ISC Class 11 English Drama Macbeth Act 1 Scene 7 Summary, Theme, Explanation along with difficult word meanings
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ISC Class 11 – Macbeth Act 1 Scene 7
By William Shakespeare
Act 1, Scene 7 of Macbeth shows Macbeth debating whether to kill King Duncan. He feels conflicted because Duncan is his relative, his king, and his guest. He decides not to kill Duncan. However, Lady Macbeth arrives, challenges him, and they make a new plan to murder the king.
- Macbeth Act 1 Scene 7 Summary
- Macbeth Act 1 Scene 7 Summary in Hindi
- Macbeth Act 1 Scene 7 Theme
- Macbeth Act 1 Scene 7 Explanation
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Macbeth Act 1 Scene 7 Summary
This scene takes place during a feast in Macbeth’s castle, but it focuses on an internal struggle. It opens with Macbeth’s famous soliloquy revealing his inner thoughts. He is wrestling with his conscience and considering the consequences of murdering King Duncan.
Macbeth wishes the assassination could be swift, final, and have no repercussions in this life. He argues against the deed by reflecting on the concept of ‘even-handed justice’, suggesting that violence often ‘returns to plague th’ inventor’. He acknowledges his obligations to Duncan in three ways: as his kinsman, his subject, and his host. A host should protect his guest, not murder him. Furthermore, Macbeth admits that Duncan is an excellent king, whose virtues will plead like ‘angels, trumpet-tongued’ against the murder, ensuring that the deed will be met with universal pity and outrage. Macbeth concludes that his only motivation is ‘vaulting ambition’, which he compares to a rider who leaps too far and falls. Essentially, his ambition is the only thing pushing him, and he knows it’s reckless.
Lady Macbeth enters and immediately challenges her husband. Macbeth, having resolved to back out, tells her, ‘We will proceed no further in this business,’ citing the recent honors Duncan has bestowed upon him. Lady Macbeth, furious, uses a variety of harsh tactics to manipulate him. She mocks his hesitation, calling his hope ‘drunk’ and suggesting he is now ‘green and pale’ with cowardice. She questions his love and, most importantly, attacks his masculinity. She asks if he is ‘afeard / To be the same in thine own act and valor / As thou art in desire.’ She compares him to ‘the poor cat i’ th’ adage’, a proverbial cat that wants fish but fears wetting its paws.
To silence her, Macbeth declares, ‘I dare do all that may become a man. / Who dares do more is none.’ However, Lady Macbeth escalates her attack, offering a horrifying image of her own ruthless resolve. She states that she would rather have ‘dashed the brains out’ of her own smiling baby than break a solemn oath like the one Macbeth supposedly made to her about the murder. This shock tactic successfully breaks Macbeth’s resistance. When he asks her if they fail, she dismissively responds to that.
Lady Macbeth then outlines a simple, brutal plan: they will wait until Duncan is asleep. She will use wine and ‘wassail’, a strong drink to get Duncan’s two guards so drunk that their memories become ‘a fume’. Once the guards are in a ‘swinish sleep,’ Macbeth can easily murder the ‘unguarded Duncan’. They will then frame the guards by smearing them with the King’s blood and using their own daggers. Macbeth, impressed and horrified by her courage, is completely won over. He agrees to the plan, concluding the scene by committing to a ‘false face’ that must ‘hide what the false heart doth know,’ resolving to mask his murderous intentions with a pleasant facade.
Summary of Macbeth Act 1 Scene 7 in Hindi
यह दृश्य मैकबेथ के महल में एक दावत के दौरान होता है, लेकिन यह एक आंतरिक संघर्ष पर केंद्रित है। इसकी शुरुआत मैकबेथ की प्रसिद्ध आत्मकथा से होती है जो उनके आंतरिक विचारों को प्रकट करती है। वह अपनी अंतरात्मा से लड़ रहा है और राजा डंकन की हत्या के परिणामों पर विचार कर रहा है।
मैकबेथ की इच्छा है कि हत्या त्वरित, अंतिम हो सकती है और इस जीवन में इसका कोई असर नहीं हो सकता है। वह ‘समान-हाथ न्याय’ की अवधारणा को प्रतिबिंबित करके विलेख के खिलाफ तर्क देते हैं, यह सुझाव देते हुए कि हिंसा अक्सर ‘आविष्कारक’ को प्लेग करने के लिए लौटती है। वह डंकन के प्रति अपने दायित्वों को तीन तरीकों से स्वीकार करता हैः अपने रिश्तेदार, अपने विषय और अपने मेजबान के रूप में। एक मेजबान को अपने मेहमान की रक्षा करनी चाहिए, न कि उसकी हत्या। इसके अलावा, मैकबेथ स्वीकार करते हैं कि डंकन एक उत्कृष्ट राजा है, जिसके गुण हत्या के खिलाफ ‘स्वर्गदूतों, तुरही वाले’ की तरह गुहार लगाएंगे, यह सुनिश्चित करते हुए कि कार्य को सार्वभौमिक दया और आक्रोश का सामना करना पड़ेगा। मैकबेथ ने निष्कर्ष निकाला कि उनकी एकमात्र प्रेरणा ‘वॉल्टिंग महत्वाकांक्षा’ है, जिसकी तुलना वह एक सवार से करते हैं जो बहुत दूर कूदता है और गिर जाता है। अनिवार्य रूप से, उसकी महत्वाकांक्षा ही उसे आगे बढ़ाती है, और वह जानता है कि यह लापरवाह है।
लेडी मैकबेथ प्रवेश करती है और तुरंत अपने पति को चुनौती देती है। मैकबेथ, पीछे हटने का संकल्प लेते हुए, डंकन द्वारा उन्हें दिए गए हाल के सम्मानों का हवाला देते हुए, उससे कहता है, ‘हम इस व्यवसाय में आगे नहीं बढ़ेंगे।’ लेडी मैकबेथ, गुस्से में, उसे हेरफेर करने के लिए विभिन्न प्रकार की कठोर रणनीति का उपयोग करती है। वह उसकी झिझक का मज़ाक उड़ाती है, उसकी उम्मीद को ‘नशे में धुत’ बताती है और सुझाव देती है कि वह अब कायरता के साथ ‘हरा और पीला’ है। वह उसके प्यार पर सवाल उठाती है और सबसे महत्वपूर्ण बात उसकी मर्दानगी पर हमला करती है। वह पूछती है कि क्या वह ‘डरा हुआ है/अपने स्वयं के कार्य और वीरता में वही होने के लिए/जैसा आप इच्छा में हैं’। वह उसकी तुलना ‘गरीब बिल्ली की कहावत’ से करती है, एक कहावत बिल्ली जो मछली चाहती है लेकिन अपने पंजों को गीला करने से डरती है।
उसे चुप कराने के लिए, मैकबेथ घोषणा करता है, ‘मैं वह सब करने की हिम्मत करता हूं जो एक आदमी बन सकता है। / जो अधिक करने की हिम्मत करता है वह कोई नहीं है। हालाँकि, लेडी मैकबेथ अपने क्रूर संकल्प की एक भयावह छवि पेश करते हुए अपने हमले को बढ़ाती है। वह कहती है कि वह हत्या के बारे में मैकबेथ द्वारा उससे की गई शपथ की तरह एक गंभीर शपथ को तोड़ने के बजाय अपने मुस्कुराते हुए बच्चे के ‘दिमाग को बाहर निकाल देती’। यह आघात रणनीति मैकबेथ के प्रतिरोध को सफलतापूर्वक तोड़ देती है। जब वह उससे पूछता है कि क्या वे असफल होते हैं, तो वह उसे खारिज कर देती है।
लेडी मैकबेथ ने तब एक सरल, क्रूर योजना की रूपरेखा तैयार कीः वे तब तक इंतजार करेंगे जब तक डंकन सो नहीं जाता। वह डंकन के दो गार्डों को इतना नशे में डालने के लिए शराब और ‘वासेल’, एक मजबूत पेय का उपयोग करेगी कि उनकी यादें ‘धुआं’ बन जाएंगी। एक बार जब गार्ड ‘स्विनिश स्लीप’ में होते हैं, तो मैकबेथ आसानी से ‘असुरक्षित डंकन’ की हत्या कर सकता है। इसके बाद वे रक्षकों को राजा के खून से लेप करके और अपनी खुद की खंजरों का उपयोग करके फंसाते हैं। मैकबेथ, उसके साहस से प्रभावित और भयभीत होकर, पूरी तरह से जीत जाता है। वह योजना से सहमत होता है, एक ‘झूठे चेहरे’ के लिए प्रतिबद्ध होकर दृश्य का समापन करता है जिसे ‘झूठे दिल को क्या पता है उसे छिपाना चाहिए’, एक सुखद मुखौटा के साथ अपने जानलेवा इरादों को छिपाने का संकल्प लेना चाहिए।
Theme of Macbeth Act 1 Scene 7
Ambition and its Consequences
The primary theme is high ambition, as Macbeth struggles with his desire to be king versus his moral conscience. In his opening soliloquy, he confessed that he has ‘no spur / To prick the sides of my intent, but only / Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself / And falls on th’ other’. He knows that his ambition is reckless and dangerous, leading him to consider murdering the king that will bring terrible judgment and consequences upon himself in this life and the next. He is tormented by the fact that the bloody instruction he teaches by murdering Duncan will inevitably ‘return / To plague th’ inventor’.
Appearance vs. Reality
The theme of deceit and false appearance is brought to the forefront as the scene concludes. Once Macbeth is persuaded, he resolves to hide his evil intentions behind a welcoming guise. His final lines, ‘Away, and mock the time with fairest show. / False face must hide what the false heart doth know’ captures this theme. They set the stage for the rest of the play, where the Macbeths must constantly pretend to be loyal, grieving subjects while secretly being murderous usurpers, showing that their actions require them to live a lie.
Manhood and Cruelty
Lady Macbeth powerfully explores the theme of manhood and cruelty as a tool of manipulation. When Macbeth hesitates, saying ‘We will proceed no further in this business’, she attacks his courage, essentially calling him a coward and less than a man. She challenges him, ‘Art thou afeard / To be the same in thine own act and valor / As thou art in desire?’ She states that to break his oath is to be ‘the poor cat i’ th’ adage’ i.e. a coward. She redefines manhood not as honour or restraint, but as the ruthless ability to commit violence, culminating in her shocking image of smashing a baby’s brains out if she had sworn to do it.
Moral Order and Justice
The scene introduces the theme of moral and cosmic justice. Macbeth worries that justice will be ‘even-handed’ and will ensure the ‘ingredience of our poisoned chalice / To our own lips.’ He knows the natural and divine order is against his deed, as Duncan is his king, kinsman, and guest. He sees Duncan’s ‘meek’ virtues as ‘trumpet-tongued’ angels that will turn the world against the murderer, suggesting that the consequences of this crime will be public, catastrophic, and inescapable.
Setting of the Scene
The setting for this crucial scene is Macbeth’s own castle in Inverness, Scotland. Specifically, the action takes place in a hallway or an antechamber close to the dining area where King Duncan is enjoying a celebratory feast. The audience knows a great party is happening because the scene begins with servants crossing the stage carrying food and dishes, accompanied by music from ‘hautboys’ and the light of torches. This backdrop of celebration is very important. While King Duncan is inside feeling safe, honored, and enjoying Macbeth’s hospitality, Macbeth steps out into the private, quieter space of the hall. This allows him to have his famous soliloquy. The setting emphasizes the hypocrisy of the moment: there is happiness and trust on one side of the wall, and betrayal and murder being planned on the other. When Lady Macbeth enters, the private hallway setting allows the couple to have a very intimate and intense conversation without being overheard. They are speaking about the most treasonous subject, killing their King, while the King is literally just rooms away, sleeping or finishing his meal. The entire atmosphere is one of false welcome, as Macbeth is supposed to be Duncan’s loyal host, not his murderer.
Macbeth Act I Scene 7 Explanation
The banquet in honour of the King is in progress. Macbeth slips away from the banquet and realises the horror of his proposed crime. He debates within himself whether to murder Duncan. Above all, Duncan is his relative and his guest; besides he is the king of Scotland. All these should make him protect the king. Macbeth tells his wife that they will proceed no further in their plan. Lady Macbeth, with her appeals and reproaches, prevails over him. Finally, he decides to murder Duncan in such a way that the guilt of murder will fall on the king’s grooms.
Word Meanings
Banquet: A large, formal meal or feast, often celebratory.
Proposed: Suggested or put forward for consideration.
Debates: Argues about something, often with oneself, before making a decision.
Reproaches: Expressions of disapproval or disappointment; criticisms.
Prevails over: Succeeds in persuading or convincing someone to accept an idea or course of action.
Grooms: Servants who attend to a specific person, often a king, in his chamber; here referring to the King’s attendants/chamberlains.
Explanation of the above setting of the Scene—The King’s banquet was underway, but Macbeth quietly left the dinner to be alone. As he reflected, he fully grasped the terrible nature of the murder he was planning. He argued with himself about whether he should kill King Duncan, realizing he had many reasons to protect him instead mainly because Duncan was his relative, his guest, and the King of Scotland. These bonds of kinship, hospitality, and loyalty should have made him shield the King from harm. Because of these serious moral objections, Macbeth told his wife that they would not continue with their plan. However, Lady Macbeth managed to overpower his decision. Using a combination of emotional pleas and harsh criticism, she convinced him to change his mind. In the end, Macbeth resolved to murder Duncan, but he agreed to carry out the act in a way that would make it appear as though the King’s personal servants were the guilty parties.
Play
Scene 7. Macbeth’s castle. Hautboys. Torches.
Enter a Sewer, and divers
Servants with dishes and service and pass over the stage. Then enter Macbeth.
Macbeth
If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well
It were done quickly: If the assassination
Could trammel up the consequence, and catch,
With his surcease, success; that but this blow
Might be the be-all and the end-all here,
But here, upon this bank and shoal of time,
We’ld jump the life to come.
But in these cases,
We still have judgment here; that we but teach
Bloody instructions, which being taught return
To plague the inventor: this even-handed justice
Commends the ingredients of our poison’d chalice
To our own lips. He’s here in double trust:
First, as I am his kinsman and his subject,
Strong both against the deed; then, as his host,
Who should against his murderer shut the door,
Not bear the knife myself. Besides, this Duncan
Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been
So clear in his great office, that his virtues
Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongu’d, against
The deep damnation of his taking-off;
And pity, like a naked new-born babe,
Striding the blast, or heaven’s cherubin horsed
Upon the sightless couriers of the air,
Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye,
That tears shall drown the wind. I have no spur
To prick the sides of my intent, but only
Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself
And falls on the other.
Enter Lady Macbeth
How now! what news?
Lady Macbeth
He has almost supp’d: why have you left the chamber?
Macbeth
Hath he ask’d for me?
Lady Macbeth
Know you not he has?
Macbeth
We will proceed no further in this business:
He hath honour’d me of late; and I have bought
Golden opinions from all sorts of people,
Which would be worn now in their newest gloss,
Not cast aside so soon.
Word Meanings
Hautboys: A double-reed woodwind instrument, the predecessor of the modern oboe; often used to signal a procession or a banquet.
Sewer: A chief servant who superintended the serving of dishes at a meal.
’tis: its (assassination).
Trammel up: To ensnare, confine, or stop (the consequences).
surcease: cessation.
success: commit the murder and have no effects later.
Shoal of time: A metaphor referring to the narrow, shallow span of human life (as opposed to the vast ocean of eternity).
jump: risk.
Bloody instructions: lessons in murder.
plague: torment.
Commends: Offers or presents (in the context of justice, it means handing over the punishment).
Poison’d chalice: A metaphor for a cup of poison; represents a deadly, self-inflicted punishment or retribution.
double trust: two-fold trust.
Borne his faculties so meek: Has exercised his royal powers so gently and humbly.
So clear in his great office: Has been so pure, upright, and free from corruption in his role as king.
Taking-off: Murder or death.
Striding the blast: riding the storm.
cherubin: winged creature with a human face (angels).
Sightless couriers: Invisible messengers (referring to the wind).
Spur: A metaphor for a powerful motivation or incentive (used on a horse to make it go).
Vaulting ambition: A metaphor for ambition that overleaps itself; excessive, reckless desire for power.
other: other side. (Note the imagery from horse riding.)
Golden opinions: High praise, honor, or good reputation earned from others.
supp’d: finished his supper.
would: should.
gloss: glitter.
Explanation of the above dialogues— The scene opens in Macbeth’s castle as servants carrying dishes cross the stage, suggesting a royal dinner is underway. Macbeth enters alone and begins to contemplate the act of murdering the king Duncan. He thinks that if the murder could be accomplished without any negative repercussions following it, it would be best to do it immediately. He wishes that this single act of assassination could stop the consequences, leading only to success. If this single blow could truly be the ‘be-all and the end-all’ of the matter here on earth, he would disregard the consequences in the afterlife. However, Macbeth acknowledges that in such cases, they will face judgment even in this world. He realizes that committing murder is like teaching others to be violent, and those violent lessons will inevitably return to punish the one who invented them. This fair justice makes him taste the ‘poisoned chalice’ i.e. a cup of poison, he intends for Duncan. He then reviews his reasons for not killing the King: Duncan trusts him for two reasons. First, Macbeth is his relative and his subject, both roles demanding loyalty. Second, Macbeth is Duncan’s host, who should be protecting the King from murderers, not wielding the knife himself. Furthermore, Duncan has been such a meek and virtuous king that his good qualities will plead like angels against the ‘deep damnation’ of his murder. Macbeth believes that pity, visualized as an innocent, wailing newborn or an angel riding the wind, will expose the terrible deed to every eye, causing universal grief. He concludes that he has no good reason to push him toward the murder, only his own high ambition, which he fears will cause him to overreach and fall. Lady Macbeth enters, and Macbeth immediately asks for news. She tells him the King has almost finished supper and asks why Macbeth left the chamber. He asks if Duncan had asked for him, and she replies impatiently that he certainly had. Macbeth then declares firmly that they will not proceed with the murder. He explains that Duncan has honored him recently, and he has earned high praise from everyone, which he wants to enjoy now, not throw away so quickly. Macbeth’s recognition of the ‘double trust’ i.e. kinsman, subject, host elevates the crime from political assassination to unnatural, profane betrayal. This profound violation is what makes Duncan’s virtues ‘plead like angels,’ justifying the cosmic disorder that follows. He is not driven by external pressure or revenge, but by an internal, boundless desire for power, his tragic flaw, that he recognizes is inherently destructive and self-defeating. His final decision to stop is based on social vanity, showing he values his reputation over the wicked deed, but also indicating a moral weakness that is easily exploited.
Play
Lady Macbeth
Was the hope drunk
Wherein you dress’d yourself? Hath it slept since?
40 And wakes it now, to look so green and pale
At what it did so freely? From this time,
Such I account thy love. Art thou afeard
To be the same in thine own act and valour,
As thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that.
45 Which thou esteem’st the ornament of life,
And live a coward in thine own esteem,
Letting ‘I dare not’ wait upon ‘I would,’
poor cat i’ the adage?
Like the poor cat i’ the adage?
Macbeth
Prithee, peace:
50 I dare do all that may become a man;
Who dares do more is none.
Lady Macbeth
What beast was’t then,
That made you break this enterprise to me?
When you durst do it, then you were a man;
55 And, to be more than what you were, you would
Be so much more the man. Nor time, nor place
Did then adhere, and yet you would make both:
They have made themselves, and that their fitness now
Does unmake you. I have given suck, and know
60 How tender ’tis to love the babe that milks me:
I would, while it was smiling in my face,
Have pluck’d my nipple from his boneless gums,
And dash’d the brains out, had I so sworn as you
Have done to this.
Word Meanings
Dressed’d yourself: Took on; wore the idea of hope.
Green and pale: Sickly, faint; here, meaning fearful or cowardly.
Thine own act and valour: Your own action and bravery.
Ornament of life: The crown or kingship
Coward in thine own esteem: Someone who views himself as unmanly and fearful.
Poor cat i’ the adage: A reference to the proverb: ‘The cat would eat fish, but would not wet her paws,’ meaning someone who desires something but is afraid to take the necessary risk.
Prithee: I pray you.
become a man: worthy of a man.
break this enterprise: reveal this plan.
durst: dared.
adhere: stick together.
Unmake you: Destroy your identity or your resolve.
I have given suck: I have breastfed a child.
Boneless gums: The mouth of an infant before teeth develop.
Dash’d the brains out: Violently smashed the head.
Explanation of the above dialogues— Lady Macbeth began by asking Macbeth if his hope for the crown had been ‘drunk’ when he conceived the idea, wondering if it had slept since and was now waking up looking sickly and pale at the bloody deed it had once freely desired. She declared that from that time forward, she would judge his love based on his courage. She then questioned whether he was afraid to match his action and valor to his desire, suggesting he wished to possess the crown but would rather live a coward in his own eyes, constantly allowing his ‘I dare not’ to delay his ‘I would,’ just like the timid cat in the proverb. Macbeth asked her to be silent, firmly asserting that he dared to do everything that was appropriate for a man, and anyone who dared to do more was inhuman. Lady Macbeth immediately countered by asking what kind of ‘beast’ made him reveal the enterprise to her in the first place. She argued that when he first had the courage to plan the murder, then he was a man, and by carrying it out, he would be much more than being the man by exceeding his former self. She pointed out that when they initially discussed it, the timing and location were not suitable, yet he still wished to force the issue. Now that the time and place had made themselves convenient, their very fitness was destroying his resolve. She then used a chilling image to express her commitment, explaining that she knew the tenderness of loving the child that she breastfed. She swore that despite this feeling, she would have violently killed her own smiling baby if she had sworn an oath to do so, just as Macbeth had sworn to kill Duncan. This scene revolves around the theme of manhood, which Lady Macbeth weaponizes as her primary tool of manipulation. Macbeth attempts to cling to a traditional, honorable definition of masculinity, asserting that a true man acts within moral limits. Lady Macbeth instantly rejects this moral boundary, substituting it with a terrifying, amoral definition of courage. For her, being ‘the man’ is not about virtue, but about ruthless determination and the capacity for extraordinary, even unnatural, violence. By using the cat adage, she expertly shrinks his grand ambition into pathetic timidity, forcing him to choose between his moral conscience and his self-image. The most shocking aspect is the use of unnatural imagery. Lady Macbeth’s vow that she would murder her own smiling infant is a brutal act of rhetoric. This image immediately divorces her from feminine tenderness, underscoring her supernatural, cold-blooded resolve. She successfully proves that she is willing to violate the most sacred of natural bonds i.e. motherhood to keep an oath, thereby shaming Macbeth into violating his own sacred bonds i.e. kinship and subjecthood.
Play
Macbeth
65 If we should fail?
Lady Macbeth
We fail!
But screw your courage to the sticking-place,
And we’ll not fail. When Duncan is asleep-
Whereto the rather shall his day’s hard journey
70 Soundly invite him—his two chamberlains
Will I with wine and wassail so convince,
That memory, the warder of the brain,
Shall be a fume, and the receipt of reason
A limbeck only: when in swinish sleep
75 Their drenched natures lie as in a death,
What cannot you and I perform upon
The unguarded Duncan? what not put upon
His spongy officers, who shall bear the guilt
Of our great quell?
Macbeth
80 Bring forth men-children only;
For thy undaunted mettle should compose
Nothing but males. Will it not be received
When we have mark’d with blood those sleepy two
Of his own chamber, and used their very daggers,
85 That they have done’t?
Lady Macbeth
Who dares receive it other,
As we shall make our griefs and clamour roar
Upon his death?
Macbeth
I am settled, and bend up
90 Each corporal agent to this terrible feat.
Away, and mock the time with fairest show:
False face must hide what the false heart doth know.
[Exeunt
Word Meanings
Screw your courage to the sticking-place: Brace your resolve or determination to the necessary point like tightening a screw or string instrument.
Whereto the rather shall: Which will, all the more, or, to which he will be readily.
Wassail: A strong alcoholic drink; here, referring to revelry or excessive drinking.
Warder of the brain: The guard or keeper of the mind, referring to memory.
Fume: Mist or vapor, meaning something insubstantial or fleeting.
receipt: receptacle,
limbeck: vessel for distilling,
swinish sleep: sleep like that of pigs.
drenched natures: natures steeped in wine.
put upon: ascribe to.
spongy: heavily drunk.
quell: murder.
Undaunted mettle: Unconquerable spirit or nature.
very: own.
other: otherwise.
clamour: loud and confused noise.
settled: decided.
bend: brace.
corporal agent: bodily faculty.
Explanation of the above dialogues— Macbeth hesitantly asked Lady Macbeth what would happen if they should fail in their attempt. Lady Macbeth contemptuously dismissed the possibility of failure with a sharp exclamation. She commanded him to brace his courage and assured him that if he did so, they absolutely would not fail. She then laid out her specific plan: since Duncan’s hard journey would easily invite him to sleep soundly, she would ensure that his two chamberlains i.e. bodyguards would be completely overcome with wine and revelry. This level of intoxication, she explained, would make their memory, which is the guardian of the brain, nothing more than a mist or fume, and their ability to think would be as empty as a distillation flask. When the guards’ saturated bodies lay in a deep, drunken sleep, she asked what they couldn’t successfully achieve upon the unguarded Duncan, and what guilt they couldn’t place upon his soaked officers, who would inevitably bear the blame for the murder. Macbeth, overcome by her ferocious spirit, told her she should only give birth to male children, for her unconquerable nature was fit to compose nothing but males. He then confirmed the final logistical step, asking if it would be believed that the guards had done the deed once they had marked the two sleeping men with blood and used their very daggers. Lady Macbeth defiantly asked who would dare to doubt the story, especially since they themselves would express loud and overwhelming grief and protest upon the news of the King’s death. Macbeth declared that he was now resolved and would commit all his physical energy to this terrible feat. He concluded by instructing them to go and pretend all was normal with the ‘fairest show,’ reminding himself that a false face must hide the wicked intentions of the heart. Lady Macbeth’s rhetoric is highly effective because she transforms the assassination from a terrifying moral breach into a logistical operation. Her language is heavily focused on dehumanization and the concept of intoxication. Terms like ‘fume’, ‘limbeck’, ‘swinish sleep’ and ‘spongy officers’ strip the guards of their humanity, making them seem like passive objects, vessels saturated with alcohol, ready to be manipulated and framed. The physical imagery of ‘bend up’ suggests a taut, forceful resolve surrenders, replacing his previous conflicted uncertainty. The final couplet, ‘False face must hide what the false heart doth know’, is a powerful summary of the play’s dominant theme i.e. Appearance versus Reality. This conclusion is not merely an agreement to murder, but an agreement to live a life of profound psychological falsehood.
Conclusion
Act 1, Scene 7 of Macbeth shows Macbeth debating whether to kill King Duncan. He feels conflicted because Duncan is his relative, his king, and his guest. He decides not to kill Duncan. However, Lady Macbeth arrives, challenges him, and they make a new plan to murder the king. Students can take help from this post to understand Act 1, Scene 7 and also learn the difficult word meanings to get a better grasp of Macbeth. This post includes a summary of Macbeth, which will help students of ISC class 11, to get a quick recap of the play.