Macbeth (30 page)

Read Macbeth Online

Authors: William Shakespeare

beguile
deceive  

68
Look … time
look ordinary, appear to be like everyone else  

71
provided for
prepared for, taken care of (relates to hospitality and to murder)  

72
dispatch
management  

74
solely
entirely, exclusively  

sway
rule  

76
look up clear
appear to be untroubled and innocent  

77
alter favour
change your accustomed facial expression  

Hautboys
players of oboe-like instruments  

Torches
torchbearers  

1
seat
setting  

3
gentle
noble/made gentle by the air  

5
temple-haunting
nesting in or frequenting places of worship  

martlet
swift (type of bird)  

approve
prove, demonstrate  

6
mansionry
mansions, i.e. nests  

7
wooingly
enticingly  

jutty
projecting part of a building  

frieze
decorative section underneath the cornice of a building  

8
Buttress
support built against a main wall  

coign of vantage
advantageous corner  

9
pendent
hanging  

procreant
fertile  

11
delicate
pleasant, delightful  

13
The … love
while I am always appreciative of the love behind it, such devoted service can be troublesome (to me/to you)  

14
Herein … pains
by saying this I am encouraging you to ask God to reward me for your efforts (said in a lighthearted or self-deprecating manner)  

15
yield
reward  

18
point
aspect, detail  

19
single
weak  

business
affair/effort  

contend Against
compete with  

21
those of old
honors previously bestowed  

22
late
recent  

23
rest your hermits
remain your beadsmen (i.e. those who pray on behalf of others)  

25
coursed
chased  

26
purveyor
official sent ahead to make arrangements for his master’s food, lodging, etc.  

27
holp
helped  

31
theirs
i.e. their own servants  

in compt
held in trust (from the king)  

32
audit
account  

33
Still … own
always ready to return to you what is yours  

36
graces
favors  

37
By your leave
with your permission  

Sewer
butlerlike official in charge of serving meals  

divers
various  

service
portions of food  

1
If … done
if it were truly over and finished with when the action itself has been completed  

3
trammel up
entangle, trap (as in a net; may play on sense of “bind up a corpse”)  

catch
seize/ensnare  

4
surcease
ending, death  

success
a final outcome/good fortune (plays on sense of “succession of heirs”)  

that but
if only  

6
bank and shoal
riverbank and shallow (though Folio’s “Banke and Schoole” could alternatively mean “bench and school,” pointing forward to the court and schoolroom imagery that follows, whereas “shoal,” an alternative spelling of “school,” emerges from the preceding fishing nets of “trammel” and “catch”)  

7
jump
risk/overleap  

8
still
always  

here
i.e. in this life  

that
in that  

9
instructions
lessons  

10
th’inventor
the teacher, he who composed the
instructions
  

11
Commends
presents, offers  

chalice
goblet (perhaps recalling the cup used in Holy Communion; Macbeth’s is
poisoned
because of the unholy nature of murdering a king)  

14
Strong both
i.e. both strong reasons  

17
faculties
kingly powers  

18
clear
faultless  

20
taking-off
murder  

22
Striding
sitting astride (as on a horse)/standing over to defend  

blast
storm/gale  

cherubin
cherubs (angels traditionally associated with the winds)  

horsed
on horseback  

23
sightless couriers
invisible messengers (i.e. the winds)  

25
That
so that  

tears … wind
tears (of sorrow but also a reaction to having the
deed
blown into the
eye
) will be so plentiful that they will calm the wind  

27
Vaulting … th’other
like a rider attempting to vault into his saddle, ambition leaps too far and crashes to the ground on the other side of the horse/ambition spurs the horse over an obstacle and horse and rider fall  

33
bought
won  

35
would
should  

newest gloss
freshest luster  

41
Such
i.e. you are like the drunkard, bold only when inebriated  

account
deem, consider  

Art … desire?
Are you now afraid to be as brave and active as you would like to be (and claimed to be)?;
act
and
desire
suggest a reference to sexual potency  

44
esteem’st
value as  

ornament
distinction/adornment  

ornament of life
i.e. the crown  

46
wait upon
follow  

adage
proverb  

47
cat i’th’adage
“the cat would eat fish but she will not wet her feet”  

49
do
the verb can also mean “to have sex”  

50
none
i.e. no man (because killing the king would be dishonorable and unnatural; in the following line, however, Lady Macbeth understands “beastlike, irrational”)  

52
break
broach, reveal  

53
durst
dared  

56
adhere
agree, fit  

make both
i.e. make time and place adhere, create an opportunity  

57
that their fitness
their very suitability  

58
unmake
make incapable/destroy  

given suck
i.e. breast-fed a baby  

66
But
only  

sticking-place
the point at which something is made tightly secure (here the metaphor may refer to the groove on a crossbow into which its cord is fitted, or to the peg on a musical instrument around which string is tightened)  

screw … sticking-place
wind up your courage to the limit  

68
Whereto the rather
to which all the more readily  

69
chamberlains
servants who attended the royal bedchamber  

70
wassail
liquor/revelry  

convince
overcome  

71
warder
keeper, guard  

72
fume
vapor  

receipt
receptacle  

73
limbeck
apparatus for distilling (i.e. extracting the essence of a liquid)  

swinish
piglike/coarse/ drunken  

76
put upon
blame on/impose on  

77
spongy
i.e. absorbent, saturated with drink  

officers
servants  

78
quell
murder  

80
undaunted mettle
fearless/intrepid temperament (
mettle
was undistinguished from “metal,” which may lead to a pun on
males
/(chain)mails in the next line)  

81
received
understood, thought  

85
other
otherwise  

86
As
seeing as, given that  

88
settled
committed/determined/steady  

bend up
tighten  

89
corporal agent
bodily faculty/muscle  

90
mock
deceive/imitate  

91
False
deceptive/treacherous/artificial  

1
How … night
how much of the night has passed, what time is it  

5
husbandry
thrift, economy  

6
Their … out
i.e. the stars are not visible  

7
summons
urge to sleep  

15
largess
gifts  

offices
servants’ quarters  

17
shut up
concluded his speech/went to bed/was wrapped up  

19
Being … wrought
i.e. being unprepared for Duncan’s visit, my desire to entertain the king nobly and generously was hampered by a lack of provisions  

30
cleave … consent
agree with me, support me  

when ’tis
when the time comes  

32
So
provided that  

34
bosom franchised
heart free (of guilt)  

35
counselled
guided/open to your opinions  

36
the while
in the meantime  

43
sensible
perceptible (to the senses)  

46
heat-oppressèd
overwhelmed by heat/feverish  

47
yet
still  

palpable
tangible, capable of being touched  

49
marshall’st
guide  

the … going
i.e. toward my intention/to Duncan’s chamber  

52
worth … rest
more reliable than the other senses  

53
dudgeon
hilt  

gouts
drops  

55
informs
takes on a shape  

56
the one halfworld
one half of the world  

58
curtained
screened by the eyelids/veiled by bed curtains  

59
Hecate’s off’rings
sacrifices to Hecate, Greek goddess of witchcraft and night, associated with the moon (hence
pale
)  

60
Alarumed
moved to action  

sentinel
guard, watchman  

61
watch
signal, watchman’s call  

62
Tarquin
Roman who raped Lucrece; he was the king’s son and this deed led to the overthrow of the Roman monarchy  

ravishing
intent on rape  

design
undertaking/scheme  

63
sure
stable  

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