this moment Macbeth enters, and Duncan turns to greet this far more dangerous enemy with a glad welcome.

14. A foot is wanting in this line. on Macbeth's entrance.

The lack is due to the pause

18-20. Would ... mine! I wish that you had done less for me so that I might be able to thank and pay you proportionately. 22-27. The service, etc. We should not consider this speech of Macbeth as a pure piece of hypocrisy. He has, indeed, contemplated the possibility of murdering Duncan, but he has decided to wait and trust to chance. And now, at the affectionate welcome of the old king, his natural impulse of loyalty breaks out, and, for the time at least, he means what he says.

27. Safe toward, with a sure regard to.

28. I have begun to plant thee, the allusion is to the title and estates of Cawdor which Duncan has bestowed on Macbeth.

29. make thee full of growing, make thee grow to full height. 29, 30. Noble Banquo, etc. Note the royal courtesy of the king's speech to Banquo. He has greeted Macbeth, his kinsman, first; but he does not mean to slight Macbeth's fellow-soldier.

34. Wanton in fulness, capricious because they are full.

35. drops of sorrow, tears. There is something very pathetic in the figure of the good old king weeping for very joy as he stands between the two warriors, one of whom is to murder him and the other to let the murder go unrevenged.

36. whose places are the nearest, who are next to the king in rank.

37. establish our estate, settle the succession to the throne.

39. Prince of Cumberland. Cumberland, a county in the northwest of England, was for a long time held by the Scotch under the suzerainty of England. The title, Prince of Cumberland, like that of Prince of Wales to-day, served to distinguish the heir to the throne.

39, 40. which . . . only. He, Malcolm, must not be the only man to be invested with a new title of honour.

42. Inverness, a town in Scotland, some twenty or twenty-five miles from Forres. Macbeth is supposed to have had a castle here, and as a mark of royal favour Duncan now proposes to visit him. 43. bind us further to you, lay us under still greater obligations to you, i.e. by acting as our host at Inverness.

44. The rest, etc. The leisure time which is not spent in your service is no leisure, but rather labour. It may be that this stilted compliment marks the agitation of Macbeth's mind. We see a few lines below that he has resumed his plan of the murder.

45. harbinger, originally a messenger sent ahead to provide a lodging for a king on his travels.

47. My worthy Cawdor. Duncan bids farewell to Macbeth by his new title and then turns to Banquo. This gives Macbeth an opportunity before he leaves the stage for the 'aside' of lines 48–53. This 'aside,' it should be noted, represents the thoughts that are passing through Macbeth's mind, rather than any words actually spoken.

48-53. The Prince . . . see. Macbeth realizes that the naming of Malcolm as heir-apparent leaves him no other choice than that between renouncing his ambition or taking violent action to realize it. He is by no means disposed to abandon his hopes of the crown, and instantly his heart is filled anew with "black and deep desires," which he fears to expose to the light.

52. The eye wink at the hand, let the eye refuse to see what the hand is doing. It is as if Macbeth already saw himself stabbing the king, and wished to close his eyes to the sight.

54. he is full so valiant, he is quite as brave as you say. Banquo seems to have been telling Duncan of some brave deed of Macbeth. 57. Whose care. Macbeth's carefulness for the king's welfare is here personified by the kindly monarch, and thought of as a harbinger riding ahead to prepare a welcome for him.

ACT I. SCENE V

With this scene a new figure appears upon the stage. It is unnecessary to repeat here what has been said in the Introduction as to the character of Lady Macbeth; but we may note the striking fashion in which that character is revealed to us. The lady enters reading a letter in which her husband tells of his encounter with the witches, and of their prophetic greeting. He has already made inquiries as to the witches, and has learned that their prophecies always come true. So he writes to her that she may rejoice in the greatness that is promised to her as the future queen. It is interesting to note that there is no suggestion in the letter of any criminal attempt to hasten the fulfilment of the oracle. Macbeth must have written while in the same mood of half-formed resolve to bide his time that marks the close of scene 3. But Lady Macbeth has no intention of waiting for chance to crown her. She prefers "the nearest way," that of speedy and violent action. As yet she knows nothing of the obstacle which the proclamation of Malcolm as heir-apparent puts between Macbeth and the crown. The only obstacle she sees lies in the character of her husband. He is ambitious, but is unwilling to play false to attain the objects of his ambition. Yet she is so sure of her influence over him that she prays he may return speedily, in order that she may inspire him to action and drive out any scruples that may bar the way to his goal. When she hears of Duncan's approaching visit, she realizes instantly that Fate has delivered the king into her husband's hands, and invokes the powers of evil to strengthen her for the terrible

1 Macbeth must have made these inquiries immediately after the encounter with the witches, and before his meeting with Duncan, since there is no reference in his letter to Duncan's approaching visit. We may imagine that Macbeth found some one at Forres who had already had dealings with the witches, and who could assure him of their credibility.

deed that must be done at once. On Macbeth's arrival she takes the matter into her own hands; she does not argue or persuade, but with quiet determination assures him that Duncan will never leave their castle alive, and that she will arrange all the details. Macbeth is, as it were, stunned by her decision. He has, indeed, meditated the murder of his master; but he has by no means decided upon it, and he would like more time for consideration. His wife, however, cuts the scene short, bidding him show a friendly face to his royal guest and leave all the rest to her.

1. From the abruptness with which the scene begins, we must fancy that Lady Macbeth has already read a part of the letter before she comes on the stage. Perhaps, when she came to the prophecy of the witches, she felt that she must be alone, and withdrew from the hall of the castle to the chamber in which the scene takes place.

2. the perfectest report, the most accurate information.

9, 10. referred me to the coming on of time, directed me to the future.

13. dues of rejoicing, the due, or natural, joy.

18. the milk of human kindness, the gentleness of humanity, of human nature. Lady Macbeth knows her husband well enough to feel sure that, however brave he is on the field of battle, he will hesitate to commit a murder. Compare Macbeth's own words when the idea of the crime enters his mind, i. 3. 134-7.

21. The illness should attend it, the wickedness, or at least the unscrupulousness, which must go along with ambition, if the ambition is to be gratified.

...

21, 22. what thou holily, the high objects which you aim at, you would like to gain innocently.

24. That which cries. The best interpretation of this much disputed passage is probably that which takes "that" as referring to Duncan's death. The passage may then be paraphrased as follows: "Thou wouldst like to have, great Glamis, that [the death of Duncan] which cries 'Thus thou must do [kill Duncan] if thou

art to have it, [the crown], and that [the murder] is a thing which thou dost rather fear to do thyself than wishest to be left undone.” 28. chastise. The accent is on the first syllable.

29. the golden round, the crown.

30, 31. doth seem... .. withal, seems about to crown you with.

32. comes here to-night. It seems for the moment so impossible that the opportunity for instant action can thus be placed in her hands that Lady Macbeth exclaims that the messenger must be crazy.

34. inform'd for preparation, given me the news so that I might prepare.

36. had the speed of, outstripped.

39. The raven, a bird of ill omen.

40. entrance, pronounced like a word of three syllables, “enterance."

41. Come, you spirits, etc. Note how Lady Macbeth nerves herself to meet the terrible strain of the coming night. It is plain from line 53 that she means to commit the murder herself. And that she may be strong enough in mind and body to do so, she invokes all the spirits that delight in thoughts and deeds of blood to strip her of her woman's weakness and fill her with the power of evil. Note the pause in the line before the invocation begins.

44. thick, coarse, unfeeling, and so the readier for deeds of cruelty.

46. compunctious visitings of nature, natural feelings of pity. 47, 48. keep peace. it, interpose between the "effect," i.e. the murder, and her purpose to commit it.

...

49. take my milk for gall, turn my kindliness (cf. line 18 above) into bitterness.

49. murdering ministers, servants, or instruments, of murder. 50. sightless substances, invisible forms.

51. nature's mischief, all that is evil in nature.

56. the all-hail hereafter. Lady Macbeth unconsciously echoes the words of the third witch in i. 3. 50.