Authors: William Shakespeare
prate
speak
65
prate … whereabout
betray my location
present
immediate/pressing
66
take … it
(in breaking the silence) take on (or “remove”) the acute horror of this moment that is so suitable for it
67
threat
threaten (to act)
70
knell
toll of a bell rung at funerals or after a death
1
them
i.e. Duncan’s servants
2
quenched
extinguished (fire)
3
owl
considered a bird of ill omen whose cry heralded death
bellman
one who rang a bell to announce a death/night watchman who rang a bell every hour
4
stern’st goodnight
harshest and final good night (death)
5
surfeited
sated, drunk
grooms
male servants
6
mock
make a mockery of/defy/imitate
possets
hot spiced drinks often consumed before bed
7
That
so that
contend about
compete for, fight over
12
Confounds
ruins, defeats
13
he
i.e. Duncan
27
one … one
Malcolm and Donalbain (although possibly the grooms)
29
addressed them
prepared themselves
33
As
as if
hangman’s hands
perhaps a general reference to any executioner, though a hangman might have had bloody hands as he sometimes disemboweled the bodies of hanged men
37
wherefore
why
40
thought … ways
dwelt on in this manner
41
so
to do so
44
ravelled
unraveled, frayed
sleeve
part of the arm of a piece of clothing/silk filament produced by untwisting a thicker thread
45
bath
soothing bath/healing liquid
46
Balm
healing ointment
second course
main, most nourishing dish in a
feast
53
unbend
slacken, weaken
55
filthy witness
i.e. Duncan’s blood
57
lie
remain (plays on sense of “deceive”)
65
painted
pictured/smeared (with blood)
do bleed
is still bleeding/begins to bleed afresh (murdered corpses were thought to bleed in the presence of the murderer)
66
gild
paint, as with gold leaf (puns on
guilt
)
68
Whence
from where
69
appals me
makes me pale/terrifies me
71
Neptune
Roman god of the sea
73
multitudinous
numerous/containing many waves
incarnadine
make red, stain with blood
74
green one red
green sea entirely red/the green one (i.e. the sea) red
75
shame
would be ashamed
76
white
i.e. cowardly
77
south entry
southern entrance to the castle
78
clears
cleans/frees from accusation
79
constancy … unattended
your firmness has abandoned you
81
nightgown
dressing gown
occasion
events/chance
82
watchers
those who remain awake
83
poorly
miserably/feebly, inadequately
84
To … myself
i.e. being mentally
lost
is preferable to acknowledging what I have done/if consciousness of what I have done is to be endured, I must abandon my former self
2
old
plenty of
3
Beelzebub
common name of a devil
4
Here’s
the Porter begins to imagine those arriving in hell
th’expectation of plenty
presumably the farmer anticipated making a profit by hoarding his grain, only to be confounded by an abundant harvest and low prices; alternatively, he staked everything on a plentiful harvest that did not materialize
5
come in time
you have come at a good time
napkins
handkerchiefs (to wipe the
sweat
resulting from the heat of hell)
7
other devil
another devil whose name escapes the Porter (though also suggestive of Macbeth)
Faith
by my faith (a common oath)
8
equivocator
one who uses words ambiguously, so that more than one meaning may apply
scales
here specifically the scales of justice
9
for God’s sake
a common oath, but also a reference to Catholics who used equivocation in court as a way of escaping prosecution
13
stealing … hose
scrimping on the material used to make a pair of breeches/being too lecherous and dying of syphilis (tailors were popularly viewed as lustful and this one has let his penis steal out too often from his breeches; “
tail”
was slang for “penis”)
14
roast your goose
heat up your tailor’s iron/have sex with your prostitute/contract venereal disease
17
primrose … bonfire
seemingly attractive but sinful path to eternal damnation
19
remember
give a tip to
22
carousing
reveling/drinking toasts
second cock
second crowing of the cockerel (3 a.m. or later)
25
Marry
by the Virgin Mary
nose-painting
i.e. reddening of the nose
29
mars
spoils
sets … off
creates a sexual urge but renders him impotent
30
stand … to
get an erection and lose it
31
equivocates … sleep
gives him erotic pleasure in a dream only
giving … lie
deceiving him (as he cannot actually perform sexually)/laying him flat (as in wrestling)/leaving him without an erection/calling him a liar/making him urinate
34
i’the … me
literally, in my throat/(deceiving) deliberately, outrageously
35
requited
repaid (with violence)
36
took … legs
made me incapable of walking, pulled my legs out from under me (as a wrestler would)
made a shift
contrived
37
cast him
throw him down/vomit
44
timely
early/promptly
45
slipped the hour
missed the designated time
48
yet ’tis one
nevertheless it still is a
trouble
49
The … pain
tasks we take pleasure in cure any hardship they entail
52
limited
appointed
54
appoint
intend/determine
55
unruly
disordered, turbulent
57
Lamentings
cries of grief
58
prophesying
foretelling/preaching/uttering solemnly
accents terrible
terrifying utterances
59
dire combustion
dreadful confusion/ dangerous tumult
events
outcomes
60
New hatched to
newly born as offspring to/newly born into
obscure
of darkness/hidden
obscure bird
i.e. the owl, bird of darkness
61
livelong
long-lasting
64
My … to it
my youthful memory cannot remember one like it/I cannot remember one like it even during my youth
67
conceive
imagine/comprehend, take in
69
Confusion
disorder/destruction/disaster
70
sacrilegious
unholy, profane (literally “sacrilege” is “stealing what is God’s”)
ope
open
71
Lord’s anointed temple
God’s consecrated house of worship/Duncan’s head or body (
anointed
with holy oil at his coronation)
76
Gorgon
in Greek mythology, a female monster; anyone who looked at her was turned to stone
81
downy
soft, comfortable
counterfeit
imitator/likeness
83
great doom’s image
image of Judgment Day, the end of the world when the dead were supposed to
rise
from their
graves
84
sprites
spirits, ghosts
85
countenance
face/be in keeping with
87
trumpet
i.e. noise, clamor (a trumpet was also supposed to sound at Judgment Day)
parley
conversation/negotiation between enemy forces (announced with a trumpet call)
91
repetition
recital, report
99
chance
moment/event/misfortune
101
mortality
life
102
toys
trifles, insignificant things
renown and grace
honor
103
drawn
drained (from a barrel)
lees
dregs
104
left
left in
vault
wine cellar/world beneath the arched sky
brag
boast, be proud
108
stopped
ended/stopped-up
112
badged
marked as if with a badge worn by liveried servants
114
stared
looked stunned, horror-struck/gazed fixedly
distracted
agitated/ confused
119
amazed
stunned/confused/dismayed
temp’rate
calm, composed, restrained
121
Th’expedition
the haste
violent
passionate/impetuous (plays on the sense of “destructive, bloody”)
122
pauser
provoker of hesitation and self-restraint (the faculty of
reason
)
124
breach
flaw/gap in fortifications made by an onslaught of heavy blows
125
wasteful
destructive
126
Steeped
dyed/soaked
127
Unmannerly
improperly
breeched
covered, as if wearing breeches (puns on
breach
)
129
make’s
make his
132
Why … ours?
Why do we remain silent when this subject has most to do with us?
132
Why … ours?
Why do we remain silent when this subject has most to do with us?
135
auger hole
small hole drilled with a carpenter’s tool (
auger
), i.e. undetectable hiding place
seize
ambush
rush … us
Donalbain fears that his father’s murderer may now seek to harm him and his brother