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Unit 5: Macbeth: Detailed Analysis of the Text

nature,” and his thoughts turn immediately and with terror to murdering the king in order to fulfill Notes
the witches’ second prophesy. When Ross and Angus notice Macbeth’s distraught state, Banquo
dismisses it as Macbeth’s unfamiliarity with his new title.
Scene 4

Duncan demands to know whether the former Thane of Cawdor has been executed. His son Malcolm
assures him that he has witnessed the former Thane’s becoming death. While Duncan muses about
the fact that he placed “absolute trust” in the treacherous Thane, Macbeth enters. Duncan thanks
Macbeth and Banquo for their loyalty and bravery. He consequently announces his decision to
make his son Malcolm the heir to the throne of Scotland (something that would not have happened
automatically, since his position was elected and not inherited). Duncan then states that he plans to
visit Macbeth at his home in Inverness. Macbeth leaves to prepare his home for the royal visit,
pondering the stumbling block of Malcolm that now hinders his ascension to the throne. The king
follows with Banquo.

Scene 5
At Inverness, Lady Macbeth reads a letter from Macbeth that describes his meeting with the witches.
She fears that his nature is not ruthless enough— he’s “too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness” - to
murder Duncan and assure the completion of the witches’ prophesy. He has ambition enough, she
claims, but lacks the gumption to act on it. She then implores him to hurry home so that she can
“pour [her] spirits in [his] ear” - in other words, goad him on to the murder he must commit. When
a messenger arrives with the news that Duncan is coming, Lady Macbeth calls on the heavenly
powers to “unsex me here” and fill her with cruelty, taking from her all natural womanly compassion.
When Macbeth arrives, she greets him as Glamis and Cawdor and urges him to “look like the
innocent flower, / but be the serpent under’t”. She then says that she will make all the preparations
for the king’s visit and subsequent murder.

Scene 6
Duncan arrives at Inverness with Banquo and exchanges pleasantries with Lady Macbeth. The king
inquires after Macbeth’s whereabouts and she offers to bring him to where Macbeth awaits.
Scene 7

Alone on stage, Macbeth agonizes over whether to kill Duncan, recognizing the act of murdering
the king as a terrible sin. He struggles in particular with the idea of murdering a man—a relative, no
less—who trusts and loves him. He would like the king’s murder to be over and regrets the fact that
he possesses “vaulting ambition” without the ruthlessness to ensure the attainment of his goals.
As Lady Macbeth enters, Macbeth tells her that he “will proceed no further in this business”. But
Lady Macbeth taunts him for his fears and ambivalence, telling him he will only be a man when he
carries out the murder. She states that she herself would go so far as to take her own nursing baby
and dash its brains if necessary. She counsels him to “screw [his] courage to the sticking place” and
details the way they will murder the king. They will wait until he falls asleep, she says, and thereafter
intoxicate his bodyguards with drink. This will allow them to murder Duncan and lay the blame on
the two drunken bodyguards. Macbeth is astonished by her cruelty but resigns to follow through
with her plans.

5.1.2 Analysis

Fate, Prophecy, and Equivocation
The play figures equivocation as one of its most important themes, just as the Porter in Act 2
extemporizes about the sin of equivocation. Starting from the Weird Sisters’ first words that open

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