Act 1 Scene 7


‘I have given suck, and know How tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me: I would, while it was smiling in my face, Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums, And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you Have done to this’


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At this point in the play, Lady Macbeth seems to be the driving force behind the conspiracy to murder Duncan. It is she who formulates the plan to blame the chamberlains for the murder and seems much stronger in her resolve to take the crown than Macbeth. However, it should be noted that despite Lady Macbeth’s influence over her husband, Macbeth freely chooses to murder Duncan and is ultimately responsible for his own moral decisions.


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The scene also explores the idea of gender roles and particularlymasculinity. InitiallyMacbeth equatesmanhoodwith acting in a proper andmoralmanner.He tells LadyMacbeth that to kill Duncan would not be the actions of a real man: ‘I dare do all that may become a man; / Who dares do more is none’. However, Lady Macbeth equates manliness with the bravery and the capacity for violent action: ‘When you durst do it, then you were a man!’ She appeals to Macbeth’s manly pride to encourage him to commit the murder. Macbeth later echoes his wife’s vision of masculinity when he describes Lady Macbeth’s steely determination as a masculine trait: ‘Bring forth men-children only; / For thy undaunted mettle should compose / Nothing butmales’. The question ofwhat itmeans to be aman is recalled throughout the play.


Questions


1. List five reasons Macbeth offers in his soliloquy for not killing Duncan. 2. What impression of Duncan do you get from Macbeth’s soliloquy? 3. How does Lady Macbeth try to convince Macbeth to kill Duncan? 4. What is Lady Macbeth’s plan to avoid suspicion for the murder of Duncan?


5. What does Macbeth mean when he says, ‘Bring forth men-children only; / For thy undaunted mettle should compose / Nothing but males’?


6. Explain why Macbeth says, ‘False face must hide what the false heart doth know’. 7. (a) Macbeth uses a clothing image in this scene. Write it down. (b) Explain what Macbeth means in these lines.


8. From this scene alone, who do you think is more responsible for the decision to kill Duncan: Macbeth or Lady Macbeth? Explain your answer.


Macbeth


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