Enter a Messenger - this suggests that she is interrupted
What is your tidings? - to question him quickly suggests that she is
desperate to know more news.
Messenger
The king comes here to-night.
LADY MACBETH
Thou'rt mad to say it: - ‘ mad’ suggests that she is in disbelief that King
Duncan is on his way to Macbeth’s castle, her ambitions of Macbeth
becoming King is slowly beginning to happen.
Is not thy master with him? who, were't so,
Would have inform'd for preparation.
Messenger
So please you, it is true: our thane is coming:
One of my fellows had the speed of him,
Who, almost dead for breath, had scarcely more
Than would make up his message.
LADY MACBETH
Give him tending;
He brings great news. - The adjective ‘great’ has the connotations of
‘powerful’ ‘outstanding’ ‘significant’ which links to his status. Correct
Exit Messenger - Lady Macbeth is alone, which is a soliloquy
, The raven himself is hoarse
That croaks the fatal entrance - ‘raven’ indicates a messenger as these
birds were usually used to pass messages long distance. A ‘raven’
symbolises death, foreshadowing the fact that the news brings death.
This is linked with the adjective ‘fatal’ used to describe Duncan’s arrival
implies that she intends to kill Duncan. Commit regicide
of Duncan
Under my battlements. - The noun ‘battlements’ means their castle,
although, this indicates that she is willing to go to war in order to obtain
the crown for her husband. The pronoun ‘my’ suggests that she is the
one that carries the power in the household; this could also be due to
her status as the wife, which is the head to the home, or that she is the
powerful one.
What is our impression of Lady Macbeth here?
The impression of Lady Macbeth here is that she is full of ambition, she
in a way pictures herself as royalty and immediately wants to chase it.
We can see that she is very similar to Macbeth as when an opportunity
rises to become king, however, this means going against the Great
Chain of Being, she will fight for that position. In this scene we can also
see that Lady Macbeth has that sense of power, as a man would be the
one with authority and power, Lady Macbeth has in a way claimed this
position for her own.
Is it “right” for a Jacobean woman to be
speaking of war? What does she mean?
It is not right for a Jacobean woman to be speaking of war, as women
were seen as inferior, had household responsibilities and did not have
What is your tidings? - to question him quickly suggests that she is
desperate to know more news.
Messenger
The king comes here to-night.
LADY MACBETH
Thou'rt mad to say it: - ‘ mad’ suggests that she is in disbelief that King
Duncan is on his way to Macbeth’s castle, her ambitions of Macbeth
becoming King is slowly beginning to happen.
Is not thy master with him? who, were't so,
Would have inform'd for preparation.
Messenger
So please you, it is true: our thane is coming:
One of my fellows had the speed of him,
Who, almost dead for breath, had scarcely more
Than would make up his message.
LADY MACBETH
Give him tending;
He brings great news. - The adjective ‘great’ has the connotations of
‘powerful’ ‘outstanding’ ‘significant’ which links to his status. Correct
Exit Messenger - Lady Macbeth is alone, which is a soliloquy
, The raven himself is hoarse
That croaks the fatal entrance - ‘raven’ indicates a messenger as these
birds were usually used to pass messages long distance. A ‘raven’
symbolises death, foreshadowing the fact that the news brings death.
This is linked with the adjective ‘fatal’ used to describe Duncan’s arrival
implies that she intends to kill Duncan. Commit regicide
of Duncan
Under my battlements. - The noun ‘battlements’ means their castle,
although, this indicates that she is willing to go to war in order to obtain
the crown for her husband. The pronoun ‘my’ suggests that she is the
one that carries the power in the household; this could also be due to
her status as the wife, which is the head to the home, or that she is the
powerful one.
What is our impression of Lady Macbeth here?
The impression of Lady Macbeth here is that she is full of ambition, she
in a way pictures herself as royalty and immediately wants to chase it.
We can see that she is very similar to Macbeth as when an opportunity
rises to become king, however, this means going against the Great
Chain of Being, she will fight for that position. In this scene we can also
see that Lady Macbeth has that sense of power, as a man would be the
one with authority and power, Lady Macbeth has in a way claimed this
position for her own.
Is it “right” for a Jacobean woman to be
speaking of war? What does she mean?
It is not right for a Jacobean woman to be speaking of war, as women
were seen as inferior, had household responsibilities and did not have
