssueing and to the heiries Males of the bodie of the saied Second Sonne lawfullie yssyeinge and for defalt of such heires Males of the bodie of the saied third sonne lawfullie yssye ing And for defalt of such issue the same soe to be Reamine to the ffourth sonne, ffythe, sixte and seaventh sonnes of her bodie lawfullie issueing one after Another and and to the heires Males of the bodies of the saied ffourth, ffythe, Sixte and Seaventh sonnes lawfullie yssueing in such mamer as yt ys before Lymitted to be and remaine to the first, second and third Sonns of her bodie and to their heires males. And for defalt of such issue the saied premisses to be and Remaine to my sayed Neede Hall and the heires Males of her bodie Lawfully yssueing for default of...such issue to my daughter Judith and the heires of me the saied William Sahckspere for ever.

Item I gyve unto my wief my second best bed with the furniture; Item I gyve and bequeath to my saied daughter Judith my broad silver gilt bole.

All the rest of my goodes Chattels, Leases, plate, jewles and Household stuffe whatsoever after my dettes and Legasies paied and my funerall expences discharged, I gyve devise and bequeath to my Sonne in Lawe John Hall gent and my daughter Susanna his wief whom I ordaine and make executors of this my Last will and testament. And I doe intreat and Appoint the saied Thomas Russell Esquier and ffrauncis Collins gent to be overseers herof And doe Revoke All former wills and publishe this to

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be my last will and testament. In witnes whereof I have hereunto put my Seale hand the Daie and Yeare first above Written.

Witness to the publishing hereof: Fra: Collyns, Juilyus Shawe, John Robinson, Hamnet Sadler, robert Whattcott.

By me William Shakespeare

Probatum coram Magistro Williamo Byrde legum doctore Commissario etc xxiido die mensis Junii Anno domini 1616 Juramento Jahannis Hall unius executorum etc. Cui etc de bene etc Jurati Reservata potestate etc Sussane Hall alteri executorum etc cum venerit etc petitur.

Inventarium exhibitum.

Source:

http://www.bardweb.net/will.html

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Bookreport

Name student: Kevin van BaalAuthor: William ShakespeareTitle: HamletYear: 1600-1601Novel – Story – Play

A. Motivation of the choice

I read this play, because:

It’s the kind of book I would read;the writer is known to me;I have seen it in a movie/play

B. Reading time

It took me about 18 hours to read this play.

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C. Review

1 = not in agreement with5 = completely in agreement with

1. The story is an exciting/fascinating story 5

2. The story could have been real 3

3. There is humour in it, you can laugh about it 3

4. There is a clear storyline in the story, which you can follow well 5

5. You emphasise with the feelings and problems of the characters 5

6. The end is different from which you initially thought 1

7. The story made you a little sad 4

8. There are a lot of hard words in the story 5

9. You like/are interested in the subject 5

10. The story is variably/ many different things happen 5

11. You can imagine the characters/events well 5

12. There is love involved 5

13. The story attracts me from the beginning 5

14. The story is (quite) sophisticated 5

15. The story is about issues that still occur presently 3

16. The story speaks to my imagination 5

17. You can learn something from the story/ the story makes you think 4

18. You get a clear image of the characters and main characters 5

19. In the story you have discovered something about yourself 1

20. At the end all issues are resolved 4

21. The story can be interpreted/explained in more than one way 5

22. There are many long and difficult sentences in the story 5

23. The story is an original, new, surprising story 5

24. The end of the story is not finished: you have to come up with your own ending 1

25. You have to reread certain parts of the story to understand them 5

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Your opinion on the book as a whole. I think this work as a whole is:Very good

The degree of difficulty of the used language.I thought the English was not hard, nor was it easy.

D. Motivation of your review

In part one you provided scores for 25 statements. Now choose from those statements at least three (at most 5) to explain why you have chosen for that particular score.

2. The story could have been real, but quite unlikely. This story is based on an old play. One could imagine this to be real as there are no strange occurrences.

6. The end is different of which I thought, all but this is true. The end was predictable for those who have read Shakespearian plays before. Shakespeare loves to end a play in drama, but there was the slight surprise of the queen ending up dead. Furthermore Horatio survives to tell the tale, which is strange for a Shakespearian ending. Normally or everybody dies, or the hero dies. In this case everybody, but Horatio dies.

7. The story made me a little sad. Yes, this story made me a little sad, but sad in a The Gladiator way. The hero dies in the end and of course (as mostly everybody does) I hoped he would have survived. So that made me a little sad. The ending is best described by a line in MacBeth: A Roman ending, the hero dying in the end or killing himself due to the fact they lost a battle.

14. The story was quite sophisticated. Very much so, there were loads and loads of twists, playing with words, using unknown adverbs and most of all the imagery was huge. It took me quite some time to understand some of the imagery used.

25. You had to reread some parts before understanding them. Very true, as there was a lot of imagery and lots of playing with words, I am still convinced I haven’t seen all of the play. I can keep on reading this and find new information every time I reread it. It is that kind of a story.

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E. Summary of the play

Who do you think are the main characters of the story?

Hamlet

The son of Old Hamlet and Gertrude, thus Prince of Denmark. The ghost of Old Hamlet charges him with the task of killing his uncle, Claudius, for killing him and usurping the throne of Denmark. Hamlet is a moody, theatrical, witty, brilliant young man, perpetually fascinated and tormented by doubts and introspection. It is famously difficult to pin down his true thoughts and feelings -- does he love Ophelia, and does he really intend to kill Claudius? In fact, it often seems as though Hamlet pursues lines of thought and emotion merely for their experimental value, testing this or that idea without any interest in applying his resolutions in the practical world. The variety of his moods, from manic to somber, seems to cover much of the range of human possibility.

Old Hamlet

The former King of Denmark. Old Hamlet appears as a ghost and exhorts his son to kill Claudius, whom he claims has killed him in order to secure the throne and the queen of Denmark. Hamlet fears (or at least says he fears) that the ghost is an imposter, an evil spirit sent to lure him to hell. Old Hamlet's ghost reappears in Act Three of the play when Hamlet goes too far in berating his mother. After this second appearance, we hear and see no more of him.

Claudius

Old Hamlet's brother, Hamlet's uncle, and Gertrude's newlywed husband. He murdered his brother in order to seize the throne and subsequently married Gertrude, his erstwhile sister-in-law. Claudius appears to be a rather dull man who is fond of the pleasures of the flesh, sex and drinking. Only as the play goes on do we become certain that he is indeed guilty of murder and usurpation. Claudius is the only character aside from Hamlet to have a soliloquy in the play. When he is convinced that Hamlet has found him out, Claudius eventually schemes to have his nephew-cum-son murdered.

Gertrude

Old Hamlet's widow and Claudius' wife. She seems unaware that Claudius killed her former husband. Gertrude loves Hamlet tremendously, while Hamlet has very mixed feelings about her for marrying the (in his eyes) inferior Claudius after her first husband's death. Hamlet attributes this need for a husband to her lustiness. Gertrude figures prominently in many of the major scenes in the play, including the killing of Polonius and the death of Ophelia.

Horatio

Hamlet's closest friend. They know each other from the University of Wittenberg, where they are both students. Horatio is presented as a studious, skeptical young man, perhaps more serious and less ingenious than Hamlet but more than capable of trading witticisms with his good friend. In a moving tribute just before the play-within-the-play begins, in Act Two scene two, Hamlet praises Horatio as his soul's choice and declares that he loves Horatio because he is "not passion's slave" but

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is rather good-humored and philosophical through all of life's buffets. At the end of the play, Hamlet charges Horatio with the task of explaining the pile of bodies to the confused onlookers in court.

Polonius

The father of Ophelia and Laertes and the chief adviser to the throne of Denmark. Polonius is a windy, pedantic, interfering, suspicious, silly old man, a "rash, intruding fool," in Hamlet's phrase. Polonius is forever fomenting intrigue and hiding behind tapestries to spy. He hatches the theory that Ophelia caused Hamlet to go mad by rejecting him. Polonius' demise is fitting to his flaws. Hamlet accidentally kills the old man while he eavesdrops behind an arras in Gertrude's bedroom. Polonius' death causes his daughter to go mad.

Ophelia

The daughter of Polonius and sister of Laertes. Ophelia has received several tributes of love from Hamlet but rejects him after her father orders her to do so. In general, Ophelia is controlled by the men in her life, moved around like a pawn in their scheme to discover Hamlet's distemper. Moreover, Ophelia is regularly mocked by Hamlet and lectured by her father and brother about her sexuality. She goes mad after Hamlet murders Polonius. She later drowns.

Laertes

Polonius' son and Ophelia's brother. Laertes is an impetuous young man who lives primarily in Paris, France. We see him at the beginning of the play at the celebration of Claudius and Gertrude's wedding. He then returns to Paris, only to return in Act Four with an angry entourage after his father's death at Hamlet's hands. He and Claudius conspire to kill Hamlet in the course of a duel between Laertes and the prince.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern

Friends of Hamlet's from the University of Wittenberg. Claudius invites them to court in order to spy on Hamlet. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are often treated as comic relief; they are sycophantic, vaguely absurd fellows. After Hamlet kills Polonius, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are assigned to accompany Hamlet to England. They carry a letter from Claudius asking the English king to kill Hamlet upon his arrival. Hamlet discovers this plot and alters the letter so that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are put to death instead. We learn that they have indeed been executed at the very close of the play.

Fortinbras

The Prince of Norway. In many ways his story is parallel to Hamlet's: he too has lost his father by violence (Old Hamlet killed Old Fortinbras in single combat); he too is impeded from ascending the throne by an interfering uncle. But despite their biographical similarities, Fortinbras and Hamlet are constitutional opposites. Where Hamlet is pensive and mercurial, Fortinbras is all action. He leads an army through Denmark in order to attack disputed territory in Poland. At the end of the play, and with Hamlet's dying assent, Fortinbras assumes the crown of Denmark.

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Osric

The ludicrous, flowery, stupid courtier who invites Hamlet to fence with Laertes, then serves as referee during the contest.

The gravediggers

Two "clowns" (roles played by comic actors), a principal gravedigger and his assistant. They figure only in one scene -- Act Five scene one -- yet never fail to make a big impression on readers and audience members. The primary gravedigger is a very witty man, macabre and intelligent, who is the only character in the play capable of trading barbs with Hamlet. They are the only speaking representatives of the lower classes in the play and their perspective is a remarkable contrast to that of the nobles.

The players

A group of (presumably English) actors who arrive in Denmark. Hamlet knows this company well and listens, enraptured, while the chief player recites a long speech about the death of Priam and the wrath of Hecuba. Hamlet uses the players to stage an adaptation of "The Death of Gonzago" which he calls "The Mousetrap" -- a play that reprises almost perfectly the account of Old Hamlet's death as told by the ghost -- in order to be sure of Claudius' guilt.

A Priest

Charged with performing the rites at Ophelia's funeral. Because of the doubtful circumstances of Ophelia's death, the priest refuses to do more than the bare minimum as she is interred.

Reynaldo

Polonius' servant, sent to check on Laertes in Paris. He receives absurdly detailed instructions in espionage from his master.

Bernardo

A soldier who is among the first to see the ghost of Old Hamlet.

Marcellus

A soldier who is among the first to see the ghost of Old Hamlet.

Francisco

A soldier.

Voltemand

A courtier.

Cornelius

A courtier.

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A Captain

A captain in Fortinbras' army who speaks briefly with Hamlet.

Ambassadors

Ambassadors from England who arrive at the play's close to announce that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead.

Where does this story take place?

Denmark

When does this story take place?

12th century

What happens throughout the story?

Something is amiss in Denmark -- for two successive nights, the midnight guard has witnessed the appearance of the ghost of Old Hamlet, the former King of Denmark who has recently died. The guards bring Horatio, a learned scholar and friend of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, to witness this apparition. Though skeptical at first, Horatio sees the ghost and decides to report its appearance to Hamlet.

Meanwhile, a new king of Denmark has been crowned: Claudius, Old Hamlet's brother. Claudius has taken Old Hamlet's widow, Gertrude, as his wife. We watch their marriage celebration and hear about a threat from the Prince of Norway, Fortinbras, which Claudius manages to avoid by diplomacy. Hamlet is in attendance at this wedding celebration; he is hardly in joyous spirits, however. He is disgusted by his mother's decision to marry Claudius so soon after his father's demise. Horatio tells Hamlet of the appearance of the ghost and Hamlet determines to visit the spirit himself.

Meanwhile, the court adviser, Polonius, sends his son, Laertes, back to Paris, where he is living. Laertes and Polonius both question Ophelia (sister and daughter, respectively) about her relationship with Hamlet. Ophelia admits that Hamlet has been wooing her. They tell her to avoid Hamlet and reject his amorous advances, emphasizing the importance of protecting her chastity. Ophelia agrees to cut off contact.

That night, Hamlet accompanies the watch. The ghost appears once more. Hamlet questions the ghost, who beckons Hamlet away from the others. When they are alone, the ghost reveals that Claudius murdered him in order to steal his crown and his wife. The ghost makes Hamlet promise to take revenge on Claudius. Hamlet appears to concur excitedly. He has Horatio and the guards swear not to reveal what they have seen.

Act Two finds us some indefinite time in the future. Hamlet has been behaving in a most erratic and alarming way. Claudius summons two of Hamlet's school friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, in order to discover the meaning of this strange behavior. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern's attempts to discover the reason for Hamlet's madness are met with evasion and witticism. Meanwhile, Polonius hatches a theory of his own: he thinks that Hamlet is insane due to Ophelia's rejection of his love. He

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arranges to test his theory by setting Ophelia on Hamlet when they are apparently alone and then observing the proceedings with Claudius.

Hamlet's only consolation appears to be the coming of a troupe of players from England. Hamlet asks the player's whether they could play a slightly modified version of a tragedy. We realize that Hamlet plans to put on a play that depicts the death of his father, to see whether Claudius is really guilty, and the ghost is really to be trusted.

In Act Three, Ophelia approaches Hamlet when they are apparently alone; Claudius and Polonius hide behind a tapestry and observe. Hamlet behaves extremely cruelly toward Ophelia. The king decides that Hamlet is not mad for love of her but for some other hidden reason.

Hamlet prepares to put on his play, which he calls "The Mouse Trap." After instructing the players in their parts, Hamlet retires to the audience, where Claudius, Gertrude, Ophelia, and Polonius have gathered, along with many others. In the course of the play, both Gertrude and Claudius become extremely upset, though for different reasons. Gertrude is flustered by Hamlet's veiled accusation that she was inconstant and hypocritical for remarrying after Old Hamlet's death; Claudius is shaken because he is indeed guilty of his brother's murder. Claudius decides that he must get rid of Hamlet by sending him to England.

Following the play, Gertrude calls Hamlet to her room, intending to berate him for his horrible insinuations. Hamlet turns the tables on her, accusing her of a most grotesque lust and claiming that she has insulted her father and herself by stooping to marry Claudius. In the course of their interview, Polonius hides behind a tapestry; at one point, he thinks that Hamlet is going to attack Gertrude and cries for help. Hamlet stabs Polonius through the tapestry, thinking he has killed Claudius. When he finds that he has merely killed a "rash, intruding fool," Hamlet returns to the business of "speaking daggers" to his mother. Just as Gertrude appears convinced by Hamlet's excoriation, the ghost of Old Hamlet reappears and tells Hamlet not to behave so cruelly to his mother, and to remember to carry out revenge on Claudius. Gertrude perceives her son discoursing with nothing but air and is completely convinced of his madness. Hamlet exits her room, dragging the body of Polonius behind him.

After much questioning, Claudius convinces Hamlet to reveal the hiding place of Polonius' body. He then makes arrangements for Hamlet to go to England immediately, accompanied by Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Claudius writes a letter to the English court asking them to kill Hamlet immediately upon his arrival and places the letter with his two cronies. On their way to the ship, Hamlet and his entourage pass Fortinbras' Norwegian army en route to a Polish campaign.

Back at Elsinore (the Danish palace), Ophelia has gone mad following her father's death. She sings childish and bawdy songs and speaks nonsensically. Laertes soon returns to Denmark with a mob in tow, demanding an explanation of Polonius' death. Claudius gingerly calms the young man and convinces him that Hamlet was the guilty party.

Letters arrive attesting to a strange turn of fortunes on the sea. Hamlet's ship to England was attacked by pirates, who captured Hamlet and arranged to return him to Denmark for a ransom. Hamlet sends Claudius an aggravating letter announcing his imminent return. Claudius and Laertes decide that Hamlet must be killed. They decide to arrange a duel between Laertes and Hamlet in which Laertes' sword is secretly poisoned so as to guarantee Hamlet's immediate death. As backup, Claudius decides to poison a cup of wine and offer it to Hamlet during the contest.

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Just as Act Four comes to a close, more tragic news arrives. Gertrude says that Ophelia has drowned while playing in a willow tree by the river.

Act Five begins at a graveyard. Two gravediggers joke about their morbid occupation. Hamlet and Horatio arrive and converse with them. Soon, Ophelia's funeral begins. Because there are doubts about whether Ophelia died accidentally or committed suicide, her funeral lacks many of the customary religious rites. Laertes bombastically dramatizes his grief, prompting Hamlet to reveal himself and declare his equal grief at the loss of his erstwhile beloved. After a short tussle, Hamlet and Laertes part.

Later, Hamlet explains to Horatio that he discovered Claudius' plot to have him killed in England and forged a new letter arranging for the deaths of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. While they are conversing, Osric, a ridiculous courtier, approaches and proposes the duel between Laertes and Hamlet. Hamlet eventually accepts this challenge.

The duel begins with Osric as referee. Hamlet wins the first two passes, prompting Claudius to resort to the poisoned drink. Hamlet refuses the drink. In his stead, Gertrude drinks a toast to her son from the poisoned cup. After a third pass also goes to Hamlet, Laertes sneak-attacks the prince and wounds him. A scuffle ensues in which Hamlet ends up with Laertes' sword. He injures Laertes. Just then Gertrude collapses. She declares that she has been poisoned. Laertes, also dying, confesses the whole plot to Hamlet, who finally attacks Claudius, stabbing him with the poisoned sword and then forcing the poisoned drink down his throat. Hamlet too is dying. He asks Horatio to explain the carnage to all onlookers and tell his story. Hamlet dies.

Just then, Fortinbras arrives at the court, accompanying some English ambassadors who bring word of the death of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. With all the immediate royalty of Denmark dead, Fortinbras asserts his right to the crown. He arranges for Hamlet to receive a soldier's burial.

F. Time in the play

In what amount of time does the play take place?

Unknown

Is the story told in a chronological order?

Yes

Are there any flashbacks/flashforwards? Give examples.

Yes, Hamlet gets visitations from ghosts/apparitions and throughout the story he refers to them. They are the mainframe for this play.

Does the play have clear delays? If so, where exactly.

No, but it does have clear skips in time. The rest of the story is told at the same pace.Though Hamlet does have solitary moments in which he thinks to himself. But this is not significant enough to be called a delay.

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H. Historical or literary era

Is the era in which the play was written of influence to the story? If so what was characteristic for this time and how can one find this back in the story?

Very much so, this was written in Elizabethan time. Shakespeare’s use of words are very characteristic for Elizabethan times. Also the “godly” part in the play comes forth very clearly. In those times . Furthermore his play on words and the creation of words points out the era this play was written in. In Elizabethan times English spelling wasn’t absolute, therefore there was a certain freedom of the creation of new/adjusted words.

I. Depth analysis

Give an explanation for the title.

Hamlet is the name of the most important character. The story depicts his life, his perils and grievances.

Which person did you find the most/least sympathetic and why?

Hamlet, as he has to protect himself and the greater good (as is usual for Shakespearian plays) from an evil so horrible it might destroy a whole country (Denmark). The King of Denmark is a corrupt and generally evil man, that thinks of nothing or no one but himself. As is customary for the Shakespearian plays it should end in tragedy (the hero mustn’t survive), but the greater good will benefit overall. Hamlet gave his life to Denmark in service of the greater good, but one might doubt whether it was all for the greater good, but instead it was to avenge his father.

What was the most important subject/theme of this play?

Murder and betrayal.

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Bookreport

Name student: Kevin van BaalAuthor: William ShakespeareTitle: MacbethYear: Between 1603 and 1607Novel – Story – Play

A. Motivation of the choice

I read this play, because:

It’s the kind of book I would read;the writer is known to me;I have seen it in a movie/play

B. Reading time

It took me about 16 hours to read this play.

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C. Review

1 = not in agreement with5 = completely in agreement with

26. The story is an exciting/fascinating story 5

27. The story could have been real 5

28. There is humour in it, you can laugh about it 3

29. There is a clear storyline in the story, which you can follow well 4

30. You emphasise with the feelings and problems of the characters 4

31. The end is different from which you initially thought 2

32. The story made you a little sad 3

33. There are a lot of hard words in the story 5

34. You like/are interested in the subject 5

35. The story is variably/ many different things happen 5

36. You can imagine the characters/events well 5

37. There is love involved 5

38. The story attracts me from the beginning 5

39. The story is (quite) sophisticated 5

40. The story is about issues that still occur presently 4

41. The story speaks to my imagination 5

42. You can learn something from the story/ the story makes you think 5

43. You get a clear image of the characters and main characters 5

44. In the story you have discovered something about yourself 1

45. At the end all issues are resolved 4

46. The story can be interpreted/explained in more than one way 5

47. There are many long and difficult sentences in the story 5

48. The story is an original, new, surprising story 5

49. The end of the story is not finished: you have to come up with your own ending 1

50. You have to reread certain parts of the story to understand them 5

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Your opinion on the book as a whole. I think this work as a whole is:Very good

The degree of difficulty of the used language.I thought the English was not hard, nor was it easy.

D. Motivation of your review

In part one you provided scores for 25 statements. Now choose from those statements at least three (at most 5) to explain why you have chosen for that particular score.

2. The story could have been real. This story is based on a true fact, but of course dramatized. It is partly based on the true historical fact of King Macbeth of Scotland, whom came on the throne by killing King Duncan I of Scotland in 1040 at Elgin, Scotland.

6. The end is different of which I thought. Initially I would have given this a 5 as I first thought Macbeth was good, but in the end you see the process of him turning evil and getting killed, which happened to most of the characters gone evil or those who were already evil. This made the end very predictable.

7. The story made me a little sad. Yes and no. As I said before Macbeth turns evil, I had hoped for a less tragic end for him as his intentions were initially good. Too bad he had to turn evil and had to be killed. Which was kind of sad I guess.

14. The story was quite sophisticated. Very much so, there were loads and loads of twists, playing with words, using unknown adverbs and most of all the imagery was huge. It took me quite some time to understand some of the imagery used.

25. You had to reread some parts before understanding them. Very true, as there was a lot of imagery and lots of playing with words, I am still convinced I haven’t seen all of the play. I can keep on reading this and find new information every time I reread it. It is that kind of a story.

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E. Summary of the play

Who do you think are the main characters of the story?

DUNCAN, King of Scotland

Duncan is a good king who his people like. By no fault of his own he is unable to discern those who threaten his reign.

MACBETH, Thane of Glamis and Cawdor, a general in the King's army and LADY MACBETH, his wife

Macbeth is a basically good man who is troubled by his conscience and loyalty though at the same time ambitious and murderous. He is led to evil initially by the witches' predictions and then by his wife's goading, which he succumbs to because he loves her so. His obsession over the kingship shows a certain kind of egotism.Lady Macbeth is a good wife who loves her husband. She is also ambitious but lacks the morals of her husband. To achieve her ambition, she rids of herself of any kindness that might stand in the way. However, she runs out of energy to supress her conscience and kills herself.

BANQUO, Thane of Lochaber, a general in the King's army

Banquo serves as a foil to Macbeth, showing an alternate react to prophecy. Banquo retains his morals and allegiances, but ends up dying. He is brave and ambitious, but this is tempered by intelligence.

MACDUFF, Thane of Fife, a nobleman of Scotland

Macduff shows early on a distrust of Macbeth. He also represents fate as when knocking on the door. He thinks he can avoid having his family looking guilty and getting killed by fleeing, but he overestimates Macbeth. Macduff then plays the avenger.

MALCOLM, elder son of Duncan

Malcolm, as a good king, is everything that Macbeth is not. He uses deception only to insure his personal safety.

HECATE, Queen of the Witches

Hecate is sometimes referred to as the queen of the witches. It is she who directs supernatural happenings and appearances of the mystical apparitions.

The Three Witches

The three witches add an element of supernatural and prophecy to the play. They each have a familiar, such as Graymalkin and Paddock, and are commanded by Hecate, a Greek goddess of the moon and later witchcraft. The witches are based on a variety of ideas about witches at the time. They can use sieves as boats, and they can assume the shape of an animal, but with a defect, as with the tailless rat. The witches were also thought to be able to control the winds. They are described as having beards but looking human.

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Where does this story take place?

Scotland

When does this story take place?

1030-1057 (1030 is a rough estimate as how long it took Macbeth to stray from the path and assassinate Duncan)

What happens throughout the story?

Act I.

Also known as "The Scottish play", Shakespeare's dark, grim tragedy begins with Three Witches in Scotland deciding to meet again after a battle being fought nearby. Thunder, storms and the desolate heath paint a gloomy picture, setting the tone of this play and defining an imagery of nature at war with itself, a recurring theme in this play...

Macbeth is introduced as the brave man who led King Duncan's forces to victory against the traitorous Thane of Cawdor, Macdonwald and The King of Norway, in a battle that could have gone either way were it not for Macbeth's leadership. We learn that Macbeth killed Macdonwald himself in battle. King Duncan, overjoyed, decides to make Macbeth his new Thane of Cawdor. The previous Thane of Cawdor will be executed.

The Three Witches establish their malicious nature before meeting Macbeth and Banquo. The Three Witches tell Macbeth that he will be "Thane of Glamis!", "Thane of Cawdor!" and "king hereafter" or become the King of Scotland.

Banquo learns that his descendants shall be kings. Banquo is suspicious of the Three Witches, remembering that they often trick men. Macbeth initially agrees but when Ross and Angus tell him he has been made the new Thane of Cawdor, Macbeth in a very important aside (soliloquy), remarks, "Glamis, and Thane of Cawdor: “The greatest is behind."

Macbeth now first questions Banquo on his feelings about his descendants becoming kings and then starts thinking of killing King Duncan to make this prophecy a fact, but later hopes fate alone will spare him the need to kill...

Macbeth meets King Duncan, thanking him for his new title. The also loyal Banquo receives nothing. King Duncan remarks how he completely trusted the previous Thane of Cawdor.

King Duncan announces that his son, Malcolm will be the new Prince of Cumberland. Macbeth sees Malcolm as a threat to what he now takes seriously as his destiny to be king, a major turning point in Macbeth's changing morality. Macbeth makes this clear by famously asking in an aside (private speech) for the stars to hide their fires least they reveal his dark and deadly purpose or intention to kill King Duncan.

Lady Macbeth learns by letter from Macbeth of the Three Witches' prophecies for her husband, eagerly embracing them as fact. Fearing Macbeth is too compassionate and weak-willed to do what needs to be done (killing King Duncan), she famously asks the gods to remove from her all signs of compassion and femininity, replacing these with cold remorseless ruthlessness.

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Learning from a messenger that King Duncan will stay at their castle, Lady Macbeth enthusiastically greets this news, suggesting that she already has plans to kill King Duncan. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth decide to speak again on the issue of the prophecies, Macbeth still uncertain of the need to kill King Duncan.

At Macbeth's castle King Duncan arrives whilst Lady Macbeth plays the most perfect of hostesses. King Duncan asks for the Thane of Cawdor (Macbeth) who is not yet present.

A guilt-ridden Macbeth wrestles with his conscience, certain that he should not kill King Duncan yet guiltily having to remind himself of all the reasons why it would be wrong. Macbeth decides against murdering his King but Lady Macbeth belittles him for not being able to murder, threatening to take away her love for him if he does not. This threat wins Macbeth over and Lady Macbeth outlines her plan to kill King Duncan in his sleep while he is a guest at their castle.

Act II.

Banquo and son Fleance arrive at Macbeth's castle. Banquo is troubled by the Three Witches' prophecy and tells Macbeth this. Macbeth pretends not to take the Three Witches seriously.

Learning from Banquo that King Duncan is asleep, Macbeth, alone, follows an imaginary dagger to King Duncan's bedchamber where he will kill him in his sleep... Lady Macbeth has drugged King Duncan's guards, allowing Macbeth to kill King Duncan unchallenged.

Lady Macbeth was to have killed the King but his resemblance to her late father means Macbeth does the deed instead. A bell frightens Lady Macbeth and Macbeth too is nervous, but he announces that he did indeed kill King Duncan.

Macbeth recounts that the two guards cried out "'Murder!'" and later "'God bless us!'", Lady Macbeth telling her husband not to fret over such things and the fact that is conscience prevented him from saying "'Amen,'" as one of the guards had done...

Lady Macbeth tells her husband a little water will wash away their guilt and the two retire to their bedroom when knocking is later heard...

Macduff, Lennox, the source of the knocking in the last scene, arrive at Macbeth's castle. News of King Duncan's death reaches all at Macbeth's castle. Lady Macbeth faints and Macbeth in rage kills the two drunken guards after claiming that they obviously killed their King.

These actions largely free Macbeth and Lady Macbeth from suspicion. King Duncan's sons, Malcolm and Donalbain are introduced, both men wisely deciding to flee Macbeth's castle as a precaution against their own murder. Malcolm will head for England, Donalbain for Ireland.

Ross speaks with an Old Man who describes various unnatural acts happening in Scotland, perhaps the single most significant scene for the theme of nature at war with itself, which relates to the idea of a natural order being disturbed by the death of a king, a prevalent theme throughout this play.

We learn that King Duncan's two sons have fled, leaving Macbeth to be crowned the new King of Scotland. Macduff, who later becomes instrumental in Macbeth's downfall, has significantly snubbed

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Macbeth's coronation at Scone to go to Fife instead. A tone of increasing despair for Scotland begins in this scene...

Act III.

Banquo is fearful that the Three Witches' prophecies are becoming true, questioning whether Macbeth played most foully for it, or killed King Duncan to make prophecy, fact.

Meeting with Macbeth, Macbeth continuously asks Banquo of his travel plans and those of his son. Alone, Macbeth fears that Banquo's sons will mean his dynasty will be short-lived; only he will become King of Scotland and not his sons who will be replaced by those of Banquo's lineage.

Macbeth arranges for several Murderers to discreetly kill Banquo and Fleance to ensure his sons and not Banquo's become future kings...

Lady Macbeth and Macbeth speak in private. Macbeth is again plagued by a guilt we thought may have vanished. Lady Macbeth attempts to strengthen Macbeth's resolve.

The Murderers kill Banquo but his son Fleance escapes and survives.

The Three Witches' prophecy of Banquo's sons becoming kings has not been thwarted by Macbeth...

Macbeth and a lady are entertaining at their castle. The First Murderer arrives, announcing that Banquo is dead but Fleance has lived. Macbeth immediately realizes the consequences of this (his descendants may not become kings).

Macbeth famously sees Banquo's Ghost at his party, causing Lady Macbeth to finish their party early to prevent further suspicions about Macbeth's sanity and about their role in recent events (King Duncan's death whilst a guest at their castle). Macbeth makes his famous speech about being too covered in blood to stop killing...

Hecate, clearly in a position of command over the Three Witches, scolds her subordinates for helping an unappreciative Macbeth.

Hecate instructs the Three Witches to make preparations for her plan to use illusion and the Three Witches' prophecies against Macbeth. The Three Witches, eager to placate (please) their master, eagerly make preparations, doing as they are told...

We see Lennox and a Lord discuss affairs in their kingdom. We learn from their conversation that an army is being formed in England to fight Macbeth.

Act IV.

A major turning point in the play. Just as the Three Witches prophesied Macbeth's ascendancy to become King in Act I, Scene III, here they prophesies his downfall with the Three Apparitions (visions / ghosts). The first Apparition tells an eager Macbeth that he should fear Macduff, saying "beware Macduff; / Beware the Thane of Fife." The Second Apparition reassures Macbeth that "none of women born shall harm Macbeth" and the Third Apparition tells Macbeth he has nothing to fear until "Great Birnam wood" moves to "high Dunsinane hill" near his castle.

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Macbeth decides to kill Macduff to protect himself from him and takes the Apparition's words to mean he is safe from all men since they are all born naturally and that only the moving of a nearby forest to his castle, an unlikely event will spell his doom.

Next Macbeth demands to know about Banquo's descendants , learning to his anger that they will still rule Scotland rather than Macbeth's descendants. Macbeth learns that he cannot kill Macduff so instead has his entire family murdered...

Lady Macduff is greeted by Ross, Lady Macduff expressing her anger at being abandoned by Macduff for little reason when in her eyes, Macduff has done nothing requiring him to flee.

Ross leaves and after Lady Macduff tells her son that his father is dead and was a traitor, a Messenger warns Lady Macduff to flee but Macbeth's Murderers succeed in killing Lady Macduff's son. The scene ends with Lady Macduff fleeing for her life...

Malcolm and Macduff discuss how Scotland under Macbeth's rule has been plunged into despair. Malcolm tests Macduff's integrity by describing himself as unfit to rule.

After Malcolm disgusts Macduff with increasingly sordid descriptions of his lust and greed, Macduff tells Malcolm that like Macbeth, he too is not fit to rule Scotland. This delights Malcolm who explains that he was lying; he described himself so negatively to test Macduff's integrity. We learn that a large army is gathering to defeat Macbeth.

Act V.

Lady Macbeth's insanity becomes clear... First her Doctor and a Gentlewoman discuss Lady Macbeth's sleepwalking and talking to herself and then we, the audience see this for ourselves.

Lady Macbeth makes her famous speech that she cannot wipe away the blood on her hands (or her guilt), indicating that her battle to suppress her guilty conscience has failed completely...

Macbeth's enemies gather near his castle at Dunsinane as Macbeth strongly fortifies his castle. We learn that Macbeth's hold on Scotland is less than absolute...

Macbeth prepares to defiantly fight his enemies armed with the prophecy that he will only be defeated when the nearby Birnam Wood moves on his castle. Macbeth now learns of the ten thousand strong army against him. Seyton confirms this bad news and Macbeth donning his armor, prepares to fight his enemies recalling the Birnam Wood prophecy once more as a source of comfort...

With his troops loyally around him, Malcolm orders each man to cut down a branch from the nearby Birnam Wood as his army now camouflaged under an umbrella of Birnam Wood, head towards Macbeth's castle at Dunsinane.

Macbeth laughs off his enemies' numbers, certain of the Birnam Wood prophecy and equally certain that his fortifications should laugh off any attack.

We hear a women's cry later learning that Lady Macbeth is dead. Macbeth coldly shrugs the news that his once "dearest chuck," is dead with complete apathy. Macbeth learns that Birnam Wood or

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rather Malcolm's forces are moving on his castle. Realizing what this means, Macbeth nonetheless defiantly sets off to meet his destiny...

Malcolm's men drop their leafy camouflage and the battle begins...

Macbeth fights Siward, killing him. Macbeth is now confronted by Macduff, a man he has consciously avoided and one, he refuses to fight.

Macbeth famously exclaims that he has lived a charmed life and is unable to be killed by a man, naturally born.

Macduff now explains that he was born by Caesarian section and the two men fight, Macbeth dying and order being restored when Malcolm is hailed as the new King of Scotland...

Why do you think the story ends as it does?

The story ended with the killing of Macbeth. It was inevitable as the king could not be thrown of his throne until he was killed. Macbeth, not being the king he should have been, is therefore killed. The story starts off with Macbeth being a decent person with good ideas, but halfway the story you will experience Macbeth turning for the worst. As he believed he could not be killed by a man who was born from a woman, he thought of himself to be invincible. Macduff was born out of a cesarean and therefore not born from a woman. Macbeth had not thought of that and this would be his ultimate demise.

F. Time in the play

In what amount of time does the play take place?

About 25 years. According to Wikipedia referring to Macbeths date of death.

Is the story told in a chronological order?

Yes, it is. There is no stepping back in time (just flashbacks to the words of the witches).

Are there any flashbacks/flashforwards? Give examples.

Flashbacks: Macbeth keeps on thinking about the words the witches uttered (you will be king of Scotland and no man of a woman born will kill you).

Does the play have clear delays? If so, where exactly.

Yes, but not very clear. There are some jumps in time and some parts in which no detail is left unturned. I.e. Act 5, Scene 9: the killing of Macbeth.

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J. Historical or literary era

Is the era in which the play was written of influence to the story? If so what was characteristic for this time and how can one find this back in the story?

Very much so, this was written in Elizabethan time. There were a lot of soliloquys (monologues) during that era and Shakespeare has adapted to this. Luckily this play wasn’t completely a soliloquy as he gives the other characters a voice as well. Furthermore is his use of words very characteristic for Elizabethan times.

K. Depth analysis

Give an explanation for the title.

Macbeth is the name of the most important character. The story depicts his life, his perils and grievances.

Which person did you find the most/least sympathetic and why?

This would be on and the same person, Macbeth.At first he is a decent person, with dreams and nothing more than goodness for his king and country. This is where he is the most sympathetic as he was willing to give his life for his king and country.But after some time you find out he isn’t who you think it is. He is a ruthless and twisted murderer. He loses his mind in the end as he believes he is invincible (again referring to the witches prophecies). Him turning bad feels like betrayal, which in my book is one of the worst things someone can do.

What was the most important subject/theme of this play?

Murder and betrayal.

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Mac Beth

Lines in the text which I found Important enough to point out, it also gives you somewhat of an idea of what Shakespeare’s style of writing was and how different it is from now. Keep in mind that many new words were “created” by Shakespeare himself. This was the start of the new literary era known as the Shakespearian era.

Act 1, Scene 1

2 — In thunder, lightning, or in rain?: It was thought that witches could create their own weather.

Act 1, Scene 2

* (stage direction)— Alarum within: An "alarum" is a trumpet call to arms, and "within" means "offstage." We are given the impression that the battle is still going on, very close by.

9 — choke their art: make useless their skill (in swimming)

10 — to that: to that purpose (Nature has given Macdonwald so many evil qualities that he's a natural rebel.)

13 — Of kerns and gallowglasses is supplied: is reinforced ("supplied") with lightly armed soldiers ("kerns") and axe-wielding special forces ("gallowglasses")

15 — Show'd: appeared | all's too weak: (All — Macdonwald, his reinforcements of kerns and gallowglasses, and the favor of Fortune — were too weak to defeat Macbeth.)

22 — unseam'd him from the nave to the chops: split him open from the navel to the jaws

23 — fix'd: affixed (In Shakespeare's time the heads of traitors were "fix'd" to the battlements of the London bridge. The heads were mounted on pikes, which is the same thing that happens to Macbeth's head at the end of the play.)

26 — As whence the sun 'gins his reflection / Shipwrecking storms and direful thunders break: just as storms and thunders break out from the direction of the sun as it begins to return north (This is the first part of a simile which is completed in the next two lines. The idea of the whole thing is that often just when you expect things to get better, they get worse, as when the first hints of spring bring terrible storms.)

35 — as sparrows eagles, or the hare the lion: as much as sparrows dismay eagles, or the hare dismays the lion

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39 — Except they meant to bathe in reeking wounds, / Or memorise another Golgotha, / I cannot tell—: Unless they meant to bathe themselves in the blood spraying from open wounds or make the field of battle as memorable as Golgotha ("the place of skulls," where Christ was crucified), I cannot tell (how to account for the incredible fury of their fighting)

49 — Where the Norweyan banners flout the sky / And fan our people cold: Where the Norwegian battle-flags mock the sky and blow cold fear into our people (The use of the present tense here is a little puzzling, since the rest of the speech makes it clear that the Norwegians have been utterly defeated. I suppose that these two lines make a dramatic and suspenseful opening to the account of how Macbeth turned the tide against the Norwegians.)

51 — Norway himself, with terrible numbers: The King of Norway himself, with a terrifying horde of warriors

54 — Bellona's bridegroom: i.e., Macbeth (Bellona was the Roman goddess of war. Her name is derived from bellare, "to fight." She is associated with the Greek goddess of war, Enyo, whose name translates as "horror.") | lapp'd in proof: wrapped in tested armor (The choice of words suggests that Macbeth was invulnerable.)

55 — him: (By the rules of grammar, "him" ought to refer to the King of Norway, but the word "rebellious" in the next line gives the impression that Macbeth fought the thane of Cawdor, who is the rebel.) | self-comparisons: qualities which matched his own (The point is that Macbeth's opponent had never before met anyone to equal him.)

62 — dollars: thalers (These Dutch and Spanish coins were first minted in Shakespeare's time, not Macbeth's.)

Act 1, scene 3

7 Aleppo: (A trading city 90 kilometers inland from the far eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea. The idea seems to be that it's at the other end of the world from Scotland.) the Tiger: (The name of the bark captained by the husband of the woman who refused to give the witch chestnuts.)

9 like: in the shape of a rat without a tail: (It was thought that witches could take the shape of animals, but not perfect ones, so when this witch appears as a rat, the rat will have no tail.)

11 I'll give thee a wind: (Folklore said that witches could make bad weather for their victims.)

14 I myself have all the other, / And the very ports they blow, / All the quarters that they know / I' the shipman's card: (The witch boasts that she has control of all the other winds, their locations, and all their possible directions ["quarters that they know / I' the shipman's card"]. Having this power means that she can prevent the Tiger from ever coming into port. A "shipman's card" is now known as a "compass card.")

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20 penthouse lid: eyelid (A "penthouse" is a lean-to structure. The half-shut eyelid of a weary person resembles the roof of a penthouse.)

32 weird: (Shakespeare probably picked up the phrase "weird sisters" from Holinshed, who writes, "the common opinion was, that these women were either the weird sisters, that is (as ye would say) the goddesses of destinie, or else some nymphs or feiries, indued with knowledge of prophesie by their necromanticall science." However, in the First Folio (1623), where Macbeth was first published, the word is printed as "weyward" or "weyard," as though it was thought to mean "wayward" — wrongheaded, intractable, perverse.)

34 Thus do go about, about: (Perhaps the witches do a dance, in which they take three steps one way ["thrice to thine"], then another way ["thrice to mine"].)

38 So foul and fair a day: (Evidently, it's a "foul" day because of the foul weather indicated by the thunder with which the scene opens. It could be a "fair" day either because the sun sometimes appears or because Macbeth and Banquo have just won a great victory.)

45 you should be women:

i.e., "you look like women"

51 start: move suddenly and involuntarily; show signs of being startled

55 present grace: current honor [as Thane of Glamis]

56 noble having: acquisition of [another] honor [as Thane of Cawdor] royal hope: hope of being "king hereafter"

57 That he seems rapt withal: so that he seems carried away by it

60 neither beg nor fear / Your favours nor your hate: neither beg your favors nor fear your hate

70 Stay: stay here (It appears that the witches are already starting to vanish.)

71 Sinel: (Macbeth's father.)

76 Say from whence / You owe this strange intelligence: say where you got this unnatural information

84 eaten on the insane root: eaten of the root which causes insanity (It's not known what root is meant.)

91 Thy personal venture in the rebels' fight: your risk of harm in the fight against the rebels

92 His wonders and his praises do contend / Which should be thine or his: His [King Duncan's] amazement [at what you have accomplished] and his praises [of you] compete over which one of them should be foremost (In other words, Macbeth has so impressed King Duncan that the his words can hardly catch up with his thoughts.)

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93 Silenced with that: At a loss for words because of that [his amazement at and praise for Macbeth]

97 Strange images of death: astounding, unprecedented forms of death (It seems that Macbeth has found new ways to kill many enemies.) As thick as tale / Came post with post: as fast as could be counted came one messenger after another

102 Only to herald thee into his sight, / Not pay thee: only to call you—with great honor—into his sight, not to reward you [for all you have done]

107 it: the title of "Thane of Cawdor" What, can the devil speak true?: It's unlikely that Banquo lets Ross and Angus hear this. Maybe he says it to Macbeth, maybe only to himself.

111 was combined / With those of Norway: fought alongside the Norwegians

112 line the rebel: assist the rebel [Macdonwald]

114 labor'd in his country's wrack: attempted to accomplish the wreck of his country

115 treasons capital: acts of treason deserving of the death penalty

120 [Aside.]: (Editors usually put "Aside to Macbeth" here, but it seems to me that Banquo wouldn't voice his suspicions about Macbeth to Macbeth anymore than he would tell them to Ross and Angus. And Macbeth doesn't respond in any way to what Banquo says here. — Note: All stage directions in square brackets are supplied by editors.) trusted home: trusted completely

121 enkindle you unto: fire you up to pursue

125 Win us with honest trifles, to betray's / In deepest consequence: win us over with unimportant truths, in order to betray us in the most serious matters that follow

127 Cousins, a word, I pray you: colleagues, a word with you, please (Banquo goes from Macbeth's side to Ross and Angus.)

135 unfix my hair: make my hair stand on end

139 My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical: My thought, in which murder is currently only imagined

140 single state of man: weak human condition function / Is smother'd in surmise: the normal power of action is smothered in thoughts of imagined action

141 nothing is / But what is not: i.e., only the imaginary is real to me

145 Like our strange garments, cleave not to their mould / But with the aid of use: like any new clothes, don't fit the body correctly without being worn for a while

32

33

147 Come what come may, / Time and the hour runs through the roughest day:

I'm not sure what Macbeth means here. He has just said that "chance" may crown him without him doing anything, so he may mean "Whatever happens, time always goes forward, so I'll just wait and see how things turn out." However, the word "hour" suggests "opportunity" or "decisive moment," as in "now is the hour for action," so maybe he's also thinking that "Whatever happens, there will always be another time to make a decision and take action."

152 Are register'd where every day I turn / The leaf to read them: i.e., are recorded in the book of my memory, and I will remember them every day

155 speak / Our free hearts: speak freely

Act 1, Scene 4

2 Those in commission: those delegated [to execute Cawdor]

19 proportion both of thanks and payment: balance of gratitude and reward (King Duncan is saying that he wishes that Macbeth had deserved less, so that his thanks and his rewards would equal [or maybe outweigh] what Macbeth deserves. Of course, he doesn't actually mean that he wishes that Macbeth had deserved less; this is just his way of saying that nothing he can say or do will match what Macbeth has done in battle.)

22 The service and the loyalty I owe, / In doing it, pays itself: doing my duty to you is its own reward

37 establish our estate upon: settle the succession to the throne upon

39 The Prince of Cumberland: (The title of the Scottish heir apparent.)

42 Inverness: (The location of Macbeth's castle, Dunsinane.

44 The rest is labour, which is not used for you: Any leisure not used for your service is wearisome

48 The Prince of Cumberland!: (Macbeth is dismayed that King Duncan has named Malcolm as heir apparent. In Scotland the eldest son was not automatically heir apparent; other persons of royal lineage (such as Macbeth, who is King Duncan's first cousin) could hope to come to throne. In the previous scene Macbeth told himself that "chance may crown me, / Without my stir." That could have happened if King Duncan had died without designated a heir; the other thanes could have elected Macbeth to the kingship. Now Macbeth's path to the throne is more difficult. However, Macbeth never does make a plan to get Malcolm out of the way. After King Duncan is murdered, Malcolm flees because he thinks he may be next to be killed, and afterwards Macbeth promotes the idea that Malcolm plotted his own father's death, then ran away, which showed his guilt.)

52 Let . . . / The eye wink at the hand: let the eye not see what the hand does

34

53 yet let that be: yet let that (the murder of King Duncan) be accomplished

54 True, worthy Banquo; he is full so valiant: (As Macbeth has been thinking hard about killing King Duncan, the king and Banquo have been talking about what a wonderful person Macbeth is. Banquo has just praised Macbeth as being very valiant, and we hear the conversation as King Duncan is agreeing with Banquo.)

Act 1, Scene 5

2 perfect'st report: most accurate report (But where did Macbeth get this "report"? There is no scene in which Macbeth is told that the Witches provide reliable information.)

8 referred me to: directed me to for aid (As in "she referred her most promising student to the scholarship office.")

16 fear thy nature: am worried about your nature (She's not afraid of him; she's afraid he's too soft).

20 the illness should attend it: the evil which should aid and accompany it

28 round: crown

33 inform'd for preparation: i.e., sent word ahead so that everything could be prepared for the arrival of the king

35 One of my fellows had the speed of him, / Who, almost dead for breath, had scarcely more / Than would make up his message: i.e., one of my fellow-servants outdistanced Macbeth, (but, by the time the servant got here,) he was so out of breath that he was almost dead and could barely breathe out his message

38 The raven himself is hoarse / That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan: (The raven was considered to be a bird of ill omen. Lady Macbeth's idea is that everything points so strongly to King Duncan's death that it's as if his arrival were being announced by a raven, hoarse with croaking "die! die! die!")

45 compunctious visitings of nature: guilty feelings, doubts, or hesitations that might naturally arise

46 fell: cruel keep peace between / The effect and it: intervene between the putting into effect [of my "fell purpose"] and it [the "fell purpose"]

48 take my milk for gall: replace my milk with gall (According to the Oxford English Dictionary, gall "from the earliest period [has been] often used . . . as the type of an intensely bitter substance.") murd'ring ministers / Wherever in your sightless substances / You wait on nature's mischief: agents of murder, wherever—with your invisible bodies—you wait to aid and abet the perversion of natural feeling

56 letters: (The word can mean one letter; in this case, the letter which Lady Macbeth read at the beginning of the scene.)

35

63 To beguile the time, / Look like the time: i.e., to deceive everyone, look and act like everyone else does

71 look up clear: keep your chin up and look serene

Act 1, Scene 6

*[stage direction] Hoboys and torches: ("Hoboys" are oboes. The "torches" indicate that we are supposed to imagine that it is dark. I'm not sure how the mournful-sounding oboes are appropriate to the occasion.)

4 temple-haunting martlet: (The martlet, now commonly called the "martin," belongs to the swallow family. It builds its nests in high places, such as the sides of cliffs. Thus Banquo calls it "temple-haunting," not because it "haunts" in the way a ghost does, but because it is most commonly seen in the vicinity of churches or cathedrals, which were in Shakespeare's time the tallest buildings in any community.)

5 mansionry: metaphorically, nest-building (The word suggests spaciousness and comfort.)

6 jutty: any projection from a wall

7 coign of vantage: convenient corner [for building a nest]

11 The love that follows us sometime is our trouble, / Which still we thank as love: i.e., Sometimes I am troubled by the trouble to which others go to do things for me out of love, but I still thank them for their love.

12 Herein I teach you / How you shall bid God 'ield us for your pains, / And thank us for your trouble: i.e., By saying this [the previous sentence] I show you how you should ask God to reward me for the pains you take on my behalf, and how you should thank me for your trouble. (King Duncan is being humorously gracious.)

18 for those of old, / And the late dignities heap'd up to them, / We rest your hermits: for those [honors] formerly given to us, and for the recent honors piled on top of them, we will forever be those who gratefully pray for your well-being

21

had a purpose / To be his purveyor: intended to be the one who prepared a welcome for him (A "purveyor" is a servant who goes ahead to arrange for food and lodging for an important person. Duncan, still being very gracious, says that he meant to arrange everything for Macbeth's arrival, as though Macbeth were more important than himself.)

25 Your servants ever / Have theirs, themselves and what is theirs, in compt, / To make their audit at your highness' pleasure, / Still to return your own: We [i.e., "Your servants," Macbeth and Lady Macbeth] always possess our servants, ourselves, and our possessions in trust, in order to make an accounting for everything whenever you please; [we are] always [ready to] return to you [what is really] your own.

36

Act 1, Scene 7

*[stage direction] Hoboys oboes SEWER butler divers various service knives, spoons, etc. and pass over the stage (These servants hurriedly enter at one door and exit through the other. A feast in honor of King Duncan is about to start.)

3 trammel up the consequence catch the consequences [of the assassination] in a net [so that they could never catch up with Macbeth]

catch / With his surcease success catch [and stop], at the time of the end of the assassination, whatever [dangerous] results [could arise from the assassination]

5 here / But here here [on earth], only here

6 bank and shoal of time (The first text of Macbeth reads "school" instead of "shoal"; Lewis Theobald, an 18th-century editor, made the change because he thought that Shakespeare meant that life here on earth is only a sandbar in the river of time. However, "bank" can also mean "bench," and schoolboys sat on benches, so maybe "school" is correct, and the meaning is that life here on earth is meant to teach us the way to life after death.)

7 We'ld jump I would risk

8 We still have judgment here, that we but teach / Bloody instructions, which, being taught, return / To plague the inventor we always receive punishment here [in this life], for the reason that [when we attack someone else] we only teach bloody lessons, which, being learned [by our victims], are turned against the one who initiated [the violence]

18 clear in his great office blameless in [carrying out the duties of] his great position [as king]

23 sightless couriers of the air invisible messengers of the air [i.e., the winds]

25 That tears shall drown the wind so that tears shall make the wind be still (A downpour of rain was thought to still the wind.)

27 Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself / And falls on the other (Macbeth compares his ambition to a horseman who tries to vault into the saddle, only to fall to the ground on the other side of the horse.)

28 How now? what news? what's the matter? what's going on? (One look at his wife tells Macbeth that she's not happy.)

42 the ornament of life i.e., the crown of Scotland

45 the adage ("The cat would eat fish, and would not wet her feet.")

47 is none is not a real man

37

50 to be more than what you were, you would / Be so much more the man i.e., if you would do more than just talk about killing the king, you would be more of a man

51 Nor time nor place / Did then adhere, and yet you would make both neither the time and place were then suitable [for killing the king], but you wanted to make a suitable time and place (This passage is puzzling because Lady Macbeth seems to speaking of a "then" which has not been mentioned previously in the play.)

54 Does unmake you i.e., makes you weak and indecisive

58 had I so sworn as you / Have done to this had I sworn to do that [kill her baby] as you have sworn to do this [murder King Duncan] (Again, Lady Macbeth seems to be referring to something which is not in the play; there is no previous scene in which Macbeth swears that he will murder the king. In the scene before last, in which she urged him on and told him to leave everything to her, his last words were noncommittal: "We will speak further." Or perhaps her imagination converts that cautious comment into a solemn vow.)

60 But screw your courage to the sticking-place only crank up your courage to the point at which you are ready to spring into action (The "sticking-place" is the notch that holds the string of a crossbow when it is ready to fire.)

66 receipt of reason receptacle of reason, i.e., the brain

81 mock the time deceive by acting as is appropriate to the occasion (Macbeth and his wife are planning the murder of King Duncan while a feast in Duncan's honor is going on.)

38

Act 2, Scene 1

* [stage direction]with a torch before him (Fleance has the torch "before him" because he is trying to find his way. Later we learn that "the moon is down" and the stars shed no light. Thus does Shakespeare let us know that it is a very dark night.)

5 Take thee that too (Here editors often add a stage direction, "Gives him his belt and dagger," but we really have no idea what the "that" is which Banquo tells his son to take.)

6 A heavy summons lies like lead upon me (This is a metaphor for extreme sleepiness.)

7 powers angels charged with helping people fight demons

8 Restrain in me the cursed thoughts that nature / Gives way to in repose! (At first glance, it might appear that Banquo is saying that he has been having bad dreams, but "thoughts" are not dreams, and "repose" is more than sleep. If Macbeth had said these lines, they would be easier to interpret: Macbeth has been having "cursed thoughts" of killing his king, which his human nature has given way to. But what could be Banquo's "cursed thoughts"?)

your offices service locales in Macbeth's castle (such as the kitchen, the stable, and the laundry)

16 and shut up / In measureless content and concluded by expressing his measureless content, or said he was enclosed in measureless content

17 Being unprepared, / Our will became the servant to defect; / Which else should free have wrought because we were unprepared [for King Duncan's visit], what we wanted to do [to entertain the king] had to give way to what we could do with limited resources; otherwise, our desire to serve the king would have had free rein

25 If you shall cleave to my consent, when 'tis give me your support when the time comes

26 So I lose none / In seeking to augment it under the condition that I lose no honor [personal integrity] in seeking to make my honor [recognition and rewards] greater

27 but still keep / My bosom franchised and allegiance clear, / I shall be counsell'd but always keep my heart free from guilt and my allegiance [to the king?] clear [of taint], I am willing to listen [to your proposal]

39 heat-oppressed fevered (The "heat" comes from obsessively thinking about the murder that he is about to commit.)

42 Thou marshall'st me the way that I was going / And such an instrument I was to use you guide me the way I was already going, and [you are] the same kind of weapon I had planned on using

48 It is the bloody business which informs / Thus to mine eyes it is the [thought of] the bloody actions [involved in killing the king] which creates these forms [of the dagger and of the gouts of blood] seen by my eyes

39

51 curtain'd sleep (Beds were what we call "four-posters," and had curtains to protect against drafts.)

52 Pale Hecat's off'rings rites and sacrifices dedicated to Hecate [goddess of witchcraft and the moon]

54 Whose howl's his watch whose howl is his watchword (The kind of watchword meant is a rallying cry, to call forces into action, such as "freedom!" or "St. George and England!" In the extended metaphor that Macbeth uses, the wolf stalks about, looking for victims, and howls to "withered Murder" when one is found.)

thus with his stealthy pace (The "thus" seems to indicate that Macbeth now starts towards King Duncan's door, stalking his prey like a wolf.)

55 With Tarquin's ravishing strides (Tarquin was a famous rapist of early Rome, and the primary meaning of the word "ravish" was "to seize, carry away, rape, violate.")

59 And take the present horror from the time and remove the present sense of horror from the occasion (Macbeth wants his footsteps to be unheard because silence and stealth are appropriate to murder.)

60 Whiles I threat, he lives while I make threats King Duncan still lives

40

Act 2, Scene 2

3 It was the owl that shriek'd, the fatal bellman (The screech of an owl was thought to foretell a death, and it was customary for a "bellman"—a town-crier or night watchman—to ring a bell at midnight before the cell of a person scheduled to be executed the next day.)

5 grooms servants

6 Do mock their charge with snores (The duty ["charge"] of the king's personal attendants is to stay awake and guard his door. Their snores make a mockery of their duty.)

possets bedtime drinks made with hot milk and spiced wine

7 death and nature do contend about them, / Whether they live or die nature and death are arguing about whether the servants are alive or dead (In other words, they are so sound asleep that they look dead.)

10 The attempt and not the deed / Confounds us the attempt [to murder the king] without the actual deed [of murdering the king], completely ruins us

22 address'd them / Again to sleep again settled themselves down to sleep

25 As as if

hangman's hands i.e., blood-stained (In addition to hanging people, hangmen also disemboweled traitors and cut them into quarters.)

30 These deeds must not be thought / After these ways; so, it will make us mad these deeds must not be thought about in this way; if they are, it will make us mad

34 knits up the ravell'd sleave straightens out the tangled skein

36 great nature's second course, / Chief nourisher in life's feast (In a feast the first course consisted of appetizers, and the second course was the "chief nourisher.")

37 What do you mean? why are you saying these things?

42 unbend slacken (In archery, a bent bow is ready for action.)

44 witness evidence

53 gild i.e., smear (Blood was often referred to as golden, and gold was often referred to as red.)

61 I shame / To wear a heart so white I would be ashamed to have a heart as cowardly as yours is (To Lady Macbeth, a white heart is one that is bloodless, and therefore cowardly.)

65 Your constancy / Hath left you unattended your firmness of purpose has deserted you

lest occasion call us, / And show us to be watchers in case something happens to which we would have to respond, and which would reveal that we never went to bed

41

70 To know my deed, 'twere best not know myself if I face up to what I have done, I can do it only by forgetting what I really am (Macbeth is a warrior and he has killed men in battle, but he has just become a murderer who has killed an innocent man in his sleep.)

Act 2, Scene 3

2 old turning the key plenty of occasions to turn the key [to let in sinners]

4 a farmer, that hang'd himself on th' expectation of plenty (The farmer had hoarded his crop, hoping that when a famine came, he would be able to extort high prices from desperate people.)

6 Have napkins enow about you be sure to carry plenty of handkerchiefs (The farmer, being tortured by the fires of hell, is going to have to mop the sweat off his brow.)

8 equivocator someone who makes a equivocal statement, meant to deceive the hearer (For the historical background of "equivocator" see the Macbeth Navigator page on equivocation.)

9 swear in both the scales against either scale i.e., hypocritically vow support for both sides in a controversy (The metaphor refers to the type of scales often used as a symbol of justice. Each side of the scales has a scale—a pan to hold either the weights or the material to be weighed. )

who committed treason enough for God's sake (This may be an allusion to the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. A group of Catholics, intending to return England to Catholic rule, plotted to blow up parliament as the King was addressing it. The plotters including Father Garnet, the Jesuit author of a pamphlet in defense of equivocation.)

13 an English tailor come hither, for stealing out of a French hose (Some types of French hose—we would call the garment "breeches"—were very baggy; a dishonest tailor might try to steal some of the cloth supplied to him and produce hose that was only baggy instead of extra-baggy.)

15 roast your goose (A "tailor's goose" is a type of pressing iron, and "his goose is cooked" is slang for "he's done for.")

24 the second cock i.e., three a.m.

35 equivocates him in a sleep, and, giving him the lie, leaves him deceives him in a dream and telling him that he is a liar, abandons him (Note that the "him" is still "lechery." Drink, having provoked lechery and taken away lechery's ability to perform, makes lechery dream that he can perform, but also tells him it's all a lie.)

37 I believe drink gave thee the lie last night (To "give the lie" to someone was to call that person a liar, but Macduff probably also means that drinking knocked the porter out, making him lie down to sleep, thus making it hard for him to get up and open the gate.)

42

38 i' the very throat on me in my own throat (To "give the lie in the throat" was particularly insulting; we would say "tell him he's a liar to his face.")

40 though he took up my legs sometime, yet I made a shift to cast him though he put me off balance a few times, I found a trick to throw him (The porter is using terms from the sport of wrestling. Also, he is probably joking that although drinking made him unsteady on his feet, he solved the problem by throwing up.)

59 obscure bird bird of darkness, i.e., the owl (The owl was thought to be a prophet of death and destruction.)

62 My young remembrance cannot parallel / A fellow to it my young memory cannot recall anything like it

72 Gorgon monster whose look turns the beholder into stone (The Gorgon is a figure of Greek mythology, with a hideously disfigured human face. The most well-known Gorgon is Medusa, who has snakes for hair.)

78 The great doom's image exact image of Doomsday

79 walk like sprites, / To countenance this horror walk like ghosts in keeping with the sight of this horror

86 Would murder as it fell would murder the instant it was heard

96 this vault i.e., this world (The world, with the vaulted sky as its roof, is metaphorically represented as an empty wine-vault.)

102 badged marked with large spots that look like badges

112 golden blood (Blood was often referred to as golden, and gold as red.)

116 Unmannerly breech'd with gore rudely clothed in gore (The bloody gore is imagined as a pair of sloppy breeches on the blades of the daggers.

120 argument topic, reason [for expressing horror and grief] (Malcolm asks his brother why everyone else is making more noise about King Duncan's murder than they are; he may be implying that Macbeth's speech and Lady Macbeth's fainting are suspiciously melodramatic.)

124

our strong sorrow / Upon the foot of motion our strong sorrow converted into action [to avenge our father's death]

126 when we have our naked frailties hid, / That suffer in exposure when we have clothed our weak bodies, which suffer from being exposed [to the cold] (Apparently everyone except Macduff and Lennox are wearing only nightclothes. Although people in Shakespeare's time did sleep in the nude, it seems unlikely that the actors were literally "naked.")

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130 In the great hand of God I stand; and thence / Against the undivulged pretence I fight / Of treasonous malice under the protection of God I stand, and from there I [will] fight against the secret plot of [whoever had] treasonous enmity [against the dead king]

132 So all ("All" do not say "So all" in unison; that would be silly. There's a general hubbub of agreement with Banquo's proposal to get dressed and talk the matter over. One character sums up the hubbub by saying "So all," i.e., "we all agree.")

133 Let's briefly put on manly readiness let's quickly put on manly clothes [and adopt manly attitudes, suitable for discussing this important matter]

140 the near in blood, / The nearer bloody the nearer in bloodline [anyone is to King Duncan], the nearer they are to being murdered

144 dainty of leave-taking particular about saying goodbye

Act 2, Scene 4

1 Threescore and ten I can remember well ("Threescore and ten"—70 years—is the traditional number for a life-span ended by simple old age; if this man can "remember well" seventy years, he is probably even older, since our memories don't start at the time of birth.)

4 Hath trifled former knowings has made everything I knew before seem mere trifles

5 the heavens, as troubled with man's act, / Threaten his bloody stage (The comparison between the world and the stage begins with "the heavens," which was the name of the ceiling of the roof over the stage.)

7 travelling lamp torch, i.e., the sun

12 towering in her pride of place soaring at the highest pitch of her flight

13 mousing owl an owl whose natural prey is mice (The point is that the killing of the falcon by the owl is unnatural.)

15 the minions of their race i.e., the most tame and beloved of horses (A "minion" is a highly favored, darling follower of a powerful person.)

21 Why, see you not? (The question Macduff was asked, "How goes the world, sir, now?" is like our "how are things going?" Macduff's answer means "isn't it obvious?" King Duncan has been murdered, and it's dark during the day; the world is not going well.)

22 more than bloody deed (A bloody deed is bad enough; this one was "more than bloody" because it was committed against a revered king while he was asleep.)

29 Thine own life's means i.e., what gives life to you

31 Scone (Site of the coronation of Scottish kings, near Perth.)

33 Colmekill (This is the older name for Iona, a rocky island where Scottish kings were buried.)

44

36 I'll to Fife (Macduff is Thane of Fife; he's going home.)

37 Well, may you see things well done there: adieu! / Lest our old robes sit easier than our new! ("Old robes" seems to be an allusion to the kingly robes that will be used in Macbeth's investiture as King of Scotland. Macduff's comment is ironic, or questioning; it can be paraphrased thusly: "I hope you see an effective ceremony there; otherwise, our former king [King Duncan] will turn out to be better suited for the job than the new king [Macbeth].")

Act 3, Scene 1

7 As upon thee, Macbeth, their speeches shine since for you, Macbeth, their predictions are brilliantly fulfilled

* [stage direction]

Sennet trumpet call [announcing the arrival of the king]

as King (Macbeth is wearing the crown and robes of the King of Scotland; the last time we saw the royal regalia, King Duncan was wearing them.)

14 solemn ceremonious (Macbeth is going to celebrate his own ascension to the throne.)

25 Go not my horse the better If my horse doesn't go faster [than I expect]

29 our bloody cousins i.e., Malcolm and Donalbain, sons of King Duncan

32 strange invention fantastic lies (The main "invention" that Macbeth has in mind is probably the claim that he murdered King Duncan.)

33 therewithal we shall have cause of state / Craving us jointly in addition to that [the matter of Malcolm and Donalbain] we will have questions of state which will demand the attention of both of us

41 To make society / The sweeter welcome to make the company of others [at supper] more welcome

44 Sirrah (This is a term of address for inferiors.)

47 To be thus is nothing, / But to be safely thus i.e., to be king is nothing unless I am safely king

54 under him, / My Genius is rebuked; as, it is said, / Mark Antony's was by Caesar under his influence, in his presence, my guardian spirit is daunted, as, it is said, Mark Antony's was by [Octavius] Caesar (In Antony and Cleopatra, Shakespeare has a soothsayer tell Antony that away from Octavius Caesar, "Thy daemon, that thy spirit which keeps thee, is / Noble, courageous, high unmatchable, / Where Caesar's is not; but near him thy angel / Becomes a fear, as being o'erpow'r'd." Antony has to admit that the soothsayer is right.)

67 mine eternal jewel i.e., my immortal soul

45

68 the common enemy of man the enemy of all humankind, i.e., the devil

70 Rather than so, come fate into the list, / And champion me to the utterance! rather than have that happen, may fate come into the arena and fight me to the last extremity!

79 pass'd in probation with you went over with you, giving proof

80 borne in hand led on with false promises

82 To half a soul and to a notion crazed even to a half-wit and a cracked mind

94 valued file list which designates the value of each one

98 Hath in him closed has enclosed in him

whereby he does receive / Particular addition, from the bill / That writes them all alike: and so of men by which he is given a particular name [or title] which separates him from the list which lumps them all together: and the same thing is true of men

101 Now, if you have a station in the file, / Not i' the worst rank of manhood, say 't; now, if you have a position in the list of [of men] that is not the lowest [like a cur] say so

103 I will put that business in your bosoms, / Whose execution takes your enemy off, / Grapples you to the heart and love of us I will put a enterprise in your hearts whose successful completion eliminates your enemy [i.e., Banquo], [and which] ties you firmly to my love

106 Who wear our health but sickly in his life, / Which in his death were perfect who has only a sick kind of health while he [Banquo] lives, [and who], by his [Banquo's] death would be made perfectly healthy

112 I would set my life on any chance, / To mend it, or be rid on't I would risk my life for anything which would make my life better or make it end

115 in such bloody distance, / That every minute of his being thrusts / Against my near'st of life i.e., every minute that he lives threatens my life (This passage contains a fencing metaphor. The "distance" is the gap between them maintained by the combatants in a fencing match, so a "bloody distance" is one which would allow one of the fencers to draw blood. And "thrusts / Against my near'st of life" means "strikes at my heart.")

119 And bid my will avouch it i.e., and would gladly justify it, and take credit for it

120 For certain friends that are both his and mine, / Whose loves I may not drop, but wail his fall / Who I myself struck down for the sake of certain mutual friends whose support I cannot discard, but must [pretend to] mourn the death of the man I have killed

124 Masking the business from the common eye / For sundry weighty reasons masking the murder from common knowledge for various important reasons

46

126 Though our lives— (Apparently First Murderer is about to say something like "Though our lives are at risk, we'll gladly do what you ask," but Macbeth interrupts with "Your spirits shine through you," meaning, "your readiness [for this mission] is obvious in you.")

129 Acquaint you with the perfect spy o' th' time, / The moment on't make you thoroughly familiar with the best intelligence about the time, the exact moment [the murder must be done]

131

always thought / That I require a clearness [it must] always be borne in mind that I have to have freedom from any suspicion [that I am behind these murders]

Act 3, Scene 2

9 Of sorriest fancies your companions making i.e., constantly going over your most wretched fantasies (An example of the kind of thing that Lady Macbeth refers to could be Macbeth's notion, shortly after he murders King Duncan, that if he tries to wash the blood from his hands, they will " The multitudinous seas incarnadine, / Making the green one red.")

10 Using i.e., returning again and again to

11 Things without all remedy / Should be without regard things that are beyond any possible remedy should kept beyond thought

14

whilst our poor malice / Remains in danger of her former tooth while our feeble enmity is still in danger from the same [poisonous] fang

16 let the frame of things disjoint, both the worlds suffer let the whole structure of the universe fall apart, both heaven and earth be destroyed

20 to gain our peace, have sent to peace to gain the secure satisfaction of our desires, have sent to the peace of death

25 Malice domestic i.e., treason or civil war

27 Gentle my lord, sleek o'er your rugged looks my noble lord, smooth over your rough looks

30 Let your remembrance apply to Banquo i.e., let the advice you have just given to me be applied to your treatment of Banquo

31 Present him eminence, both with eye and tongue i.e., show him special favor, with both looks and speech

32 Unsafe the while, that we / Must lave our honours in these flattering streams, / And make our faces vizards to our hearts for the time being we are unsafe, so we must wash our reputation in these streams of flattery, and make our faces masks of our hearts

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35 You must leave this i.e., you must quit talking and thinking this way (Macbeth has just said that they must be hypocritical in their treatment of Banquo. She's not opposed to hypocrisy, but his tone seems to alarm her.)

38 in them nature's copy's not eterne their lease on life is not perpetual (A "copy" is a copyhold, a lease subject to cancellation.)

41 cloister'd almost invisible (?) (A monk or nun who is cloistered stays inside the monastery or convent, out of contact with the world.)

Hecate (Hecate dwells in the underworld and is the protectoress of witches.)

42 shard-borne held aloft on shards [horny wing cases]

49 that great bond i.e., Banquo's lease on life

Act 3, Scene 3

2 He needs not our mistrust, since he delivers / Our offices and what we have to do / To the direction just we don't need to distrust him, since he states our duties and what we have to do exactly the same way as the original instructions [from Macbeth]

9 Give us a light there, ho! (Banquo is asking whoever can hear him to provide some light. The idea seems to be that at this place, where the custom is to dismount and send the horses by a longer way, it's expected that attendants will be waiting to escort guests to Macbeth's castle. But the only attendants for Banquo are the murderers.)

18 Thou mayst revenge (This is said to Fleance. Banquo means that if Fleance flees and lives, he may have a chance to revenge his father's death. I imagine that the boy is torn between staying and going, between fighting by his father's side and obeying his father's command to run away.)

O, slave (This must be an insult that Banquo throws at whichever murderer delivers his death blow. Also, it may be that there is quite a lot of sword play, which Shakespeare's audience would have enjoyed, before Banquo is killed. The bland stage directions—as you can tell by the square brackets—were written by editors, not Shakespeare.)

19 Who did strike out the light? (Third Murderer is probably unhappy because the lack of light aided Fleance's escape.)

** [stage direction] Exeunt (Banquo's body is probably dragged out; hard on the actor playing Banquo, but a fitting end to this brutal scene.)

Act 3, Scene 4

9 encounter thee respond to you (Perhaps the guests are clapping or cheering, during which time First Murderer is able to make his presence known to Macbeth.)

14 'Tis better thee without than he within it's better that it's on your outside than on his inside

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22 As broad and general as the casing air as free and unconfined as the air which envelopes [everything]

32

The feast is sold / That is not often vouch'd, while 'tis a-making, / 'Tis given with welcome a feast is only a meal that is sold, unless the host often avouches, during the feast, that all the guests are welcome

35 From thence the sauce to meat is ceremony away from home the sauce to food is ceremonies [such as welcoming guests, giving toasts, etc.]

39 Here had we now our country's honour roof'd Here we would have all the honor [i.e., all of the honorable nobles] of our country under one roof

41 Who may I rather challenge for unkindness / Than pity for mischance i.e., I hope I may chide him for neglect, rather than pity him for some mischance that has happened to him

43 Lays blame upon his promise i.e., calls into question how well he keeps his promises (Ross is reassuring Macbeth that nothing bad could have happened to Banquo.)

48 Which of you have done this? (It appears that Macbeth thinks that someone is playing a ghastly practical joke.)

62 flaws and starts i.e., panic attack (A "flaw" is a sudden gust of wind; a "start" is the kind of movement a person makes when startled.)

71 our monuments / Shall be the maws of kites our tombs will be only the guts of kites (A kite is a swallow-tailed hawk, notorious for feeding on the dead. Macbeth's point is that if the dead won't stay buried, we might as well let the kites have them.)

75 Ere humane statute purged the gentle weal before human [and humane] law cleansed the commonwealth and made it gentle

100 Hyrcan Hyrcanian (Hyrcania was region near the Caspian sea. Like the "Russian bear," the "Hyrcan tiger" is the most fearsome of its kind.)

110 overcome us like a summer's cloud come over me as suddenly and unexpectedly as a cloud in summer

111 You make me strange / Even to the disposition that I owe you make me feel like a stranger to my own character (Macbeth, assuming that his wife has seen what he has seen, feels that if she is not shaken, and he is, he is not the courageous man he always thought he was.)

118 Stand not upon the order of your going, / But go at once i.e., don't worry about who is supposed to leave first; everyone should leave right now

123

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understood relations [reports or stories with] clear implications, or intuitively perceived relationships [as between Duncan's murder in Macbeth's castle and Macbeth becoming king]

124 By maggot-pies and choughs and rooks brought forth revealed by means of magpies and jackdaws and rooks (All three birds can be taught to parrot a word or two.)

127 How say'st thou, that Macduff denies his person / At our great bidding? what do you think of the fact that Macduff refuses to come personally in response to my royal request? (In Holinshed, Shakespeare's primary source, Macduff sends a work crew to Dunsinane, to help in a construction project, but doesn't make a personal appearance, for fear of his life. See the page in Holinshed.)

129 I hear it by the way; but I will send. / There's not a one of them but in his house / I keep a servant fee'd I hear it via the grapevine, but I will make an official request. There's not a one of them [the thanes of Scotland] in whose house I don't pay a servant [to spy for me].

135 all causes every other consideration (There are plenty of "causes" why a person should not seek out witches; they can't be trusted, want to destroy your soul, are ugly, etc.)

142 Is the initiate fear that wants hard use is the beginner's fear that needs rough experience [to harden it]

143 We are yet but young in deed I am still a novice in [criminal] act

Act 3, Scene 5

[stage direction] Thunder. Enter the three Witches meeting HECATE. (Although this scene appears in the first published Macbeth, most Shakespeare scholars think it was written by someone else and inserted in the play because the audience wanted more of the witches.)

2 beldams hags (In French, "beldams" means "beautiful ladies," but in English it became ironic, and meant the opposite.)

11 wayward son unreliable disciple (Hecate is referring to Macbeth. The word "wayward" may be an alternate spelling of "wayard," which in modern texts is spelled as "weird" when it describes the "weird [or 'wayard'] sisters.")

15 pit of Acheron i.e., the bottom of hell (The Acheron is a river in hell.)

18 Your vessels and your spells provide prepare your pots [of mind-altering substances] and your magical charms

20 this night I'll spend / Unto a dismal and a fatal end I will spend this night doing something that will have a sinister and fatal outcome

26 that distill'd by magic sleights that [the "vaporous drop profound"] enhanced by magical tricks

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27 Shall raise such artificial sprites / As by the strength of their illusion / Shall draw him on to his confusion will bring up such spirits, created by magical arts, as will lure him to his destruction

*[stage direction] Sing within: "Come away, come away, etc." (It is the general opinion of scholars that this is the same song which appears in Thomas Middleton's The Witch, which was performed about 1615. Go to the text of the song.)

34 my little spirit (In the song, "Come away, come away," the spirit is "like a cat," and its name is Malkin.)

Act 3, Scene 6

1 My former speeches have but hit your thoughts, / Which can interpret further what I have just said has exactly coincided with your thoughts, which can draw more conclusions (Lennox proceeds to deliver a bitterly ironic speech which is easy to "interpret further.")

4

marry, he was dead indeed, he was dead (The ironic point here is that Macbeth pitied Duncan only after he was dead.)

21 But, peace! for from broad words and 'cause he fail'd / His presence at the tyrant's feast, I hear / Macduff lives in disgrace i.e., but we should be silent, considering what happened to Macduff, who only because he used some plain language and failed to show up at the tyrant's feast, lives—I hear—in disgrace

25 From whom . . . holds the due of birth withholds his birthright [i.e., Malcolm's claim to the throne of Scotland]

27 the most pious Edward i.e., Edward the Confessor (He reigned as King of England from 1042 to 1066, and was canonized as a saint by the Catholic church.)

28 the malevolence of fortune nothing / Takes from his high respect i.e., mere bad luck [the fact that Macbeth has deprived Malcolm of the throne of Scotland] takes away nothing from the high respect shown to Malcolm

30 to pray the holy king, upon his aid / To wake Northumberland and warlike Siward to implore the holy king, in order to aid Malcolm, to call to arms Northumberland and warlike Siward

35 Free from our feasts and banquets bloody knives free our feasts and banquets from bloody knives

36 (Macbeth has instituted a reign of fear, so every homage rendered to him is inspired by fear, and every honor that he bestows is earned by bowing down to him.)

37 this report i.e., the news that Malcolm has been welcomed in the English king's court, and may be supported by English forces

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39 Sent he to Macduff? i.e., Did he request the presence of Macduff [to assist him in his preparations for war against the Malcolm and the English]

40 and with an absolute "Sir, not I," / The cloudy messenger turns me his back i.e., and in response to Macduff's blunt "Sir, not I," the scowling messenger [from Macbeth] turns his back (The "me" in "turns me his back" adds the sense of "I can see it now," or "I know the feeling." The messenger has to go back to Macbeth with bad news, and Macbeth doesn't like bad news.)

And that well might / Advise him to a caution, to hold what distance / His wisdom can provide and that [the messenger's reaction] might well teach him [Macduff] to be cautious, to keep [the longest] distance [between himself and Macbeth] he can possibly devise

46 Fly to the court of England and unfold / His message ere he come, that fly to the English court and reveal his [Macduff's] message before he arrives, so that

48 this our suffering country / Under a hand accursed this, our country, which suffers under an accursed hand

Act 4, Scene 1

3 Harpier (Apparently the name of the familiar spirit of Third Witch. The name suggests "Harpy," which in Greek mythology is a loathsome monster with the head and chest of a woman, and the remainder of its body in the shape of a predatory bird.)

7 Days and nights has thirty-one / Swelter'd venom sleeping got has for thirty-one days and nights sweated out venom while sleeping

10 double (In Shakespeare's time, "double" also meant "deceptive.")

16

blind-worm's sting (The blindworm is a legless lizard with a black forked tongue, which was thought to contain venom, and was called its "sting.")

27 Gall gallbladder (The word also means "bile," "a bitter liquid," "spitefulness," and "impudence.")

yew a tree considered a symbol of sadness

29 Nose of Turk and Tartar's lips (Both Turks and Tartars were considered to be cruelly violent.)

** Enter HECAT . . . Exit HECATE. (The general opinion of Shakespeare scholars is that everything between Hecate's entrance and her exit was inserted after Shakespeare wrote the play. A song by the name of "Black spirits" appears in a later play, Thomas Middleton's The Witch, which was performed about 1615. Open the text of the song.)

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58 though the treasure / Of nature's germains tumble all together, / Even till destruction sicken though the most precious seeds of nature fall into utter chaos, even to the point that death and destruction get sick of their own work

grease that's sweaten / From the murderer's gibbet (The "murderer's gibbet" is the gallows where a murderer is hung. In Shakespeare's time executions were public, and the bodies were often left to hang as a warning to others. After about ten days in warm weather the liquefied fat of the corpse sweats through the skin, drips down, and forms puddles of nauseating grease.)

84 take a bond of fate get a guarantee from fate (Macbeth has been assured that he will not be harmed by "man of woman born," but he wants to lock up the deal by killing Macduff. Of course, anyone is a self-deluded fool who thinks that he can make fate guarantee anything.)

85 That so that (The "pale-hearted fear" is Macbeth's own; despite being told that "none of woman born / Shall harm Macbeth," he fears Macduff.)

97 Rebellious dead i.e., Banquo and his descendents ? (Editors often change this phrase to "Rebellious head" or "Rebellion's head," meaning "an armed force of rebellion on the march.")

99 live the lease of nature, pay his breath / To time and mortal custom i.e., live out a full life, and die only of old age, as is customary

106 Why sinks that cauldron? (Though there is no stage direction, this line indicates that the cauldron descends through a trap door.)

noise music (The word "noise" can also mean a band of musicians.)

*** Hoboys oboes

111 Come like shadows, so depart Come like shadows (spirits, ghosts), and leave the same way

*** glass mirror

112 Thou art too like the spirit of Banquo you look too much like the ghost of Banquo (Apparently this is spoken to the first king.)

116

Start, eyes! jump [out their sockets], [my] eyes! (Macbeth doesn't want to see any more.)

121 two-fold balls and treble scepters (This indicates kingship of both England and Scotland. Macbeth was performed before King James, the First of England, and the Sixth of Scotland. A "ball" is an orb, which is—according to Wikipedia—"a hollow golden sphere set with numerous precious and semi-precious stones. The Orb is surmounted by a cross, representing the rule of Jesus over the world." A scepter is a ceremonial staff. King James was crowned in Scone as King of Scotland and there received an orb

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and a scepter. He was crowned again in England, where he received an orb and two scepters.)

125 Ay, sir . . . (It is the opinion of Shakespearean scholars that lines 125-132 were inserted after Shakespeare wrote the play, in order to introduce the dance of the witches. Scholars also believe that Shakespeare didn't intend the witches to dance.)

132 Our duties did his welcome pay our ceremonies repaid the welcome he gave us (This is snide; Macbeth, rather than welcoming the witches, called them "hags" and demanded information from them.)

144 Time, thou anticipatest my dread exploits: / The flighty purpose never is o'ertook / Unless the deed go with it time, you forestall my dreadful exploits; the always-fleeing purpose is never overtaken unless the deed goes with it (In all probability, Macbeth's "purpose" had been to kill Macduff. Now he is angry with himself that he let slip his chance to do so. He reflects that we never catch up with what we intend to do unless we do it right away.)

153 That trace him in his line follow him in his family line (Macbeth plans to wipe out anyone who might have any possible claim to Fife.)

Act 4, Scene 2

3 When our actions do not, / Our fears do make us traitors [even] when our actions don't make us traitors, our fears [of being accused of being traitors] make us [appear to be] traitors

18 we are traitors / And do not know ourselves we are [accused of being] traitors and do not find anything in ourselves to justify the accusation

24 Things at the worst will cease, or else climb upward / To what they were before i.e., when you hit the bottom of the barrel there's no way but up (Ross means this bit of philosophy as a comfort to Lady Macduff, but it soon becomes clear that things are not yet "at the worst"; in a few minutes Lady Macduff and her son will be slaughtered.)

25 cousin (This is addressed to the son of Lady Macduff. It's not clear—and it doesn't matter—just how Ross is related to Lady Macduff and her son.)

28 I am so much a fool, should I stay longer, / It would be my disgrace and your discomfort i.e., I am so soft-hearted that if I stay longer, I will weep, embarrassing both of us

36 Poor birds they are not set for i.e., traps and snares are not set for little birds (The little boy is saying that he's too little for anyone to care about trying to catch him.)

42 With wit enough for thee (I think that the paraphrase of this is: "You are being as witty as you can be, but yours is only a child's wit." If Lady Macduff is speaking to her son, maybe she is continuing to tease him. But her speech may be an aside, a commentary to herself; in that case, she may be expressing happiness that her son doesn't fully understand the danger that they are in.)

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70 To fright you thus, methinks, I am too savage; / To do worse to you were fell cruelty, / Which is too nigh your person to frighten you this way, I believe, [makes me] too cruel, [but] murderous cruelty is [already] to near to you

78 womanly womanish (Lady Macduff is being bitterly ironic. The "womanly defence," the argument that she should suffer no harm because she has done no wrong, doesn't work in this "earthly world," where the innocent are often harmed just because they are vulnerable.)

79 What are these faces? why are you making faces? (The murderers are probably frowning and sneering, as bullies do.)

83 shag-ear'd long-haired and long-eared (This is a childish insult, probably meaning that the murderer looks like donkey.)

84 fry spawn, offspring (The murderers believe Macduff to be a traitor, and his son simply another traitor.)

Act 4, Scene 3

4 Bestride stand astride of (Macbeth envisions Scotland as a fallen soldier, which he and Malcolm should defend by standing astride of their comrade's body, deadly swords in hand.)

8 Like syllable of dolour a similar cry of pain

What I believe I'll wail, / What know believe, and what I can redress, / As I shall find the time to friend, I will (Malcolm is being very cautious. He says he'll grieve for what he believes are the sorrows of Scotland, but believe only what he knows for sure is true, and redress the wrongs done to Scotland only when the time is right.)

14

young i.e., inexperienced (Though Malcolm admits that he is "young," he makes it clear that he's not going to be fooled.)

something / You may deserve of him through me, and wisdom / To offer up a weak poor innocent lamb you may hope to earn something from Macbeth by betraying me and by having the worldly wisdom to offer me up as a sacrificial lamb

22 the brightest i.e., Lucifer [who rebelled against God, fell from grace, and became Satan]

23 Though all things foul would wear the brows of grace, / Yet grace must still look so i.e., though all foul things want to disguise themselves as fair and good, goodness itself still looks fair and good (This repeats the idea that Malcolm's father, King Duncan, expressed in "There's no art / To find the mind's construction in the face.")

26 rawness unprotected state (Malcolm's question shows that he suspects that if Macduff really did fear Macbeth's savagery, he would not have left his family at Macbeth's mercy.)

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29 Let not my jealousies be your dishonours, / But mine own safeties don't attribute my suspicions to your dishonor, but to my own desire to protect myself

33

wear thou thy wrongs, / The title is affeer'd wear your wrongful gains, [because] your title to them is confirmed (The word "wear" suggests that Macduff imagines Macbeth parading about in the royal garments that rightly belong to the true King of Scotland.)

42 There would be hands uplifted in my right i.e., If I were to invade Scotland, men of Scotland would fight in support of my right to the throne

43 England i.e., the English King

55 confineless harms limitless harms [which I will inflict on Scotland and her people]

63 cistern large reservoir (Shakespeare uses the word "cistern" in two other plays, Othello and Antony and Cleopatra; in both of those plays he imagines a cistern as a place where repulsive creatures dwell. In Antony and Cleopatra the creatures are "scal'd snakes"; in Othello a cistern is a place where "foul toads . . . knot and gender."

64 continent chaste, restraining (The statement, "my desire / All continent impediments would o'erbear / That did oppose my will," strongly suggests that he would rape the most modest maid.)

66 Boundless intemperance / In nature is a tyranny; it hath been / The untimely emptying of the happy throne / And fall of many kings in human nature, sex obsession can overwhelm everything else; it has been the cause of thrones in happy kingdoms suddenly falling empty, and it has caused the destruction of many kings

69 But fear not yet / To take upon you what is yours nevertheless, don't be afraid to claim the kingship which is rightfully yours

70 You may / Convey your pleasures in a spacious plenty, / And yet seem cold, the time you may so hoodwink you will be able to conceal the unlimited gratification of your sexual desires and yet appear to be chaste, [because] you will be able to blind everyone [to your true nature] (I have translated "the time" as "everyone," but it means more. Macduff means that Malcolm can satisfy his lust at the same time as he is pretending to be chaste; Macduff also means that the times—the general awe of a king—will make people blind to what Malcolm is doing.)

74 so many / As will to greatness dedicate themselves (Yes, it seems that there are always plenty of women who are willing to dedicate themselves to a man who has "greatness," even if he is a pompous ass with a bad comb-over. Right now, March of the year 2007, I'm thinking of Donald Trump, but whatever the year in which you read this, you will be able think of plenty of examples for yourself.)

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86 summer-seeming lust (Lust is "summer-seeming" because it is seems to be linked with the prime—the summer—of life. Thus it is a kind of phase, something that will pass. Avarice, in contrast, has a stronger "root," and can last forever.)

it hath been / The sword of our slain kings it ["avarice"] has been the sword that has killed our kings (The idea is that the greed of kings has provoked rebellions which have resulted in the deaths of those greedy kings.)

88 Scotland hath foisons to fill up your will / Of your mere own Scotland has abundance to satisfy all your desires, from your own income [from royal estates]

89 All these are portable, / With other graces weigh'd everything you have mentioned [i.e., your lust and your greed] is bearable when weighed against other kingly graces [such as "justice, verity, temperance, stableness / Bounty, perseverance, mercy, lowliness, / Devotion, patience, courage, fortitude"]

95

abound / In the division of each several crime, / Acting it many ways wallow in the varieties of each separate crime [i.e., all the opposites of the "graces" just mentioned], acting out each one in many ways (In short, Malcolm says that there is no end to the ways in which he will be a bad king.)

99 Uproar the universal peace, confound / All unity on earth change all peace into chaos, utterly destroy all unity on earth

104 untitled lacking a rightful title (The "untitled tyrant" is Macbeth.)

106 truest issue of thy throne most legitimate heir to the throne, i.e., Malcolm

107 By his own interdiction stands accursed (In church governance, an interdiction is a ruling which prohibits a person from participating in church sacraments; that person is accursed. Macduff's point is that Malcolm, in saying that he lacks all the kingly graces, has interdicted himself from being king of Scotland.)

118 trains plots, traps (Malcolm is saying that Macbeth has sent many double agents to him. Those double agents have used "these trains"—promises of anything and everything—in order to persuade him to return to Scotland, where they could then betray him to Macbeth.)

146 the evil (Scrofula was known as "the king's evil," because it was thought that the touch of a king could cure it.)

149 How he solicits heaven, / Himself best knows how he [the King of England, Edward the Confessor] prays to heaven [for a cure], only he knows

154 and 'tis spoken, / To the succeeding royalty he leaves / The healing benediction and it is said that to the kings who follow him he leaves the power of giving the blessing which heals

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175 That of an hour's age doth hiss the speaker the grief which is only an hour old causes the teller of that grief to be hissed (The "speaker" of the hour-old grief would be hissed because he was telling old news and ignoring all the new griefs.)

184 was to my belief witness'd the rather, / For that I saw the tyrant's power a-foot was made more believable because I saw the tyrant's army on the march

186 Now is the time of help now is the time to cure the sickness [of Scotland]

191 An older and a better soldier none / That Christendom gives out England ("That Christendom") tells of ("gives out") no more experienced ("older") or better soldier

194 That would be howl'd out in the desert air that should be howled out only in the desert air [because the words are so terrible] (Also, a desert is any place without people; sand is not required.)

205 To relate the manner, / Were, on the quarry of these murder'd deer, / To add the death of you to tell exactly how [your wife and children were murdered] would be to add your death to the heap ["quarry'] of these murdered deer (The word "deer" is a metaphor for Macduff's wife and children and also contains a pun on "dear.")

216 He has no children (If Macduff is referring to Malcolm, perhaps he means that if he did have children, he wouldn't think it was so easy to turn grief into revenge. If Macduff is referring to Macbeth, perhaps he means that full revenge would mean killing Macbeth and his children, too.)

220 Dispute it like a man ("Dispute" means "struggle against." Malcolm apparently means that Macduff should struggle against his grief by taking revenge on Macbeth.)

230 O, I could play the woman with mine eyes / And braggart with my tongue! (Macduff is saying that all of his emotions are honest. He could play the part of a woman and weep excessively, or he could be a braggart and boast of the terrible revenge he could take on Macbeth, but he's not doing either. He just wants a chance to face Macbeth in combat.)

234 if he 'scape, / Heaven forgive him too! (Apparently Macduff's idea is that the only way Macbeth could escape him would be if Macduff would forgive him.)

237 Our lack is nothing but our leave i.e., the only thing left to do [before we leave for Scotland] is to take our leave [of the King of England]

238 the powers above / Put on their instruments the powers above send us [into battle] as agents [of their will] or the powers above are [also] arming themselves [to defeat Macbeth]

239 Receive what cheer you may, / The night is long that never finds the day i.e., whatever happens, there will be a better tomorrow

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Act 5, Scene 1

17 having no witness because I have no witness (Apparently Lady Macbeth has said what we will soon hear her say, which amounts to a confession of murder. The Gentlewoman dares not repeat such things without a witness.)

19 her very guise exactly the way she always looks

20 stand close stay out of sight

25 their sense i.e., the ability to see

32 set down write down

33 satisfy confirm

45 this starting these startled movements (Apparently Lady Macbeth is imagining the moments just after the murder of King Duncan, especially Macbeth's reaction to the knocking at the gate.)

46 go to ("Go to" is a colloquial phrase with many possible meanings. In this case, the Doctor means something like "ai yi yi! we have a big problem.")

53 sorely charg'd painfully overfull

58 Pray God it be, sir (The Doctor uses the phrase "well, well, well" as an expression of wonder and dismay; the Gentlewoman purposely takes the word "well" in its sense of "good, healthy.")

59 beyond my practise beyond the scope of my expertise

64 come out on's grave come out of his grave

76 the means of all annoyance anything which might cause injury (The Doctor probably thinks Lady Macbeth might commit suicide.)

77 still always

78 mated stupefied, bewildered, shocked

Act 5, Scene 2

3 their dear causes / Would to the bleeding and the grim alarm / Excite the mortified man their heartfelt motives for revenge [the murders of Malcolm's father and Macduff's family] would make even a moribund man eager to rush into a bloody and fearful battle

10 unrough unbearded (In Shakespeare's time, men often started their military careers as young as age 14.)

15 He cannot buckle his distemper'd cause / Within the belt of rule he cannot, by any moderation ["rule"], control his diseased impulse to act (We've already seen an example of this in the murders of Macduff's wife and children, which did Macbeth no good, and which

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he ordered simply because he wanted to "to crown [his] thoughts with acts." In addition, the metaphor summons up an image of a man vainly trying to buckle his belt around his swollen belly; the metaphor strengthens the idea that Macbeth is out of control.)

27 the medicine of the sickly weal the medicine [i.e., Malcolm] that will cure the sickly commonwealth

28 And with him pour we in our country's purge / Each drop of us and with [Malcolm] we will pour every drop of our blood into the cure of our country

Act 5, Scene 3

1 let them fly all let all [my thanes] desert [me] (Apparently someone has just given Macbeth another of many reports that thanes have left him to join the forces marching against him.)

8 epicures lovers of luxury (Thus Macbeth scornfully accuses those who hate and fear him of being soft.)

9 The mind I sway by the mind which rules my actions (Macbeth uses the word "mind" primarily in the sense of "determination," as in the phrase "my mind is made up.")

14 over-red redden over (Blood was—and still is—associated with courage. Macbeth scornfully tells the boy to "prick" his face in order to make blood come and cover his fear.)

15 lily-liver'd cowardly (The liver was thought to be the seat of passions, and the liver which is bloodless, white as a lily, is the liver of a coward.)

19 I am sick at heart, / When I behold— (Macbeth doesn't finish the sentence or the thought, but I suspect that Macbeth fears that the boy's fear has begun to infect him.)

28 Which the poor heart would fain deny i.e., which the miserable hearts of Macbeth's unwilling followers would very much like to withhold

49 Seyton, send out (Macbeth is commanding Seyton to send one of the other servants for something, maybe his lance.)

50 dispatch hurry up (Apparently Seyton is trying to put Macbeth's armor on him.)

52 purge (The primary medical treatment of the time was a purge; for instance, bleeding was intended to purge a person of bad blood.)

54 Pull't off (This must be said to Seyton. Maybe Seyton made some mistake when he was putting Macbeth's armor on him, or maybe Macbeth has changed his mind about putting on his armor.)

60

57 preparation preparation for war (The Doctor is being cautious. He doesn't want to admit that he knows anything about the English, so he says that the only way he knows that they are coming is that Macbeth is preparing to fight them.)

58 Bring it after me take it and follow me (This is said to Seyton, who is still holding some of Macbeth's armor.)

Act 5, Scene 4

6 make discovery / Err in report of us make [Macbeth's] reconnaissance make mistakes in its report about us

9 Keeps still in Dunsinane, and will endure / Our setting down before't always stays within Dunsinane castle, and will allow us come and besiege it (To Siward, the professional soldier, it seems strange that Macbeth's forces don't try to drive the English away before they can trap Macbeth in Dunsinane.)

14 Let our just censures / Attend the true event let our accurate judgment [of the situation] wait upon the actual outcome (i.e., let's just see how things turn out before we before we come to conclusions [about Macbeth's situation])

16 The time approaches / That will with due decision make us know / What we shall say we have and what we owe i.e., the time is quickly coming in which we will know for certain what we can say we have accomplished and what we have yet to do

19 Thoughts speculative their unsure hopes relate, / But certain issue strokes must arbitrate, / Towards which advance the war i.e., speculations express only unsure hopes, but the certain outcome can be decided only by strokes [of swords], towards which [i.e., actual fighting] the army must advance

Act 5, Scene 5

45 Arm, arm, and out! (This looks like a call to Macbeth's followers to arm themselves and go out to meet the enemy, but there are no followers, and, as he says in the next lines, if the wood is moving it's not safe to go out or stay in.)

49 estate o' the world established order of the world (The "estate o' the world" is both physical and moral. The sun is part of the physical order; the moral order is about to catch up with Macbeth and make him pay for his crimes.)

Act 5, Scene 6

2 show like those you are appear as you really are

Act 5, Scene 7

1 They have tied me to a stake; I cannot fly, / But, bear-like, I must fight the course Macbeth is comparing himself to the bear in the blood sport of bear-baiting, in which a bear was tied to a stake and dogs were set upon it. A "course" is a round of fighting in a bear-baiting event.

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20 I sheathe again undeeded I put back in its sheath without any deeds to its credit

There thou shouldst be you must be over there ("There," off-stage, there is a "clatter.")

21 By this great clatter, one of greatest note / Seems bruited by this great clatter, a most notable person seems to be announced

28 foes / That strike beside us foes who deliberately miss when they swing their swords at us, or foes who fight on our side

Act 5, Scene 8

1 play the Roman fool i.e., be a noble suicide, like the famous Romans, Brutus and Mark Antony, who committed suicide after they lost battles

14 angel i.e., evil angel, devil

25 We'll have thee, as our rarer monsters are, / Painted on a pole i.e., we'll have your picture painted on a board and carried on a pole, as is done to advertise a monster in a freak show

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by these I see, / So great a day as this is cheaply bought i.e., by seeing the number of our soldiers who are safe, I believe we have won a great victory at a low price

51 He's worth no more (Siward is not disrespecting his son. His point is that there is no more worthy death than that of a soldier who does his duty.)

54 stands / The usurper's cursed head (According to Holinshed, Shakespeare's primary source for Macbeth, Macbeth's head was placed on a pike. In Shakespeare's time, traitors' heads were placed on pikes and mounted over the south entrance to London Bridge, very near Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.)

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The apparitions

an armed Head a head wearing a helmet (This apparition foreshadows Macduff's leading role in the attack on Macbeth, and perhaps also Macbeth's beheading by Macduff.)

a bloody Child. (This apparition foreshadows the hidden meaning of the prophecy that "none of woman born / Shall harm Macbeth." Near the end of the play, faced with Macduff, Macbeth repeats this prophecy, but Macduff replies, Macduff was from his mother's womb / Untimely ripp'd. So it turns out that the word "born," doesn't cover a Caesarean section, which would result in a newborn covered in blood.)

a crowned child. This apparition purports to reassure Macbeth, it portends the ‘mobile wood’ irony and reminds us that a child (Banquo’s Fleance) will engender the Stuart line.

a Child crowned, with a tree in his hand The "Child crowned" may foreshadow the victory of Malcolm, King Duncan's child, or the royalty of the descendants of Fleance, Macduff's child. The "tree in his hand" foreshadows the advance of Birnam Wood to Macbeth's castle.

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One of the most controversial yet known lines in the Shakespearian works is probably:

Fair is foul and foul is fair.

As this is so controversial, it is hard to come up with a good explanation for it, but I gave it a shot.Well, first it's worth making clear that 'fair' in this context has connotations of beauty, wholeness, goodness. Foul is the opposite- ugliness, decay, evil.

So it boils down to "good is evil, evil is good." It is said by the three witches at the end of the play's opening scene, and underlines just how uncompromisingly and irredeemably evil they are- to them, everything virtuous is disgusting, and everything loathsome is desirable. The fact that they speak the line in unison just drives home their terrible and supernatural nature. Their reversal of the terms blurs the lines of right and wrong, undermining their very meaning. This marks the witches as agents of chaos, in a time when social and religious order were seen as all-important.

Like I said, it's the second to last line of the first scene: "Fair is foul and foul is fairHover through the fog and filthy air."It makes it even more frightening and disturbing for the audience when the very next scene opens on MacBeth, a lord (ie, someone who *should* be a noble and virtuous servant of his king) who has just won a battle, and he remarks, "So fair and foul a day I have not seen", unknowingly echoing the witches who said they would meet with him.

So basically, this line drives home that the witches have uncanny power and knowledge of the future- and that they represent everything the contemporary audience feared.

Furthermore, it underlines how something that seems so good, can be so evil. I.e. MacBeth.MacBeth, at first, is a very loyal and hard working officer in the Scottish army and has earned reasonable prestige due to his earnings on the battlefield. The Scottish King, Duncan, therefore gives him the power over the castle Dunsinane (the Thane of Cawdor). In that time a castle was a symbol of power over a region, in this case being Cawdor. The king appoints him as the Thane (leader) of Cawdor and MacBeth’s corruption becomes increasingly vile. As he had already “spoken” to the three witches (a recurring element in Hamlet), his desire for the throne is now at an all time high. This is where MacBeth and his wife plot the scheme of killing Duncan, King of Scotland. One would think murder is the ultimate wrong-doing, but MacBeth’s hunger for power is not yet satisfied. After claiming the throne of Scotland, he reigns supreme with fear. The more fear you exert, the less opposition one gets, that was the pre-Shakespearian way of thinking, but nothing could be more wrong. MacBeth’s wrong-doing becomes his undoing. Malcolm now wants the throne as it is rightfully his and succeeds in doing so. MacBeth believed he could not be killed, as in his opinion all

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men were from women born. In the end (spoiler alert) you will find out that MacDuff isn’t of a woman born as he was brought to life via a caesarian. Therefore he wasn’t from a woman born and was able to kill MacBeth. Malcolm claimed the throne soon hereafter and as in many plays, they lived happily ever after.

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Logbook

Date Information Where Time20-09-12 Appointment PvB School 0:1527-09-12 Appointment PvB School 0:1504-10-12 Appointment PvB School 0:3002-10-12 PvA School 0:3004-10-12 PvA School 0:1503-11-12 Appointment PvB School 0:1519-11-12 Appointment PvB School 0:1521-11-12 Formulate Key Question and sub questions School 0:20Undefined Reading and assessing Hamlet Home 18:00Undefined Reading and assessing MacBeth Home 16:0006-12-12 Appointment PvB School 0:1509-01-13 Formulate a contentspage School 0:3011-01-13 Appointment PvB School 0:1531-01-13 Read MacBeth a second time (globally) School 6:0031-01-13 Bookreport and annotations MacBeth Home 17:0031-01-13 Bookreport Hamlet Home 12:3031-01-13 Appointment PvB School 0:3018-02-13 Formulate introduction, biography Home 1:1524-02-13 Fair is Foul and Foul is Fair Home 1:3004-03-13 Finishing touch & added will Home 5:0007-03-13 DEADLINE!!!!!!!!! School --:--Total Hours Both 81:20

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