Macbeth (35 page)

aright
rightly  

⁸⁹
assurance
the Second Apparition’s promise/sense of personal security  

⁹⁰
bond
contract, legal guarantee  

thou
i.e. Macduff  

⁹⁴
round And top
crown  

⁹⁷
lion-mettled
of a lion’s temperament (fierce, regal, courageous)  

⁹⁸
chafes, who frets
is roused and angry/enrages and vexes you  

¹⁰⁰
Birnam … him
Birnam Wood moves itself to attack Macbeth at Dunsinane Hill (about ten miles north of Perth; Birnam Wood is about fifteen miles farther northwest)  

¹⁰³
impress
conscript, enlist into an army  

¹⁰⁴
bodements
predictions  

¹⁰⁵
Rebellious dead
i.e. Banquo, who will not stay in his grave  

¹⁰⁷
lease of nature
natural lifespan  

¹⁰⁸
mortal custom
death, the customary way of humanity/the usual length of human life/life’s rent (
custom
)  

¹²⁰
so
in the same manner  

eight kings
supposedly descended from Banquo; James VI of Scotland and I of England, king when Shakespeare wrote the play, claimed descent from Banquo  

glass
magic mirror or crystal that could show the future  

¹²²
sear
burn/ dazzle  

¹²³
Thou other
Macbeth now addresses the second king  

gold-bound brow
i.e. crowned head  

¹²⁵
Start
gape/burst from your sockets  

¹²⁶
th’crack of doom
peal of thunder at Judgment Day  

¹³⁰
two-fold … sceptres
two orbs and three scepters; probably refers to King James, the actual monarch of England and Scotland (two orbs), and titular king of Britain, France, and Ireland (three scepters)  

¹³²
blood-boltered
clogged with blood/with hair matted with blood  

¹³³
his
i.e. his descendants  

¹³⁵
amazedly
stunned, bewildered  

¹³⁶
sprites
spirits, mood  

¹³⁹
antic round
bizarre, grotesque dance  

¹⁴⁰
kindly
graciously, courteously  

¹⁴¹
Our … pay
our respectful behavior was an appropriate display of hospitality and reverence  

¹⁴²
pernicious
ruinous  

¹⁴³
aye
forever  

¹⁴⁴
without
you who are outside  

¹⁵²
horse
horses  

¹⁵⁷
anticipat’st
forestall, hinder  

dread exploits
fearsome enterprises (i.e. the intended murder of Macduff)  

¹⁵⁸
flighty
fleeting, swift  

o’ertook
overtaken  

¹⁵⁹
the … it
the action accompanies the intention promptly  

firstlings
first-born things  

¹⁶⁰
The … hand
i.e. the moment I decide to do something, I will act upon that thought  

¹⁶³
surprise
ambush, attack and seize  

¹⁶⁴
Fife
the region of which Macduff is thane  

give … o’th’sword
i.e. slaughter  

¹⁶⁶
trace … line
follow him in his lineage, are descended from him  

¹⁶⁸
sights
visions  

⁴
when … traitors
even when we have committed no treasonous act, fearful behavior makes us appear guilty  

⁹
titles
all to which he is entitled (lands, his thaneship)  

¹¹
wants … touch
lacks natural instincts/family feeling  

¹³
in
being in  

¹⁷
coz
cousin (used for any relative, or as an affectionate term of address to a friend)  

¹⁸
school
control  

for
as for  

¹⁹
judicious
prudent, of good judgment  

²⁰
fits o’th’season
violent and unpredictable disturbances of the current time  

²¹
we … ourselves
we are declared traitors though we do not recognize ourselves as such/when loyalties become confused and we do not know whom to trust  

²²
hold … fear
make rumors out of the things we are afraid of  

²⁵
Each … none
(being tossed) in every direction and thus never making progress  

²⁷
climb upward
improve  

²⁸
pretty cousin
i.e. Lady Macduff’s son  

³²
It … discomfort
i.e. because I would weep/because I might be discovered by Macbeth’s spies  

³⁹
Poor
pitiful/impoverished  

lime
sticky substance spread on branches as a means of catching birds  

⁴⁰
pitfall
trap in which a cover falls over a hole  

gin
snare  

⁴¹
Poor … for
i.e. they are only set for superior birds  

⁵²
swears and lies
vows and then breaks his word  

⁶¹
hang up
hang  

⁶⁸
prattler
chatterer  

⁷⁰
in … perfect
I am fully acquainted with your honorable status and reputation  

⁷¹
doubt
fear  

nearly
imminently/closely  

⁷²
homely
plain, simple  

⁷⁵
do … you
i.e. to harm you physically/not to warn you at all  

fell
fierce  

⁷⁶
nigh your person
close to you  

⁸⁷
unsanctified
unconsecrated, unholy  

⁹⁰
shag-eared
with cropped ears (a punishment for criminals; the mutilated ear might have an uneven appearance); some editors prefer “shag-haired,” shaggy hair being a traditional attribute of
stage
villains  

⁹¹
egg
i.e. very young thing  

fry
spawn, offspring

¹
desolate
barren/lonely/miserable  

shade
shadowy or reclusive place  

⁴
fast
firmly  

mortal
deadly  

⁵
Bestride … birthdom
protect our fallen birthright (as one would stand astride and defend a fallen soldier on the battlefield)  

⁷
that
so that  

⁹
Like … dolour
the same cry of sorrow  

¹⁰
wail
lament  

¹²
to friend
favorable, on my side  

¹³
perchance
perhaps  

¹⁴
sole name
name alone  

¹⁵
honest
honorable  

¹⁶
touched
harmed  

something … me
you may detect something of him in me  

¹⁷
wisdom
you may deem it wisdom  

¹⁹
angry god
i.e. Macbeth  

²²
recoil
degenerate, give way (plays on sense of “rebound like a firearm that has been shot”)  

²³
imperial charge
royal command (
charge
plays on sense of “quantity of gunpowder in a firearm”)  

²⁴
That … transpose
my (suspicious) thoughts cannot change you from what you really are  

²⁵
the brightest
i.e. Lucifer, or Satan, the brightest angel who was cast out of heaven for defying God  

²⁶
foul
sinful/dirty, tarnished  

wear … grace
assume the appearance of goodness (thus casting suspicion on true goodness)  

²⁷
look so
look like itself  

²⁹
there
i.e. Scotland  

doubts
suspicions  

³⁰
rawness
vulnerability/incompleteness (without
leave-taking
)  

³¹
motives
incentives (to loving, protective behavior)  

³²
leave-taking
formal farewell/permission to depart  

³³
Let … safeties
do not think that my suspicions are intended to shame and insult you, but that they arise from concern for my own security  

³⁷
basis sure
foundation firmly  

³⁸
check
restrain/rebuke  

³⁹
title is affeered
(Macbeth’s) title is confirmed; plays on sense of “affeared,” i.e. Malcolm is frightened to claim his title  

⁴²
to boot
in addition  

⁴⁵
yoke
wooden apparatus worn on the neck of a captive or conquered enemy used to subdue and prevent escape  

⁴⁷
withal
moreover  

⁴⁸
right
rightful cause  

⁴⁹
England
the King of England  

⁵⁰
thousands
i.e. of soldiers  

⁵⁴
more sundry
in more diverse  

⁵⁵
succeed
follow (Macbeth; with a play on sense of “inherit the throne”)  

⁵⁶
What
who  

⁵⁸
particulars
individual features/detailed aspects  

so grafted
are so merged (as in horticulture: a shoot from one plant is grafted onto the stem of another)  

⁵⁹
opened
revealed/unfurled (like a bud)  

⁶¹
Esteem
regard, value  

⁶²
confineless
boundless  

⁶³
legions
multitudes/armies  

⁶⁵
top
surpass  

⁶⁷
Luxurious
lustful  

avaricious
greedy for wealth  

⁶⁸
Sudden
impetuous, violently hasty, unpredictable  

⁷⁰
voluptuousness
lust for pleasure  

⁷¹
matrons
married women  

maids
virgins  

⁷²
cistern
large water tank  

⁷³
continent
restrictive/chaste/containing (perhaps with vaginal connotations)  

o’erbear
overflow/crush (with my body weight during rape)  

⁷⁴
will
sexual desire/penis  

⁷⁶
Boundless … tyranny
in human nature, excessive lack of control is a form of tyranny over the self  

⁸⁰
what is yours
i.e. the Scottish throne  

⁸¹
Convey
manage, carry out (secretly)  

⁸²
cold
chaste/lacking in sexual passion  

hoodwink
blindfold, i.e. deceive  

⁸⁴
so … inclined
the number of women who will offer themselves to a man in your royal position once they realize you desire them  

⁸⁸
ill-composed affection
character constituted of evil/poorly constituted disposition  

⁸⁹
stanchless
unstoppable