'They met me in the day of success[A1] : and I have learned by the perfectest report, they have more in Them than mortal[A2] knowledge. When I burned in desire to question[A3] them further, they made themselves air, Into which they vanished. Whiles I stood rapt in the wonder of it, came missives from the king, who all-hailed me 'Thane of Cawdor;' [A4] by which title, before, these weird sisters saluted me, and referred Shalt be!' This have I thought good to deliver thee, my dearest partner of greatness, that thou mightst not lose the dues of rejoicing[A5] , by being Ignorant of what greatness is promised thee. Lay it To thy heart and farewell.' (Finished the letter)[A6] Glamis thou art, and Cawdor; and shalt be What thou art promised: yet do I fear thy nature;[A7] It is too full o' the milk of human kindness[A8] To catch the nearest way: thou wouldst be great; The illness should attend it: what thou wouldst highly,[A9] That wouldst thou holily; wouldst not play false, And yet wouldst wrongly win: thou'ldst have, great Glamis, That which cries 'Thus thou must do, if thou have it; And that which rather thou dost fear to do[A10] Than wishest should be undone.' Hie thee hither, That I may pour my spirits in thine ear; And chastise with the valour of my tongue All that impedes thee from the golden round, To have thee crown'd withal. [A11] |
[A1]This was the day of battle when the witches met Macbeth. [A2]The meaning of mortal; (a living human being, often in contrast to a divine being) subject to death. They know more than normal humans, they know the future. [A3]When lady Macbeth started to question the witches they vanished into thin air. [A4]Lady Macbeth uses a strong combination of figurative language to capture her emotional response to her husband's news. ‘Macbeth has become king’. [A5]Macbeth is sharing his exciting news with Lady Macbeth and telling her that they have a great future ahead but she has to keep it a secret. [A6]This is when lady Macbeth finishes reading Macbeth’s letter. [A7]Lady Macbeth is worried that Macbeth cannot live up to the expectations and do his duty as king. [A8]Lady Macbeth thinks that Macbeth is too kind and will not be able to be aggressive. [A9]She goes on to say that Macbeth does not lack ambition but he doesn’t have the mean streak to become an aggressive king. [A10]Lady Macbeth knows that Macbeth wont cheat but she believes that he wants what doesn’t belong to him, she has a fear because she doesn’t know what Macbeth is going to do, (the highlighted section explains this also). [A11]Witch craft and fate want you to become king so go after whatever is holding you back. If you are finding it hard to understand the annotations follow the link below:
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