Mecbeth Soliloquies Essay

/in /by

Act One, Scene Seven

The “Consequences” Soliloquy

 

Save your time - order a paper!

Get your paper written from scratch within the tight deadline. Our service is a reliable solution to all your troubles. Place an order on any task and we will take care of it. You won’t have to worry about the quality and deadlines

Order Paper Now

Note: That is what I call it …

If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well

It were done quickly: if the assassination

Could trammel up the consequence, and catch

With his surcease success; that but this blow

Might be the be-all and the end-all here,

But here, upon this bank and shoal of time,

We’d jump the life to come. But in these cases

We still have judgment here; that we but teach

Bloody instructions, which, being taught, return

To plague the inventor: this even-handed justice

Commends the ingredients of our poison’d chalice

To our own lips. He’s here in double trust;

First, as I am his kinsman and his subject,

Strong both against the deed; then, as his host,

Who should against his murderer shut the door,

Not bear the knife myself. Besides, this Duncan

Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been

So clear in his great office, that his virtues

Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against

The deep damnation of his taking-off;

And pity, like a naked new-born babe,

Striding the blast, or heaven’s cherubim, horsed

Upon the sightless couriers of the air,

Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye,

That tears shall drown the wind. I have no spur

To prick the sides of my intent, but only

Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself

And falls on the other.

If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well ‘Tis = it is // ‘twere = it were It were done quickly: if the assassination Could trammel up the consequence, and catch With his surcease success; that but this blow Might be the be-all and the end-all here,

 

Duncan is staying at Macbeth’s castle– the implication of this scene is that Duncan is at a feast in his honor and Macbeth is taking a break and now thinking about the consequences of his potential actions (assassinating Duncan)

If it (the assassination of Duncan) it is to be completed (done) then it would be best that it be completed very soon (or, perhaps, taken care of fast).

Assassinate = to kill suddenly or secretively, especially a politically prominent person; murder premeditatedly & treacherously.

Trammel = to catch or entangle in or as in a net (a three-layered fishing net, the middle layer of which is fine-meshed, the others coarse-meshed, so that fish attempting to pass through the net will become entangled in one or more of the meshes.)

Surcease = a temporary or complete stopping; discontinuance

Macbeth is basically saying:

If only the killing of Duncan (that action) could gather up any consequences that might result from that assassination (as if one is gathering up those potential consequences into a net so that those consequences could not escape and happen)

If only that net could catch a complete stopping of any consequences

So that the blow (the killing of Duncan) could be (1) the only thing that happens (no consequences for the killing) and (2) the end of the action (no consequences)

In other words, Macbeth wishes there would be no consequences for the action of killing Duncan; he wishes killing Duncan would end with Killing Duncan

The use of “here” refers to place – to this world at this time

 

But here, upon this bank and shoal of time, We’d jump the life to come.  We’d = we would

 

“Here” – again refers to this place / this world / at this time

He specifies the place and time by referring to it as the “bank” and “shoal” of time

Bank = the slope immediately bordering a stream course along which the water normally runs.

Shoal = a sandbank or sand bar in the bed of a body of water, especially one that is exposed above the surface of the water at low tide.

So– we are given the image of Macbeth (and, in a sense, all of us) standing upon the moving waters of time (either standing on the edge of the flowing waters (the bank) or in the middle of the water (on a shoal)

And if he assassinates Duncan, the main consequence is that he would “jump the life to come”

Jump refers back to the scene when he realizes that Malcom being named king is either something he needs to fall down in front of (to stop proceeding forward) or something he needs to leap (jump) over in order to continue

To jump the life to come – is to jump the life that follows after on dies (which for Christians is eternal life / salvation / heaven)

In other words, if he kills Duncan he will pay the consequence of not receiving salvation / eternal life

 

Please note that this soliloquy indicates just how aware Macbeth is of the serious gravity of this action

At this point, he realizes he would kill Duncan if he thought there would be no consequences– but he realizes there would be … he is not willing to sacrifice salvation …

So, later in Act Two when he does kill Duncan, he does so having realized that he will not achieve salvation – and he knows this throughout the rest of the play

 

But in these cases

We still have judgment here; that we but teach

Bloody instructions, which, being taught, return

To plague the inventor: this even-handed justice

Commends the ingredients of our poison’d chalice Poison’d = poisoned

To our own lips

 

Additionally, he realizes that there will be judgment and consequences in this lifetime (the use of “here” a third time)

“In these cases” refers to cases of crimes as terrible as murder– and, in this case, especially the murder of a king

Bloody instructions is a metaphor. The murdering of Duncan is being compared to bloody instructions

To instruct is to teach – in this case the comparison (the metaphor) offers us a way to understand the consequences of violence

To murder someone is to “teach” violence because “violence” to others often results in other violence

In other words, violence leads to more violence

In other words, if one commits violent acts, then the violence one has taught returns to the teacher (the person who has acted in violence)

This is what happens to Macbeth in the play (his violence returns to him when MacDuff kills him at the end of the play – Macbeth sends someone to kill MacDuff’s wife and child)

We are given a second metaphor (and some personification) – an “even-handed justice” (fair, equitable, impartial) commends (deliver with confidence) the ingredients (the substance of the violence) of a poisoned chalice (a way to kill someone) to the person who poisoned the chalice in the first place

Justice is being personified – as if it can intentionally deliver something …

In other words, a murderous action results in the consequence of the murderous action happening to the person who committed the murderous action

If we put these two metaphors together, we see that Macbeth realizes that killing Duncan will not only result in the consequence of him not achieving salvation– but his murderous actions will result in that same kind of violence happening to him.

 

 

 

He’s here in double trust;

First, as I am his kinsman and his subject,

Strong both against the deed; then, as his host,

Who should against his murderer shut the door,

Not bear the knife myself.

 

Next, he shifts to why he should not, in particular, kill Duncan. In the previous sections of the soliloquy, he is thinking about the consequences that will happen to him – now he considers why Duncan should not be killed.

He realizes that Duncan is at the castle because he trusts his hosts (M and Lady M)

He trusts them for two reasons

(1) Macbeth and Duncan are close (“kinsman” = possibly blood-related– but definitely close // “subject” = he serves the will of the king  after all, he recently helped Duncan win the war against the Norwegians and Scottish traitors)

He realizes that both of those reasons are strong enough for why he should not kill Duncan, but he adds another

(2) Macbeth is his host – and one is not supposed to kill one’s guest (“not bear the knife and kill” – one is supposed to protect one’s guest (shut the door and keep the murderer out– not let them in)

Renaissance society took hosting duties very serious – the comfort and safety of your guest was very important

So– in this section of the soliloquy, we see that Macbeth realizes the “true sin” of killing Duncan (which we can use to look back at why he would jump the life to come / not receive salvation  that the sin of killing Duncan would result in him not going to heaven

From here he will next look at how good a king Duncan has been – and how much he is loved by everyone in Scotland

 

Besides, this Duncan Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been Hath = he has So clear in his great office, that his virtues Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against The deep damnation of his taking-off;

 

“Besides” = in addition to these other reasons and the consequences that come from them– this is also why I should not murder Duncan

Borne = to conduct oneself // Meek = kind, patient, good // Faculties = the duties of his office (of being king)

“Hath been clear” = has done nothing scandalous // Virtues = moral excellence; goodness; righteousness

 

Take all of that and you end up with 

Duncan has conducted his kingship with such kindness and patience and moral excellence that if I were to kill him, then his moral excellence would plead his case (personification– one’s excellence can not plead)

Simile– his moral excellence would plead (argue against the injustice of his murder) as if the pleading were like angels playing trumpets to call forth the true injustice of him having been murdered

Damnation = condemnation to eternal punishment as a consequence of sin.

The killing of Duncan is a great sin

 

Take all of that and you end up with Macbeth realizing that Duncan has been a great king and killing him would be a great sin– a sin that is so grave that angels would play trumpets in the heavens– indicating how truly sinful and terrible his murder was …

This again indicates how truly aware Macbeth is that killing Duncan would be a great sin – and that he would jump the life to come as a result – and, clearly, at this point in the play he is not willing to do so …

And pity, like a naked new-born babe, Striding the blast, or heaven’s cherubim, horsed Upon the sightless couriers of the air, Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye, That tears shall drown the wind.

 

In this next section of the soliloquy, Macbeth, using a simile, compares pity (sympathetic or kindly sorrow evoked by the suffering, distress, or misfortune of another, often leading one to give relief or aid or to show mercy) to a naked new-born babe (an innocent, helpless baby who has just been born) that is riding the wind like a horse (striding = to straddle = sit with the legs wide apart) or riding angels in the heaven (cherubim =a member of the second order of angels, often represented as a beautiful rosy-cheeked child with wings)

Macbeth is personifying pity, giving it a human-like quality (an innocent new-born baby) that is riding the winds as if one a horse or winged angels– it rides in the winds which are “sightless couriers” – couriers are messengers – thus the wind is the messenger that delivers the news– and thus the consequence of pity / sadness

That is riding the wind  which provides us an image of pity as a messenger that is being blown by the wind, thus spreading the message of Duncan’s murder (pity because everyone who hears the news will feel sorrow for Duncan’s incredibly unjust murder)

The wind will shall blow the news of the horrible and terrible and sinful act into the eyes of everyone in Scotland

And, upon hearing the news, it shall cause such great sadness that the tears will drown the wind …

This is paradoxical … water cannot drown air

But even those it is seemingly impossible, the paradox reveals a kind of truth … that, in this case, the sadness would be so great and, as a consequence, there would be so many tears, that it would be enough to drown the very wind that delivered the horrible news

 

I have no spur

To prick the sides of my intent, but only

Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself O’erleaps = over leaps  leaps over

And falls on the other.

 

Spur = 1. anything that goads, impels, or urges, as to action, speed, or achievement 2. a U -shaped device that slips over and straps to the heel of a boot and has a blunt, pointed, or roweled projection at the back for use by a mounted rider to urge a horse forward

Macbeth ends this soliloquy by using imagery of horse riding (which connects with both (a) pity riding the air as if it is a horse and (b) the earlier passage where Macbeth realizes that Malcom being named king is a block that he needs to either fall down in front of or leap over)

Intent = the act or fact of intending, as to do something // Prick = to urge on with or as if with a spur

He begins by saying that he has no spur to urge on his intention to kill Duncan

He explains this by using the imagery of hitting the side of a horse with one’s legs (wearing spurs on one’s boots) to propel the horse forward

All he has is “vaulting (leaping up or over) ambition (an earnest desire for some type of achievement or distinction, as power, honor, fame, or wealth, and the willingness to strive for its attainment)

And this ambition leaps over itself and falls to the other side

As if his ambition is a horse that should be ridden and all he can do is leap over it and not land on it

So he, because of all the consequences he has just outlined, has nothing to move his intentions forward

In other words– he does not want to kill Duncan because of his awareness of all the consequences of such an action

 

 

In the scene that follows this soliloquy he tells Lady M he will proceed no further

She is angered – but she offers him a plan that seems to free him of the consequence of paying for his sinful crimes in this lifetime. The guards will be blamed …

So– when he kills Duncan, he does so knowing that he has sacrificed his soul (later in the play, he is angry at Banquo because M realizes he has sacrificed his own soul so that Banquo’s children can be king – and this is why he orders the murderers to kill Banquo and Fleance)

He also knows he has killed his kinsman, his king, his guest

He also knows he has killed a much loved king who was a moral leader

He also knows everyone will be sad (nearing the end of Act Two, M runs around speaking of the murder of Duncan as if the end of days and final judgment day will soon be upon them  ironic, of course, because he is the one who has killed Duncan)

But the important point is: Macbeth knows the true gravity of his sins, how terrible of an action it is– how truly wrong it is – and he never changes his mind about that – everything he does in the rest of the play is done with this knowledge

And, in the end, his bloody instructions do return to him / the ingredient of the poisoned chalice do return to him

He kills Macduff’s wife and son – and this, in large part, is why MacDuff wishes to join Malcom – it is largely out of revenge