Macbeth (33 page)
Authors: William Shakespeare
15
scorched
slashed
16
close
heal up
poor malice
feeble animosity
17
her former tooth
the snake’s original fang
18
let … suffer
let the ordered universe collapse, heaven and earth perish
21
shake
afflict/make tremble
22
to … peace
have sent to death as a means of fulfilling our desires
23
on … lie
Macbeth is thinking of the rack, a bedlike torture instrument that stretched the limbs
24
ecstasy
frenzy
25
fitful
restless/full of fits brought on by a high temperature
26
nor
neither
27
Malice domestic
civil war
foreign levy
the raising of enemy armies by foreign countries
30
Gentle my lord
my gentle (i.e. noble) lord
sleek
smooth
rugged
rough, troubled
33
remembrance
attention, regard
34
Present him eminence
show him respect, honor him
36
lave
wash
35
Unsafe … streams
(our position) being unsafe at the moment, we must cleanse our reputation in streams of flattery/as long as we have to flatter in this way, we remain unsafe
37
vizards
masks
42
copy
abundance/pattern from which copies (i.e. descendants) are made/lease (of life), i.e. legal “copyhold” is
eterne
everlasting
44
jocund
cheerful
45
cloistered
in or around cloisters (covered walkways adjoining buildings)
46
shard-born
born in dung
47
yawning
sleepy (with connotations of “yawning open,” like the mouth of a bell that
peals
to announce the arrival of night)
48
note
noteworthiness/ notoriety (puns on the sense of “musical note, chime”)
50
chuck
chick (term of endearment)
51
seeling
blinding (falconry term referring to the sewing together of a young bird’s eyelids for training purposes)
52
Scarf up
blindfold
tender
gentle/young
pitiful
compassionate, merciful
54
bond
bond of (Banquo’s) life/moral law that prohibits murder (the image is of a legal contract)
55
pale
white with fear or cowardice (puns on “paled” meaning “fenced in”)
56
makes wing
flies
rooky
filled with rooks (often undistinguished from the
crow
; both regarded as birds of ill omen)
58
rouse
rouse themselves
59
hold thee still
remain calm
3
He … mistrust
we need not suspect him
delivers Our offices
brings details of our duties
5
To … just
exactly in keeping with the instructions we received
8
lated
belated
apace
speedily
9
gain … inn
reach the inn in good time
14
within … expectation
on the guest list
16
go about
are walked to the stables/are walked to cool them down
22
Stand to’t
get ready/stand firm
24
come down
i.e. the rain/the attack
28
way
plan, thing to do
1
degrees
ranks (according to which the guests would be seated)
at … last
to everyone
4
with society
among the guests
6
keeps her state
remains in her throne
in best time
at the appropriate moment
7
require her welcome
ask her to welcome you
10
encounter
respond to
11
Both … even
there is an equal number of people sitting on each side of the table
12
large in mirth
unrestrained in merrymaking
drink … round
drink a toast with every guest/all join in a collective toast
15
thee … within
on your outside rather than within his body
16
dispatched
killed
20
the nonpareil
without equal
21
is scaped
has escaped
22
fit
paroxysm of fear
perfect
complete/flawless/entirely sane
23
founded
grounded, secure
24
broad and general
widely ranging and universal
casing
surrounding (but also, paradoxically, “enclosing”)
25
cabined
confined (as in a cabin or hut)
cribbed
shut up (as in a crib or cattle stall)
26
saucy
insolent
safe
taken care of, i.e. dead
27
bides
remains
28
trenchèd
trenchlike, deeply cut
29
least … nature
very least of which would be fatal
31
worm
baby snake
34
hear ourselves
converse
36
give the cheer
welcome your guests/ participate in the merriment
37
vouched
avouched, guaranteed
the … welcome
the feast that is not affirmed throughout to be one that is given warmly and freely seems like an event the guests are having to pay for
38
To … home
if it is only mere eating that is involved, one is better off at home
39
From thence
away from home
ceremony
courtesy
40
Meeting
socializing (puns on
meat
)
bare
basic/worthless
42
remembrancer
one who reminds
45
had we
we would have
country’s honour
i.e. the nobility, the glory of Scotland
roofed
under one roof
46
graced
honored
47
challenge
take to task, rebuke
48
mischance
some mishap (preventing him from attending the feast)
50
Lays … promise
brings his promise (to attend) into disrepute
55
moves
stirs, affects/angers
59
gory locks
hair matted with blood
63
upon a thought
in a moment (the time it takes to have a thought)
64
note him
pay attention to him
65
passion
overwhelming emotion/fit of rage/seizure/outburst of madness
66
regard
heed/look at
70
proper stuff
absolute rubbish
71
painting … fear
image of your fear itself/image created by your fear
72
air-drawn
drawn like a picture in the air/drawn, as from a sheath, out of the air
73
flaws
bursts of emotion (plays on the sense of “defects”)
starts
nervous movements, fits, outbursts
74
Impostors to
false versions, imitators of
become
suit
76
Authorized
originally told and affirmed as true by
grandam
grandmother
79
lo
look
How
what
81
charnel houses
buildings containing bones of the dead
82
monuments … kites
only tombs shall be the stomachs of birds of prey
84
unmanned
made feeble, unmanly
folly
foolishness, mental weakness/sin
86
Fie
an expression of disgust or indignation
human
of people/humane
88
Ere … weal
before civil law cleansed and made peaceful the commonwealth
93
mortal murders
fatal injuries
crowns
heads
94
stools
seats (at the feast)/thrones
97
lack
miss/need
99
muse
wonder
100
infirmity
illness, weakness (physical or mental)
101
love … all
Macbeth proposes a toast
105
thirst
wish to drink/long to see
106
all to all
may everyone drink to everyone else
107
duties
loyalty and respect
pledge
toast
108
Avaunt
begone
110
speculation
power of sight
116
rugged
rough, shaggy, wild
117
armed
armored (i.e. with a tough skin)
th’Hyrcan
from Hyrcania, in classical times the region south of the Caspian Sea
118
that
i.e. that of Banquo
120
dare … desert
challenge me to a fight in a desolate place
121
trembling I inhabit
trembling possesses me/if I remain indoors out of fear
protest
declare
122
The … girl
a baby girl/a girl’s doll
shadow
ghost, illusion, dark thing
123
mock’ry
imitation/impudent counterfeit
125
displaced the mirth
put an end to the merriment
126
admired
wondered at
128
overcome
cover, overwhelm
129
special
particular
make … owe
cause me to feel (or view me as being) a stranger to my own nature
133
blanched
whitened
136
At once
all of you/immediately
137
Stand … once
do not observe the protocol of leaving in order of rank
144
Augurs
prophecies made by interpreting the behavior of birds
understood relations
interpreted accounts/connections between things
145
magot-pies
magpies (thought to be birds of ill omen, like
choughs
and
rooks
)
choughs
crows
146
secret’st … blood
most hidden murderer
