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We are now inside Macbeth's castle. Some hours have passed.
There is, however, a dramatic contrast to the last time we saw Macbeth. The good side of him is again
momentarily revealed before Lady Macbeth takes command once more, both persuading and bullying him
to her point of view.
NATURE vs EVIL
In Shakespearian times, nature was considered to be God's playground, a place of peace and holiness.
Within this holiness lies human nature itself. A holy king -- like Duncan or Edward of England -- was
seen to have had the gift of healing in his hands.
Evil, however, can destroy all of this -- and evil comes into human nature through the devil. Once
corrupted, human nature will then wreak havoc in nature itself.
Shakespeare uses a clever counterbalance of good and evil in these scenes. While Act 1, Scene 6
presents the holiness of nature, Act 1, Scene 7 reveals the exact opposite: the triumph of evil in the
person of Lady Macbeth.
Macbeth has thought out the logic of his loyalty to Duncan and how he should be defending the king and
not murdering him. He is then confronted with a bullying wife who humiliates him into submission.
Lady Macbeth takes the perfect example of woman's nature -- a mother's natural instinct while suckling
her baby -- and overturns it: "I would, while it was smiling in my face, have plucked my nipple from
his boneless gums, and dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you have done to this."
The audience is left aghast at this barefaced barbarity -- and then one witnesses Macbeth crumble to
become Lady Macbeth's lapdog once again.
Have you looked at the questions in the right column?
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TEST YOURSELF!
Read the left column and then answer the following questions:
In the opening section of Macbeth's soliloquy, what fears does Macbeth reveal which cause him to hesitate
in murdering Duncan? ("If it were done . . . to our own lips.") (10)
[Need help?]
Macbeth realises that the murder of Duncan will not be the end of the issue. The death will have further
ramifications.
His prayer in this soliloquy is that the murder would be swift and final, and that nothing more will happen
as a consequence.
He knows, however, that this would be impossible. In this life, he says, judgement will happen and the
blood he sheds will return to haunt him. The poison he gives out will return to his own lips.
Macbeth is also clearly uncertain of murdering Duncan because the king, he says, is a holy man and a
great ruler. Duncan's goodness will therefore shout out against his murderer.
Macbeth has therefore nothing to urge him on to commit the crime except ambition -- but ambition itself
is likely to trip over the action and fall down on the other side.
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Eventually Macbeth comes to the realisation that he should not be murdering Duncan at all.
[Need help?]
- Macbeth is Duncan's subject and a citizen of Scotland who should be protecting his king against
murder.
- Duncan is there in the castle as Macbeth's guest and Macbeth should therefore be defending him, not
lifting the dagger himself to murder his guest.
- Duncan has been such a good king that, should Macbeth murder him, his very goodness would shout
out accusations against his murderer.
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- What tactics does Lady Macbeth use to change her husband's mind? (4)
[Need help?]
Lady Macbeth is a great bully, and she knows how to force her husband into doing what she wants.
She goes straight for his soft underbelly by accusing him of being a coward. What soldier ever wants to
be accused of being a coward -- and be accused of such by his own wife?
She also accuses him of betraying her and of going back on promises.
She uses the ultimate image of keeping a promise: she would pull her own baby's mouth from her nipple
and smash his head against the ground if she had promised she would do so. (What type of woman is
this?)
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- Explain how Lady Macbeth intends to help Macbeth prepare for the murder of
Duncan. (4)
[Need help?]
Lady Macbeth will do all of the preparations for murdering Duncan.
- She will wait for Duncan to sleep and then make his chamberlains drunk;
- Once they are drunk, there will be nothing that she and Macbeth can't do to Duncan;
- Of course, she also leaves the daggers there for Macbeth to find -- but that we only find out in another
scene.
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"Lady Macbeth's arguments against her husband reveal a total reversal of all the natural instincts of
womanhood."
- Would you like to comment? (6)
[Need help?]
The traditional Scottish wife would be expected to support her husband, and show womanly features such
as love, kindness, compassion, etc.
Lady Macbeth rejects all of these feminine virtues but rather calls on evil spirits to fill her and give her the
characteristics of a man, to take away all compassion.
Her final statement is the worst: that she would smash her own baby's brains out if she had promised to
do so. What type of woman is this?
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"Scene 7 reveals a side of Macbeth which is noble and honourable. At the same time, it portrays his
wife as a woman who has deliberately allied herself to the powers of evil."
- Would you like to comment? (10)
[Need help?]
In order to discuss the honourable side of Macbeth, you need to consider in what esteem he was held by
the king and by his Scottish generals.
Macbeth was a hero, almost single-handedly defeating the Norwegians. His friend was Banquo, who was
himself a most honourable gentleman.
The king too held him in high esteem, rewarding him for his valour and promising even more rewards to
be heaped upon him.
Lady Macbeth, on the other hand, reveals herself as a thoroughly evil woman. She asks the spirits to
unsex her, to make her blood thick so that no remorse will show in her veins.
She promises to smash her baby's skull in if she'd so promised. And she humiliates Macbeth, calling him
a coward. In short, she appears to be the very antithesis of Macbeth.
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"Bring forth men-children only!"
- Macbeth appears to show great relief in being able to succumb to Lady Macbeth's persuasion. Why
is he thus relieved? (4)
[Need help?]
It does seem that Macbeth is relieved by his wife's persuading him, doesn't he?
If that is the case, then it is clear that the ambition to be king was very dear to his heart -- so that his
wife's persuasive tactics come as a relief.
It is also possible, of course, that Macbeth did indeed favour the idea of murder but was hesitant lest it
offended his own wife. To have her so totally on his side, therefore, could have come as a very great
relief.
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- He also perceives a way by which they will be able to hide their part in the murder. What is this
way? (2)
[Need help?]
Macbeth makes the decision that he will smear Duncan's blood on the grooms, and use their daggers for
the murder. That way all suspicion will fall on the grooms and away from himself and Lady Macbeth.
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