Destiny Makes Macbeth or Mars Him

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Abstract：Macbeth is the darkest of Shakespeare’s great tragedies. The personification of “Valour” fortifies Macbeth’s strength. This quality makes Macbeth, and mars him. The combination of meanings of the witches’ interpretations hints at Macbeth’s final downfall. Both Macbeth and his wife are victimized by the witches. Macbeth pretends to be friendly with Banquo. But underneath his beautiful skin there is a relentless heart. Lady Macbeth’s desires for political powers are stronger than Macbeth. What Duncan and Banquo think and say forms a sharp contrast to Macbeth’s thoughts and actions. Macbeth is marred by his destiny and by the false creation from his fevered brain.

Key words：Shakespeare; Macbeth; tragedy

中图分类号： I712.495 文献标识码： A 文章编号：1672-1578（2013)03-0001-02

Macbeth is the darkest of Shakespeare’s great tragedies. At the beginning of the play there are the elements in nature: heath, thunder and lightning. Witches usually appear when the weather is foul. The combination of biological determinism and social determinism foretell the tragic fate of Macbeth. The second witch says,“When the battle’s lost and won”(I.i.4) instead of “When the battle’s lost and all won”. This shows that the witches adopt a neutral position. If there is one who laughs, there must be another one who cries. “Graymalkin” (I.i.8) is a grey cat. “Malkin” is a lazy woman. The witches’ servant is associated with negative connotations. When all the three witches say, “Fair is foul, and foul is fair” (I.i.11), their language indicates their status. What is fair to people is foul to witches, and what is foul to people is fair to witches. Witches look like human beings, but they are not human beings. They, therefore, are extremely horrible.

In Act I, Scene ii the bleeding Captain says, “Doubtful it stood”(I.ii.7) to show the complicated situation. He cannot tell who is going to win. But “all’s too weak”(I.ii.15) demonstrates a clear picture of Macbeth’s bravery. The rebels are strong, but Macbeth is stronger than they are. The personification of“Valour”(I.ii.19) also fortifies Macbeth’s strength. This quality makes macbeth, and mars him. Another indication of Macbeth’s strength is that he“unseam’d [Macdonwald] from the nave to th’chops”(I.ii.22). A sparrow does not dismay the eagle. A hare does not dismay the lion. The captain reports that Macbeth meant to “memorize another Golgotha”(I.ii.41), which reveals that Macbeth is also merciless. The reader should believe him since Duncan says that the captain’s words and wounds “smack of honours both” (I.ii.45).

Rosse tells Duncan that the Norweyan banners fan cold fear into Scottish people in Act I, Scene ii. Bellona is Mars’ wife. “Bellona’s bridegroom” (I.ii.55) is, of course, Mars, whom Macbeth is compared to. Again and again, is Macbeth’s strength praised. “Shipman’s card”(I.iii.17) is the circular piece of stiff paper on which the 32 points of the compass are marked, and hence the compass itself. The first witch is strong enough to destroy the ship. She can make the sailor “live a man forbid”(I.iii.21) and “dwindle” (I.iii.23). The sailor lives like a man under curse and goes emaciated. But one witch is not strong enough to encounter Macbeth. All the three weird sisters must go “hand in hand”(I.iii.32) in order to meet Macbeth. Before they meet Macbeth, the three witches say, “the charm’s wound up”(I.iii.37), which has two interpretations. The first interpretation is that the charm is set in readiness for action. The second one is that everything is over. The combination of meanings hints at Macbeth’s final downfall.

Both Macbeth and his wife are victimized by the witches. In Act I, Scene iii the three sisters tell Macbeth that he will be Thane of Glamis, then Thane of Cawdor, and finally King of Scotland. Macbeth says, “By Sinel’s death I know I am Thane of Glamis;/But how of Cawdor? The Thane of Cawdor lives,/A prosperous gentleman; and to be King/Stands not within the prospect of belief,/No more than to be Cawdor.”(I.iii.71-75) So he does not believe the witches at first. Later Rosse says, “[Duncan] bade me, from him, call thee Thane of Cawdor:/In which addition, hail, most worthy Thane,/For it is thine.”(I.iii.105-107) To Macbeth, two truths are told; To Shakespeare, the title of Thane of Cawdor is only an addition. When Banquo asks Macbeth,“Good Sir, why do you start,” (I.iii.51) the reader can understand that the witches’ words give Macbeth a startled look. Macbeth calls the witches “imperfect speakers” (I.iii.70) because they do not tell him more. There is a pun in Banquo’s remark―“Whither are they vanish’d?” (I.iii.80) Here “they” can refer to both bubbles and witches. Bubbles vanish into nothingness; witches melt “as breath into the wind.” (I.iii.82)

Macbeth talks to himself, “Present fears/Are less than horrible imaginings./My thought whose murther yet is but fantastical,/Shakes so my single state of man,/That function is smother’d in surmise,/And nothing is, but what is not.” (I.iii.137-142) Macbeth’s ambition, nameless and formless, is the greatest fear which exists in his imagination. “Single state of man” is weak human constitution. Unnecessary pictures and ideas are now alive in Macbeth’s imagination. Line 142 means nothing has reality. Macbeth is carried out in ecstasy. He says,“Time and the hour runs through the roughest day.” (I.iii.149) Macbeth has the tough mind and body for the rough day. He says to Banquo, “[Let] us speak/Our free hearts each to other.”(I.iii.155-156) His remark means,“Let’s compare notes.” Macbeth pretends to be friendly with Banquo. But underneath his beautiful skin there is a relentless heart.

Duncan tells everyone, “We will establish our estate upon/Our oldest, Malcolm.”(I.iv.37-38) Malcolm is now the Prince of Cumberland. Macbeth is jealous of Malcolm’s position. He says, “The Prince of Cumberland!―That is a step/On which I must fall down, or else o’erleap,/For in my way it lies.” (I.iv.48-50) This is something that either will make Macbeth or will mar him. His “black and deep desires” (I.iv.51) are brutal killings. The eye should be blind to what the hand does. Ignorance is a blessing. Not to know some trifles is a praise.

In his letter Macbeth tells his wife that he will be King of Scotland “by the perfect’st report”. (I.v.2) To Macbeth, the witches’ honest trifles are the most reliable information. He asks his “dearest partner of greatness”(I. v.11) to hold or plant it to her heart. Lady Macbeth knows that her husband’s heart “is too full o’th’milk of human kindness” (I. v.17) to take the shortest cut. Although Macbeth is “not without ambition” (I.v.19), he will “not play false”(I.v.21). A hero like Macbeth should not play double. However, his wife does not think so. To Lady Macbeth, experience is gained at the cost of human conscience. She uses “the golden round”(I.v.28) to refer a king’s crown. Her thirst for power is clearly shown. When she learns that Duncan is coming to her castle, Lady Macbeth says, “The raven/himself is hoarse,/That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan/Under my battlements.” (I.v.37-40) Both the raven and the owl are associated with death. While the owl carries the neutral denotation of death, the raven connotes tragic death and violent killing. Lady Macbeth is planning to murder Duncan in order to help Macbeth become King of Scotland.

When Macbeth enters his castle, Lady Macbeth says, “Thy letters have transported me beyond/This ignorant present, and I feel now/The future in the instant.” (I.v.56-58) To Lady Macbeth, the present is ignorant of the future and the future is beyond the knowledge at the present. Her desires for political powers are stronger than Macbeth. Women pretend to feel what they do not feel; men pretend to know what they do not know. Macbeth must look like the world to deceive the world. That is why Lady Macbeth says, “To beguile the time,/Look like the time.” (I.v.63-64) She knows so much about politicians because she is a politician. She tells Macbeth to “bear welcome in [his] eye” (I.v.64) because the eye shoots forth a mental power. Her mentioning “nights and days to come” (I.v.69) demonstrates her ambition for the future. She advises her husband to “look up clear” (I.v.72) so that others will think he is innocent.

What Duncan and Banquo think and say forms a sharp contrast to Macbeth’s thoughts and actions. Duncan believes in Macbeth. He feels safe in Macbeth’s castle. He sings Macbeth’s praises by saying, “This castle hath a pleasant seat.”(I.vi.1) Both Banquo and Macbeth have experienced the war. Banquo says,“[The] heaven’s breath/Smells wooingly here.”(I.vi.5-6) His praises for Macbeth’s castle reveal that he is now very relaxed since the war is over. Macbeth, however, is very nervous because he is full of intrigues. To Macbeth, every detail is twice taken care of and is done double. When Duncan meets Lady Macbeth, he asks, “Where’s the Thane of Cawdor?”(I.vi.20) This joke shows that Duncan thinks highly of Macbeth.

Lady Macbeth thinks that the end justifies the means. Macbeth thinks Duncan “[hath] borne his faculties…meek, hath been/…clear in his great office”(I.vii.17-18). “Faculties” are Duncan’s loyal powers and he has been away from blames. So Macbeth hesitates. He still has pity which is “like a naked new-born babe” (I.vii.21). The tears of pity can drown the fire of a desire. Macbeth says,“I have bought/Golden opinions from all sorts of people,/Which would be worn now in their newest gloss,/Not cast aside so soon.”(I.vii.32-34) His greatest hope is drunk in the small achievement. But Lady Macbeth thinks he looks “green and pale”(I.vii.37). She asks, “Art thou afeard/To be the same in thine own act and valour,/As thou art in desire?”(I.vii.39-41) Most people are greater in desire than in acts and valour. Those are great who are equally great in desire and acts and valour.

Lady Macbeth mentions “the ornament of life” (I.vii.42) and she prizes honour and reputation. Now Macbeth is on the horns of a dilemma. On the one hand, he knows the adage: The cat would eat fish and would not wet her feet. And Duncan is a king much more than a king. On the other hand, he dare do everything that suits a man. Nobody dare do more than Macbeth. A wise man like Macbeth shapes his thoughts and acts to the passing moment. Macbeth asks his wife, “If we should fail?” (I.vii.59) Lady Macbeth answers, “We fail?/But screw your courage to the sticking-place,/And we’ll not fail.”(I.vii.60-62) Hard journey invites Duncan with sound sleep. Lady Macbeth says, “[His] two chamberlains/Will I with wine and wassail so convince,/That memory, the warder of the brain,/Shall be a fume, and the receipt of reason/A limbeck only.”(I.vii.64-68) The wine can turn memory into smoke. The memory is the keeper of the brain, the container of the reason. Macbeth says, “Will it not be receiv’d,/When we have mark’d with blood those sleepy two/Of his own chamber, and us’d their very daggers,/That they have done’t?” (I.vii.75-78) Now Macbeth no longer hesitates. He is determined to achieve his ambition ruthlessly.

In Act II, Scene i Banquo says, “Restrain in me the cursed thoughts that nature/Gives way to in repose!” (II.i.8-9) Why do we cultivate our kind-heartedness? To restrain our cursed thoughts. The soul reposes upon the stability of truth. Banquo prizes bosom, and allegiance, when he says, “So I lose none/In seeking to augment it, but still keep/My bosom franchis’d, and allegiance clear,/I shall be counsell’d.” (II.i.25-28) He is nobler than Macbeth through his words and actions. Banquo does not believed in the witches’ trifle truths while Macbeth is marred by his destiny and by the false creation from his fevered brain.

参考文献：

[1]莎士比亚.麦克白[M]. 北京: 中国人民大学出版社，2008.

作者简介：陈涛，男，1978年12月生，硕士，研究方向：英国文学。