Macbeth

Act 1, Scene 7

Location: Macbeth’s Castle at Inverness, near The Great Hall, where the
banquet will be held to honour the King’s announcement about his eldest son
Malcolm being heir to the throne.

Characters: Lady Macbeth and Macbeth and their servants who are involved in
organising the banquet.

Dramatic Action/Structural Significance of the Scene: There is a ceremonial

atmosphere as everyone prepares for the ‘great dinner party’. One of the
ironic details in the scene, is that the stage directions imply that there is an
official ‘taster’ to ensure that none of the dishes that the King will eat are
poisoned.

By the end of the scene, the beautifully ‘organised’ dinner party has
degenerated into a ‘disorderly’ banquet, playing on the contrasting notions of
order and chaos.

Features of the language: Macbeth’s speech is 28 lines long and contains five
distinct thoughts. All of his sentences end mid-line, suggesting his
uncomfortable state of mind. This mirrors what we have witnessed in Lady
Macbeth’s speech and language, in Act 1, Scene 5.

All of Macbeth’s lines end halfway through the line of poetry, indicating a less
composed state of mind – he is agitated. Macbeth constantly interrupts
himself; he cannot complete an idea.

An interesting detail in the scene is that he uses the pronoun ‘we’ not ‘I’,
possibly suggesting that he is prematurely adopting the ‘royal we’; that he has
been corrupted and that there is no turning back.

Another interpretation of this use of the pronoun ‘we’ is that he is including

the audience in his moral dilemma. In this sense, we are seeing a double-
meaning, a double entendre here, because Shakespeare is deliberately playing
on the double possibilities that are implied by Macbeth’s use of the ‘we’
pronoun.

In his monologue, Macbeth essentially wrestles with the idea of murdering

King Duncan. He is talking the issue out, in order to come to a decision.
As he gets closer to his decision, his language becomes more regular in
structure. Note that the final thought in his speech is interrupted by Lady
Macbeth’s entrance at the top of page 33. Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth that
they should not carry out their plan to kill Duncan, in Lines 31-35 on page 33:

We will not proceed further in this business.

He hath honoured me of late, and I have bought
Golden opinions from all sorts of people,
which would be worn now in their newest gloss,
Not cast aside so soon.

Lady Macbeth who is appalled by his lack of conviction, persuades him that
they must kill Duncan. Notice by the end of the scene, she has stopped calling
Macbeth “thou”, and only refers to him as “you”, which suggests that her
respect and affection for him has diminished – “thou” is by far the more
respectful form of address.

The modern equivalent would be akin to never calling your husband again by a
term of endearment (‘darling’ or ‘sweetheart’). It denotes a shift in their
relationship.

Macbeth asks his wife what might happen if they fail in their plot to kill the
king. The punishment would be a traitor’s death for both of them.

Lady Macbeth’s response in our text comes in the form of a question:

“We fail?” (Line 59, page 35)

However, in some early editions of the play it was written:

“We fail!”

There are implications for character and interpretation depending on how this
line is spoken/presented to an audience.

What might they be?

Discussion, Extended and Writing Task:
Read Macbeth’s long speech at the beginning of Act 1, Scene 7.

What are three reasons that he puts to himself for NOT killing Duncan?

What is the one reason for killing Duncan?

What does Macbeth announce to Lady Macbeth when she first enters the
scene?

What do you make of Lady Macbeth’s lines:

I have given suck and know

How tender ‘tis to love the babe that milks me:
I would, while it was smiling in my face,
have plucked my nipple from its boneless gums
and dashed the brains out, had I so sworn,
As you have done to this? (Lines 54-59, page 33)

How does Lady Macbeth go about persuading Macbeth to change his mind?
(Be sure to use quotes in your response.

What does it mean to emasculate someone?