Macbeth. William Shakespeare
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that Bellona’s bridegroom, lapp’d in proof, 55
Confronted him with self-comparisons,
Point against point rebellious, arm ‘gainst arm,
Curbing his lavish spirit; and to conclude,
The victory fell on us.
Duncan
Great happiness!
Ross
That now 60
Sweno, the Norways’ king, craves composition;
Nor would we deign him burial of his men
Till he disbursed, at Saint Colme’s Inch,
Ten thousand dollars to our general use.
Duncan
No more that Thane of Cawdor shall deceive 65
Our bosom interest. Go pronounce his present death,
And with his former title greet Macbeth.
Ross
I’ll see it done.
Duncan
What be hath lost, noble Macbeth hath won.
[Exeunt.]
SCENE II
The second scene deals mainly with the report of the battle in which the ‘Macbeth’ we have already heard about, and another man, Banquo, have excelled. However, the feeling of uncertainty is maintained, because the outcome of the battle is left in doubt by the Sergeant. He nevertheless presents Macbeth as the decisive factor, and Ross gives the same impression from his point of view when he provides the final news that the battle has been won. We get a remarkable picture of Macbeth as a kind of superman, a fearless, ferocious, almost untouchable champion of right against treachery.
1–3. He can report…state He looks as though he has come, wounded, straight from the battle, and will be able to give us an up-to-date report.
5. ‘Gainst my captivity to save me from being captured.
6. knowledge of the broil news of the battle.
9. choke their art (the two exhausted swimmers) prevent each other from using their swimming skill.
10. to that to that end, i.e. to show that he is without doubt a traitor.
12. swarm upon him like lice.
12. Western Isles islands to the west, including Ireland and the Hebrides.
13. kerns and gallowglasses lightly-armed foot-soldiers and horsemen armed with axes.
14–15. Fortune the Roman goddess Fortuna, regarded as highly unreliable. Macbeth ignores her (Disdaining Fortune, line 17) and takes his fate into his own hands, a trait we are to see repeated later in the play.
17–18. brandished steel…execution His sword steamed with the hot blood of those he had just killed.
19. valour’s minion the favourite of Valour (personified in much the same way as Fortune).
carv’d out his passage cut his way through the men on the battlefield.
22–3. Till he unseam’d…he thrust his sword in at the navel (nave), ripped him open up to the jaws (chaps), then cut his head off and stuck it on the battlements.
24. cousin Macbeth and Duncan were both grandsons of King Malcolm, but in any case the word cousin was often used by sovereigns of their noblemen.
24. worthy gentleman! What Macbeth has just done seems hardly gentlemanly, but there is no irony in Duncan’s remark. Such actions in defence of king and country would have been regarded as truly to be admired.
25–8. As whence…Discomfort swells ‘Just as storms fatal to ships can burst out of the east, where the sun first shines, so danger springs from the place where everything seems well.’ Note the irony here, even if the Sergeant doesn’t realize it. These words could be a warning to Duncan about Macbeth, who seems fair.
30. Compell’d…heels Forced these unreliable soldiers to rely on running away.
31. Norweyan an old form of Norwegian.
31. surveying vantage seeing his chance. No doubt Duncan’s troops had relaxed on seeing the kerns run away.
32. With furbished arms ‘having repaired their weapons’ (or perhaps taken up new ones).
34–5. Yes…the lion The Sergeant is being very sarcastic. ‘Yes, they were about as dismayed as an eagle is by a sparrow, or a lion by a hare,’ he says.
36. sooth truth.
37. as cannons…cracks Like cannons with double charges of gunpowder.
39–40. Except they meant…Golgotha Unless they intended to bathe in the steaming wounds (of their enemies) or make the battle as grimly memorable a scene as the crucifixion of Christ.
43–4. So well…both Your words and your wounds do you equal honour.
44. smack taste.
45. Thane a Scottish nobleman and landowner, often the chief of a clan
47. So should he…strange His appearance suggests that he has strange news to tell.
50–1. Where…cold Where the Norwegian banners mock the (Scottish) sky and, as they wave, freeze our men with fear.
52. Norway himself King Sweno of Norway.
54. a dismal conflict one which filled the Scottish forces with foreboding.
55. Bellona’s bridegroom the bridegroom of Bellona, the Roman goddess of war. Macbeth is being compared with Mars, the god of war himself.
55. lapp’d in proof wearing tried and tested armour.
56. Confronted…self-comparisons Gave him something (i.e. a model of a fighting man) to compare himself with.
58. Curbing his lavish spirit overcoming his insolent courage.
61. craves composition begs for peace terms.
62. Nor would we…men We would not allow him to bury his dead soldiers.
63. disbursed paid.
63. Saint Colme’s Inch a small island in the Firth of Forth, now called Inchcolm. (St. Colme is another form of St. Columba.)
64. dollars These coins were in fact not minted until the early sixteenth century, 500 years after the time of the real Duncan and Macbeth. Does it matter that Shakespeare that Shakespeare isn’t worried about such inaccuracy? Could it have had a deliberate purpose?
65–6. deceive…interest treacherously attack our dearest interests. pronounce his present death order his immediate execution.