Macbeth act 1, scene 5 translation

 

Macbeth act 1, scene 5 translation

(Enter LADY MACBETH, alone, reading a letter.)

LADY MACBETH (reading the letter from Macbeth):

The witches met me on the day of my victory, and I have learned from the most reliable sources that they possess supernatural knowledge. When I was burning with desire to question them further, they vanished into thin air. While I stood there amazed, messengers from the King arrived and hailed me as "Thane of Cawdor"—the very title the witches had used before greeting me with "Hail, king that shalt be!" I thought it best to tell you this, my dearest partner in greatness, so you wouldn't miss out on the joy of knowing what greatness is promised to you. Take it to heart. Farewell.

(She stops reading the letter and speaks her thoughts aloud.)

You are the Thane of Glamis and Cawdor, and you will be what you were promised. Yet I fear your nature; it is too full of the milk of human kindness to take the shortest route. You want to be great, and you are ambitious, but you lack the ruthlessness that should go with ambition. You want to achieve your goals honorably. You don't want to cheat, but you're willing to win wrongly. You want the crown, which screams "You must do this to get it!"—and you're more afraid of doing that deed than you are wishing it undone once it's done. Hurry home, so I can pour my fierce spirit into your ear and scold, with the force of my words, everything that's holding you back from the golden crown, which fate and supernatural aid seem to want to give you.

(A MESSENGER enters.)

LADY MACBETH:
What's your news?

MESSENGER:
The King is coming here tonight.

LADY MACBETH:
You're mad to say that! Isn't your master (Macbeth) with him? If he were, he would have sent word to prepare.

MESSENGER:
It's true, I swear. My lord is on his way. One of my fellow servants outran him, who, nearly dead from breathlessness, had just enough left to deliver his message.

LADY MACBETH:
Take care of him. He brings great news.

(The MESSENGER exits.)

The raven that croaks news of Duncan's fatal arrival under my battlements is itself hoarse. Come, you spirits that influence murderous thoughts! Unsex me here. Fill me from head to toe with the most terrible cruelty. Thicken my blood. Block all paths to remorse, so no natural feelings of conscience can shake my cruel purpose or interfere with its execution. Come to my woman's breasts and turn my milk to bile, you murdering demons, wherever you invisible entities wait to assist nature's mischief. Come, thick night, and shroud yourself in the darkest smoke of hell, so my sharp knife won't see the wound it makes, nor heaven peep through the blanket of darkness to cry "Stop! Stop!"

(MACBETH enters.)

LADY MACBETH:

Great Glamis! Worthy Cawdor! Even greater than both as the future king! Your letter has transported me out of the ignorant present, and I feel the future now.

MACBETH:
My dearest love, Duncan is coming here tonight.

LADY MACBETH:

And when does he leave?

MACBETH:
Tomorrow, as he plans.

LADY MACBETH:

Oh, may the sun never see that tomorrow!

Your face, my lord, is like a book where men can read strange things. To deceive everyone, look like everyone else. Bear welcome in your eye, your hand, your tongue. Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent underneath it. The man who is coming must be taken care of. You will leave the great business of this night to my management, which will give us absolute power and mastery for all our nights and days to come.

MACBETH:
We will discuss this further.

LADY MACBETH:

Just keep your expression clear. To change your look is to show fear. Leave all the rest to me.

(They exit.)

Key Points in Plain English:

  1. The Letter: Macbeth writes to his wife, telling her everything about the witches and their prophecy. He calls her his "partner of greatness," showing their close, ambitious partnership.
  2. Lady Macbeth's Assessment: She instantly believes the prophecy but fears Macbeth is "too full o' th' milk of human kindness" (too gentle, too moral) to murder Duncan and seize the crown. She resolves to manipulate him into doing it.
  3. The Invocation: When she learns Duncan is coming, she calls on dark spirits to strip her of her feminine compassion ("unsex me") and fill her with "direst cruelty." She wants to be inhumanly ruthless. She also asks for darkness to hide the evil deed from heaven's sight.
  4. The Plan: When Macbeth arrives, she immediately takes charge. She gives him crucial advice on deception: "Look like th' innocent flower, / But be the serpent under 't." She tells him to act normally while she handles the details of the murder.
  5. Her Dominance: She is the driving force, the strategist. Macbeth's hesitant line, "We will speak further," shows his doubt, while her final "Leave all the rest to me" shows her steely resolve. She is the play's primary catalyst for evil at this point.

 

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