Scene Summary
Macbeth stands alone, ruminating on the plan to murder Duncan. Highly conflicted, he thinks if he is going to kill Duncan without consequence, it should be done quickly, yet he has the foresight to see that there will be dire consequences. He feels guilty at even the thought of murdering Duncan and the judgement to come of it, for he would not only be murdering a guest placed in his trust, but one of his own blood as well. Thinking about the good of Duncan’s kingship, Macbeth is interrupted by his wife, who inquires why he has left the king’s presence.
Seeing his opportunity, he tells Lady Macbeth he wants nothing to do with the murder of Duncan due to the kindness and titles gifted to him. Lady Macbeth then admonishes her husband once again for his fear and lack of ambition with biting and harsh words: “art thou afeard... a coward in thine own esteem.” She continues questioning Macbeth’s loyalty and manhood, mocking him for his love for Duncan. Macbeth questions what will happen if they should fail in the murder, to which his wife angrily berates him, saying he should stop thinking of anything but success in their plan. She then goes on to detail how specifically the murder will play out: when the king is asleep, they will get his two servants drunk while Macbeth commits the murder, and they will blame the drunken servants when they awaken with no memory. Macbeth finally decides to go ahead with the murder as he darkly declares “false face must hide what the false heart doth know.”
Scene Analysis
As the final scene of the first act, this scene is the final confirmation for what is to occur in the acts going forward for not only the audience but for the characters themselves. The plan for King Duncan’s murder is finalised, and for the character of Macbeth, this scene is the end of moral struggle about becoming king, as he finally succumbs to his ambition and agrees to kill Duncan.
On that note, this scene is the most conflicted state we see Macbeth in until his “tomorrow and tomorrow” soliloquy. Here, Macbeth begins by doubting his ambition, the part of his nature driving him to even thoughts of killing Duncan. His lines “but in these cases, we still have judgement here that we but teach... which being taught, return to plague th’inventor” are greatly reflective of Macbeth’s inner anxiety and guilt, and almost foreshadow his downfall to come due to the murder. Such guilt is further made clear by Shakespeare when Macbeth begins to think of Duncan’s nature as a man, one displayed in previous scenes as kind, gracious, and humble in the face of victory.
He notes that “besides, this Duncan hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been so clear in his great office, that his virtues will plead like angels,” once again foreshadowing Macbeth’s troubled rule, as Macbeth will become the opposite king to how he describes Duncan; rather than being humble and honest, Macbeth will be despotic and murderous in order to hold power. To briefly link back to historical context, that such a dark and troubled reign would begin with the involvement of witches further conveys the dangers of trusting supernatural forces. This whole first soliloquy from a literary perspective is another example of Shakespeare’s tragic irony, complex character work, and relevant use of context, as the guilt and reluctance that Macbeth ignores in order to pursue his ambition eventually leads to his downfall, eerily hinted at earlier within the text.
It is this scene that many scholars point to in the debate about whether Macbeth is a tragic hero or a true villain. It is clear to see why, as for the first and one of the only times in the play, Macbeth is shown in a deeply human light. The doubt, fear, and almost grief he feels when contemplating not only the death of his king but also “his kinsman” is incredibly poetic and lends great value and complexity to his character.
This is further displayed when Lady Macbeth enters and begins to psychological break Macbeth’s character and mind in order to pursue her ambitious ends. Once again, it is clear that Shakespeare depicts Lady Macbeth as the major villain of the text as her manipulation and language within this scene drip with brutal and dark intention. Specifically, she and by extension Shakespeare play with ideas of gender and especially the roles expected of a man during Macbeth’s intertextual context.
To link to the real King Macbeth of Scotland, it is clear with his portrayal that Shakespeare wanted something deeper than militant warlord that is assumed to have been the real man, as all accounts from history seem to perpetuate that image. When considering the historical context of Scotland during the Middle Ages, a man was expected to fight and go to war and to take what he deemed as rightfully his. Malcolm, both in real history and the play, does just that by eventually defeating Macbeth to claim to crown and avenge his father, whereas throughout this whole scene and further towards the end of the play, Macbeth contrasts greatly with this image.
To link back to Lady Macbeth’s role in this, throughout the scene, she constantly questions Macbeth’s manhood in order to rouse his ambition and pride to convince him to murder Duncan and claim the throne and his destiny. Quotes such as “and live a coward in thine own self-esteem” and “what beast was’t then that made you break this enterprise to me... be so much more the man” are examples of her frankly vicious choice of language, with the second phrase going so far to question Macbeth’s humanity, for she is saying that only an animal would break the promise he had made to her. Shakespeare’s specific choice of language for Lady Macbeth lies at the heart of his examination of gender.
Using dramatic irony, Shakespeare has twisted the expected gender roles and attitudes of Macbeth’s and Lady Macbeth’s context within this scene, with Macbeth being more thoughtful and cautious as expected of a noble lady in his day, whereas Lady Macbeth is dark and almost militant in her attitude, traits expected of Macbeth in his position. Ultimately what this twisting on gender achieves to the play overall, is to raise ideas of power, ambition, and desire, for the audience to carry with them for the acts to come.
