Читать книгу Macbeth - William Shakespeare - Страница 12

Banquo, as well as Macbeth, seems to be plagued by disturbing thoughts and temptations, but when Macbeth suggests that they should meet to discuss the witches’ prophecies Banquo stresses that he will do nothing dishonourable. Left alone, in another agonized soliloquy (Is this a dagger which I see before me…?) Macbeth shows how deeply disturbed he is by the crime he is now committed to. He hears the bell, struck by Lady Macbeth, which is the signal for him to act; she has done her part by giving Duncan’s servants drink, to make them sleepy. She hears Macbeth shout, and thinks that he has failed to kill the king, but he comes in saying that he has ‘done the deed’.

He seems shattered, and she has to stop him thinking about the crime and his lost honour. As before, she uses the weapon of scorn against him, but this time it does not work. He cannot bring himself to return to the king’s room with the bloody daggers which he should have left there. She goes instead and smears the servants with blood. A thunderous knocking is heard. Macbeth is obsessed with the horror of Duncan’s blood on his hands; Lady Macbeth, on the contrary, whose hands are now also red, dismisses it as unimportant (A little water clears us of this deed).

The porter of the castle is roused at last from his drunken sleep by the knocking. He staggers to the door of the castle to let in Macduff and Lennox, who have come to wake the king. Macbeth comes to see them, pretending that he has only just been awakened himself, and escorts Macduff to the king’s apartment. After Lennox has commented on the wild weather, Macduff re-enters, so appalled that he can hardly say what he has seen. All the thanes and and the two princes, Malcolm and Donalbain, are roused. Lennox, Ross and Macbeth go back to the king’s room, where Macbeth kills the two servants who are covered in blood. Soon afterwards Lennox blames these servants for the murder, but Macduff seems to have some doubts, since he asks Macbeth why he killed them. Macbeth begins to explain in an elaborate, overwrought manner and Lady Macbeth either faints or pretends to do so. Malcolm and Donalbain, who have hardly had time to feel anything except fear, decide to go away. Malcolm’s words suggest that he already suspects Macbeth.

The final scene in the Act presents a picture of total disorder in the natural world, reflecting the chaos in human society. An old man describes bizarre events. Macduff says that Malcolm and Donalbain, because they have fled, are suspected of paying the servants to kill Duncan, their father. He also says that Macbeth has been named as the new king; he is shortly to be crowned at Scone.