The Tragedy of Macbeth Part II Read online

  ROSS Nor that of his living counsel. Forgive me, sire, but they, though not spectral, do shame the underworld.

  DONALBAIN Then Malcolm lies in danger of himself.

  ROSS I do not dispute.

  DONALBAIN Then we shall save him from himself. We’ll convince him to leave Dunsinane and elsewhere build a holier seat; we’ll urge him soon to marry; and we’ll purge him of his treacherous flock. Our men, meanwhile, shall deter Norway’s assault. Come, we kill the time.

  ROSS I fear how Malcolm may start when he first sights your men. But I stand at your side. I once left Lady Macduff in haste; on my very heels she was slain. Never again shall I a friend abandon. I will help you execute whatever noble device you choose. Exeunt.

  SCENE V

  Dunsinane.

  Malcolm, seated, with Macduff, Suitor, Suitor’s Father and Attendants.

  SUITOR’S FATHER My liege, my daughter would make the finest bride in all of Scotland. Her beauty is sung of—

  MALCOLM It is apparent.

  SUITOR’S FATHER Thank him.

  SUITOR Thank you, my lord.

  SUITOR’S FATHER My lord, she is a most obedient and devoted subject, and would—

  MALCOLM Would you like to speak?

  SUITOR I am yours, my lord.

  MALCOLM Thank you for gracing us with your beauty and charm. We shall call on you.

  SUITOR’S FATHER My lord, ’twould be such an honor—

  MACDUFF We shall call on you. Exit Suitor and Suitor’s Father.

  MALCOLM What think you, Macduff?

  MACDUFF She’s fine of form, and her eyes shine with intelligence. She would make a fine bride for Scotland.

  MALCOLM I am not certain. If it were—

  Enter two Messengers, followed by Siward, Seyton, Lennox and Angus.

  MESSENGER ONE My king, your brother has breached our shores.

  MESSENGER TWO He doth approach with army fierce.

  SIWARD Traitor!

  SEYTON Villain!

  MALCOLM From whence?

  MESSENGER ONE Through the shades of Birnam Wood.

  MALCOLM (aside) Thus comes the prophecy to pass. Yet I’ll be touched by none but Cawdor.

  MESSENGER TWO More, my lord. Ross rides at his side.

  MALCOLM What, Ross?

  ANGUS ’Tis not possible.

  SEYTON ’Tis treachery!

  LENNOX Rush not to judge. Ne’er was Ross’s honor held in doubt.

  MACDUFF Ross would not raise a hand against your throne. Perhaps they come in peace.

  SIWARD What? An army come in peace?

  SEYTON My lord, I have heard your errant brother means to petition for a title.

  MALCOLM Title? What title?

  SEYTON As you already claim that of king and hold no need for titles lesser, Donalbain aims to acquire “Cawdor.”

  MALCOLM (aside) Can it be? Is not all Ireland enough? Sisters: your riddles twist to life. Birnam Wood would mark the way. So it does. Only Cawdor can harm me. So he aspires. Is there no pause between prophecy and consequence? No gestation for augury? Is the world below more expedient? Or did my very summoning create the act? Would I had never visited that bog!

  MACDUFF My lord, I pray you, patience—

  SEYTON Patience? Whilst an army advances?

  MALCOLM Patience is a luxury not suited to every time. I summoned my brother for a private audience; I must then view his outward show of arms in but one light. I love my brother dearly—yet it seems that not all love is requited. The prince forgets, he is no seed of Banquo. He is but the second-loved brother, who must now be first to die. Forgive me, Father: to save one son, I must kill your other. Exeunt.

  SCENE VI

  Birnam Wood.

  Enter Donalbain, Ross, Soldiers.

  DONALBAIN How deeply this Scottish air stirs me. ’Tis mighty strange. Never have I felt as content.

  SOLDIER ONE Nor I as lost. I can’t recall such ghastly fog.

  ROSS ’Tis like the very breath of hell.

  DONALBAIN I think we are in Birnam Wood, but know not for this vapor.

  ROSS Sire, we are. See there? The fog begins to lift.

  SOLDIER TWO So it does.

  SOLDIER ONE And look! Now the sun.

  DONALBAIN Such a sudden shift of light I have not ever seen.

  ROSS Sire! Look there! Your brother.

  DONALBAIN So it is! May God be blessed. How it warms my heart to see my flesh again!

  Enter Malcolm, Siward, Macduff, Seyton, Lennox, Angus and Soldiers.

  The two armies stop before each other.

  Donalbain dismounts, as does Malcolm. The two brothers approach each

  other on foot. Donalbain reaches for a scroll.

  DONALBAIN Dear brother! Malcolm stabs him. Donalbain falls.

  DONALBAIN Alas! Am I slain by my self? Now I know why I felt contentment here: it is to be my resting place. What better place to die than at a brother’s side. If to be killed by a hand so close, ’tis safer not to live at all. Donalbain dies.

  ROSS Shadow of Macbeth! What vile act is this? Your noble brother approached in peace, and you met his embrace with murder.

  MALCOLM He reached for his sword; I answered with mine.

  ROSS He reached for a scroll! Ross dismounts, and takes a scroll from Donalbain’s hand and hands it to Malcolm.

  ROSS He brought you news of Norway’s attack. He brought you men to help defend it! Malcolm reads, and sinks to his knees beside Donalbain.

  ROSS You have killed the better half of Duncan. Ross remounts.

  ROSS You have won the day, but not the time. You now outrank this friendly group, but Donalbain shall be avenged. On that day you will earn his blood. Lennox, with Soldiers, rides to Ross’s side.

  LENNOX I am with Ross! Angus, with Soldiers, rides to Ross’s side.

  ANGUS And I! Exeunt Ross, Lennox, Angus and all their Soldiers.

  SIWARD My liege, they flee! We must pursue!

  SEYTON We must strike now, before their army multiplies!

  MALCOLM What a cruel and callous butcher am I. Dear, dear brother. How I missed your face e’en as I struck; I watched my hand perform the deed e’en as I wished it wouldn’t. O, Donalbain!

  SEYTON My lord, the fog returns. We must pursue!

  MALCOLM The sisters thus speak true. Donalbain has vanquished Malcolm, worse than a thousand Norways.

  SIWARD My lord—

  MALCOLM Peace! There will be no more death on this day. More days will follow, if none with any worth. Exeunt.

  SCENE VII

  A graveyard.

  Enter Malcolm, who sits beside the corpse of Donalbain.

  Enter Woman.

  MALCOLM Nothing now can harm you further. Not the slings of fortune, not the touch of a brother’s love. I will have you borne to Colmekill upon a thousand gilded horses; no place more befits, for more a king are you than I. I, a coward who wears a crown, a crown planted in haste, loosed by our father’s death. On him it should have stayed; then, on you. For what grants me the right? Being firstborn? What virtue lies in that? What hand had I in that? We ’magine that by this custom a second brother is the lesser; yet this day proves otherwise. “I to England.” “And to Ireland I.” If only we’d switched paths that fateful day. You would now be Scotland, and these hands, so tainted, could be free of fratricide. If only we’d avenged our Duncan while in restless death he lay; if only we’d looked more deeply into the bloody deed. But we forsook our father’s lonely corpse, and on ourselves drew suspicion. “Our separated fortune shall keep us both the safer.” Not safe enough from a brother’s embrace. “Where we are, there’s daggers in men’s smiles.” Would I had greeted you with such a smile. Throws his sword. What’s there? A phantom? The ghost of my mother, come to rebuke? No, it is too serene…. Sirrah!

  Enter Attendant.

  Inquire what lady stands thither.

  ATTENDANT Yes, my lord. Attendant rushes off, and returns.

  ATTENDANT She would not give her name.
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  MALCOLM Would not?

  ATTENDANT “’Tis a name not to be given,” is what she said.

  MALCOLM Not to be given? What sort of mystery is this? Who dares not give what at birth was given free? Inquire whom she mourns.

  ATTENDANT Yes, sire. Exit Attendant.

  MALCOLM Uncanny sight. Such beauty in such a place. Such beauty anywhere! Enter Attendant.

  ATTENDANT My lord, she would not tell.

  MALCOLM Not tell?

  ATTENDANT She said, “It is a private matter.”

  MALCOLM Private? Whose death can be so private? Are we not all catalogued in that great book of heaven and hell? Is not one’s absence on this globe so duly noted that privacy ’scapes even the most unloved of souls? Cryptic woman! So beautiful. So solemn. Such a mix I have ne’er seen. Perchance she is a seraph, dispatched to test my welcome. Then, as Abraham, I shall not delay. Malcolm approaches.

  MALCOLM My lady, I beg, why do you speak so?

  WOMAN Why do you inquire of what is no concern to you?

  MALCOLM Death concerns us all.

  WOMAN Some more than others.

  MALCOLM How does it you?

  WOMAN It did not until some threescore weeks ago. ’Twas then I was informed of both my parents’ deaths, and have come here to mourn for them.

  MALCOLM What, the death of them both?

  WOMAN On this very day.

  MALCOLM Bloody anniversary! But how did you not know sooner?

  WOMAN My home is a monastery, far from the news of the world, and from these parents I never met.

  MALCOLM Never! Alas! But this should make their death the slighter.

  WOMAN Or heavier. Sometimes ’tis better to know a thing than to wonder what’s been missed.

  MALCOLM (aside) This lady’s words distract. Forgive me, Donalbain; my heart, so filled with grief, now wells with something else. (to Lady) Whence came you?

  WOMAN From the black church. On the isle of Iona.

  MALCOLM Black? How so?

  WOMAN So named for the garments of our nuns. It is thought to be God’s chosen color.

  MALCOLM You rebuke me with the mention.

  WOMAN Of God? How so? ’Tis a blessing, not a rebuke—unless you have rebuked Him.

  MALCOLM O! I have. There lies the corpse that was my brother, rendered thus by this very hand.

  WOMAN O! Most horrible Cain!

  MALCOLM I knew not he came in peace.

  WOMAN How could a brother come otherwise? How heavy a sin you have committed. You must atone.

  MALCOLM I desire nothing more. But, lady, I do not espy the graves of your parents. Perhaps we were acquainted.

  WOMAN I pray not.

  MALCOLM Pray not? Wherefore?

  WOMAN I’ve been told that it was safer to be from them distant.

  MALCOLM Safer? How so?

  WOMAN My lord, press no further. I have come to grieve in silence.

  MALCOLM Art thou an apparition come to rebuke? I spy no graves here, save for that crooked cross marking the pit of the Macbeths.

  WOMAN I have spoken, my lord.

  MALCOLM Tell me at least your name.

  WOMAN For what purpose?

  MALCOLM Purpose? Need I purpose? Know you not that I am king of all this land?

  WOMAN Titles do not sway me. There sits a greater king than you.

  MALCOLM Greater than me? Who? England? Ireland?

  WOMAN The Lord who has made you.

  MALCOLM (aside) Her piety pierces my soul, rubbing salt on a heart freshly torn. O bitter physic! I should leave her; and yet I cannot tear away. (to her) Lady, I must know your name.

  WOMAN It is a name I cannot speak. For so uttered, it would split the air asunder.

  MALCOLM Then write it.

  WOMAN The letters spelt would burn the parchment.

  MALCOLM What name could do such harm when it doth name so beauteous a thing?

  WOMAN I pray you, good day, my lord.

  MALCOLM Stay! As king, I command.

  WOMAN I am not your subject.

  MALCOLM You tread on my soil.

  WOMAN A cemetery belongs to the dead. Are you king of the dead?

  MALCOLM Answer! Answer, I say!! He shakes her.

  WOMAN You have already pronounced.

  MALCOLM Pronounced? I? How? Do not speak in riddles!

  WOMAN Pronounce again, so please you. The crooked cross stares back.

  MALCOLM Macbeth? How does this concern you?

  WOMAN I am their issue.

  ATTENDANT What! Ho! Attendant rushes off.

  MALCOLM A child? Of Macbeth?

  LADY MALCOLM I wish that it were other.

  Enter Seyton, Siward, Macduff, various Nobles, Guards,

  Attendants, and a Crowd.

  SEYTON Can it be?

  SIWARD Another Macbeth?

  CROWD 2 She’s much too beautiful.

  CROWD 3 Far too humble.

  CROWD 4 Yet her age is right.

  CROWD 5 I spot Cawdor in her eyes.

  CROWD 6 Is’t true?!

  ALL CROWD We demand to be satisfied! Speak!

  MALCOLM Speak, my lady. Is it true?

  MACBETH It is. I have been branded with a name in which there is no hope for penance.

  NOBLES Cursed seed!

  CROWD I Stone her where she stands! Malcolm draws.

  MALCOLM Back! All of you! You’ll take no action but by my command.

  MACDUFF My lord, we must at least imprison. She is an enemy to the state. If we do not, this mob, or some other, will tear her apart.

  SEYTON He speaks wisely, my lord.

  MALCOLM Take her to Dunsinane. Secure her in the tower. The Guards carry her off, and the crowd cheers. Exeunt all but Malcolm.

  MALCOLM Imprison her, I shall, but only that she not flee. My wife have I found, another Macbeth or no. Exit Malcolm.

  SCENE I

  Tower. Dunsinane.

  Enter Macbeth, in her cell.

  Enter Malcolm, in the shadows.

  MALCOLM (aside) Can she sit so content in such a place, as if this worldly setting held no threat? See how her lips move; how she kneels so softly upon unyielding stone, as if repenting for every soul in Dunsinane. Such prayers must go unanswered whilst I inhabit. My descent to Hades is set, the only question being the time of my arrival. Satan: you shall have your prize. But not yet. For whilst she lives I too have cause to live. See how she floats to the window, as a bird to light. Hark! She speaks.

  MACBETH The hangman tightens his tool with alacrity, and the crowd thickens to watch me swing. They think they’ll take my life; but it was long since took with news of my unholy origin. If, as the Bible proclaims, our parents’ sins spill over generations, then ’tis best that they stop here, lest I, by my progeny, should pass them down again. Ambition is foreign to me; never have I pined for power or pearls. Our monastery did not afford the chance, its vaults stowed with naught but dreams and prayers. Yet perchance the propensity sits in my blood. If so, better I hang now, and be punished for sins still uncommitted.

  MALCOLM (aside) My lady, your virtues are so true they shame this Cain to lurk in your shadow. You’ve siphoned the best of the Macbeths, your nature proving their sins came not by blood, but by earthly lusts. I wonder if you’ve mistaken your birth.

  MACBETH I dreamt that I would die in that very place. Dreamt I, too, of this cell: such stone, a door of equal height, a window as this. Except my illusioned window held no bars, and in that dream was I set free. A Joseph delivered to Pharaoh. How imperfect a vision this was. Malcolm unlocks the door and enters the cell.

  MALCOLM Yet perfect enough.

  MACBETH Whence came you? Stood you there all the while?

  MALCOLM I own the key.

  MACBETH Eavesdropping does not become a king.

  MALCOLM Such speech does not become a Macbeth.

  MACBETH It was a speech meant for mine ears alone.

  MALCOLM Then grace be to God that I was present.

  MACBETH Have yo
u not finished mourning your dear brother’s death?

  MALCOLM Your virtues compound my grief.

  MACBETH Tomorrow you’ll have more cause, when I’m hanged for public display.

  MALCOLM I can stay your execution.

  MACBETH If God desires it be stayed, it will, by you or by some other agent. If He desires otherwise, then I am content.

  MALCOLM I knew your mother and father. Too well. I cannot imagine you are their issue.

  MACBETH ’Tis not a name I would claim otherwise.

  MALCOLM You never met them?

  MACBETH I was delivered to the nuns newborn.

  MALCOLM But why?

  MACBETH I’ve wondered at this myself, but have not found the cause. Perhaps I was a hindrance on their road to ambition. Perhaps they had no love for children.

  MALCOLM Then why mourn them?

  MACBETH If not I, who?

  MALCOLM But why now? Their death was ten years past.

  MACBETH It is fresh for me, deaf to Scotland’s news until my nuns deemed fit to share it.

  MALCOLM But ’twas a perilous journey for a woman alone.

  MACBETH Nuns pilgrimage to far Jersualem; ’twas but a trifle beside that.

  MALCOLM If released, will you return to Iona?

  MACBETH If God has me released I cannot imagine a life elsewhere.

  MALCOLM Then allow me to imagine for you. My lady, I am in love…. Have you no reply?

  MACBETH Forgive, my lord. I know not what to say.

  MALCOLM Say it is requited.

  MACBETH Requited? How? I’ve never loved a man, and what I know of you points to less than that—taker of your brother’s life, warder and would-be executioner of my own self. How should I love thee, exactly? What words would you have me speak? Riddles and affairs of love are not my currency. I’ve not been taught the false nothings and idle flatteries of love’s language, have not been reared in the ways to cloud desire, to twist metaphor and meaning. And if, my lord, you know already the words you long to hear, why not recite them to yourself, hold out a polished glass and mock my voice? What need you of a living thing to ape what you can with ease imagine? It is not requited. And if it were, I would have no extravagant way to frame the words, have no device to gild my syllables, but only say, I love you.