The Tragedy of Macbeth Part II Read online

  SECOND MURDERER Then ’tis good they are murderers’ hands—broad and thick, and deep in the palm.

  THIRD MURDERER If you think rightly, ’tis not just Scotland but the entire world, Scotland being the seat of civilization.

  FIRST MURDERER Then we are the bearers of civilization.

  SECOND MURDERER No Scottish king, it seems, can thrive without our services. Then why not be kings ourselves?

  THIRD MURDERER We’ll carve Scotland three ways.

  FIRST MURDERER I’ll take Fife.

  SECOND MURDERER I, Edinburgh.

  THIRD MURDERER I, Glasgow.

  FIRST MURDERER A triumvirate.

  SECOND MURDERER Like Caesar and Antony and—who was it?

  THIRD MURDERER Cleopatra.

  FIRST MURDERER ’Twas not Cleopatra.

  SECOND MURDERER Hark! Here comes one.

  Enter Fiona.

  THIRD MURDERER It must be the lover of Fleance.

  SECOND MURDERER Why then, ’tis like netting the boy himself. The Three Murderers confront her.

  FIRST MURDERER No further!

  FIONA Who’s there?

  SECOND MURDERER A friend.

  THIRD MURDERER Three friends.

  FIRST MURDERER Where is your lover, the would-be boy king?

  FIONA Fiend! He’s in a place that you’re too low to find.

  SECOND MURDERER You’ll speak. Fleance is not the only lover in Scotland, as we’ll soon educate. The Second Murderer grabs her. She strikes him.

  SECOND MURDERER My eye! ’Tis lost! O cunning harlot! He strikes her. She falls.

  FIRST MURDERER Now where hides Fleance?

  FIONA He’s on his way to Dunsinane, to oust your bloody master and seize the throne himself. That concluded, he’ll next hang each of you and rid the world of the stench of your humanity. Second Murderer strikes and kills her.

  THIRD MURDERER What have you done? She was the bait to lure the bird.

  SECOND MURDERER My eye is lost!

  FIRST MURDERER Now we all are lost. If we report the loss of Fleance, we’ll share her fate.

  THIRD MURDERER Then we’ll lie. Fleance is dead. We killed him.

  FIRST MURDERER We stabbed him twenty times.

  SECOND MURDERER Severed his head.

  FIRST MURDERER But where is it?

  SECOND MURDERER Eaten by a boar.

  THIRD MURDERER Snatched from our very hands. Let’s smear this blood and pretend ’tis his.

  FIRST MURDERER Come, let’s leave this bloody scene, and collect our fee in Dunsinane. Exeunt.

  SCENE IV

  Dunsinane.

  Enter Malcolm and Lady Malcolm.

  LADY MALCOLM My lord, why rise at such unheavenly hour? ’Tis not yet light; the owl still cries. Pray, come back to bed.

  MALCOLM ’Tis light enough for a dreadful deed.

  LADY MALCOLM Deed? Of which deed do you speak?

  MALCOLM Of one no man was born to do, yet will befit one of no woman born.

  LADY MALCOLM What’s that you grasp? A dagger? For what purpose?

  MALCOLM To defend the crown.

  LADY MALCOLM Defend? From what?

  MALCOLM ’Tis not for your wholesome ears to know. I go alone to make our palace safe.

  LADY MALCOLM But ’tis safe. The Lord above protects.

  MALCOLM But the lord below provokes. Lady Malcolm kneels before him.

  LADY MALCOLM Mean you to commit murder?

  MALCOLM ’Tis a word too absolute.

  LADY MALCOLM Drop this evil guide, I pray you, and return to our wedding bed.

  MALCOLM ’Tis our union I aim to protect.

  LADY MALCOLM My lord, do not commit this heinous sin! ’Tis a stain upon our souls!

  MALCOLM What? ’Tis not true. I never touched you, Banquo.

  LADY MALCOLM To whom do you speak? My lord, you are not well. I pray you!

  MALCOLM Why, here’s your mother, come to accompany.

  LADY MALCOLM My lord! Exit Malcolm. Lady Malcolm weeps.

  SCENE V

  Scotland. Forest.

  Enter Fleance, with Soldiers.

  FLEANCE ’Tis strange. Her parents claim she did not come, yet she’s not met us at the ship. This is the trail where we last met. No trace at all. I start to fear some dreadful deed. Spread further, and raise the lanterns high.

  FIRST SOLDIER Here my lord! Fleance and others discover Fiona’s body.

  FLEANCE O, cruel and unjust heaven! Here’s a sight to rend the soul. The very visage of an angel tumbled down to earth, but with no cloud to stop the fall. O humanity! How cruel and callous thou art. Fleance kneels and holds her.

  FLEANCE ’Twere not for me, thou wouldst be safe, embraced still by the family thou loved most. The reach of my destiny runs too deep, harming all who come too close. Had I heart left to live, I’d lend it thee, to pump the blood that flowed so nobly in thy veins.

  SECOND SOLDIER My lord, we must make to the ship. These woods become unsafe.

  FLEANCE My love, this time you shall accompany, and like the albatross, lead our voyage. Great Neptune shall weep whilst he hosts, and Ireland will greet you with profound celebrity.

  THIRD SOLDIER My lord, we must depart.

  FLEANCE Woe to thee, Malcolm. I who gave my life to love shall learn the ways of war; I who worshipped Venus will turn my face to Mars. “Avenge, thou mayst, Fleance!” Would I had abided my father’s cry—then thou wouldst live, O sweet Fiona. Now I shall obey. Vengeance now will be my new companion, and vengeance shall breed vengeance unto such extreme that violence will but a prologue seem. Exeunt.

  SCENE VI

  Dunsinane. Macduff’s chamber.

  Macduff, sleeping.

  Enter Malcolm.

  MALCOLM Duncan slept in that very bed when Macbeth did his deed. Am I, then, too, a parricide? ’Tis strange. But yesterday I had never dreamed of murder; now this arm that thrust Donalbain so deep does by its own crave more, as if all of Hades’ minions I’ve unleashed. If I could but close the gates, I would; but I fear the lock’s been picked, and the weight of the world above cannot turn back the hinge. Macduff, if I think truly on the matter, never did me harm; advised me well; indeed, I never saw him with my wife. I have become infected with this curse called power, this insatiable trap that leads to nothing but wanting more, that turns our friends to foes, suitors to traitors, brothers to villains. Even if imagined, our fancies are real enough, and fancies beget plans, and plans beget action. Yet—I had a motive—what was it? Man of no woman—tear my union— I cannot recall. The early hour plagues my memory. The dagger shakes. The deed must now descend or else forever must I forego. For the sake of our union, then. Awake, O adulterer! Malcolm stabs Macduff.

  MACDUFF Am I stabbed by the one I loved the most? Rest now, Lady Macduff: thou art avenged. Rest now, boy: your coward father doth return. Macduff dies.

  MALCOLM Forgive me, Father: it seemed I saw your face when I the dagger thrust. Did I then murder Duncan? I can’t recall. What a hideous death was this! So noble was he in the act of dying, as if to further scold his taker. The blood has stained my arm entire—it shall not ever wash out! Exeunt.

  SCENE VII

  Dunsinane. Lady Malcolm’s bedroom.

  Lady Malcolm, sleeping.

  Enter Nurse and Doctor.

  NURSE I tell you, she is not well. I heard her cry out “murder.” She plots some treachery, just like her mother.

  DOCTOR Speech in sleep does not point to the doing.

  NURSE I tell you—Hark!

  LADY MALCOLM O king, do not murder!

  NURSE There! ’Tis proof!

  DOCTOR She spoke not to murder.

  NURSE ’Tis but the same—her mind is occupied with the deed.

  DOCTOR ’Tis not the same. She is a noble and virtuous queen—do not paint her otherwise. Yet her mind is troubled. I should attend. Doctor wakes Lady Malcolm.

  DOCTOR My queen, forgive the start.

  LADY MALCOLM Is he safe?

  DOCTOR
Who, my queen?

  LADY MALCOLM Macduff.

  NURSE Why would he be otherwise?

  LADY MALCOLM O! What a hideous dream.

  DOCTOR My lady, your mind is troubled. I pray you, take as physic this root—’twill put you fast asleep.

  LADY MALCOLM Most gracious, but ’tis my spirit that suffers, for which no root is strong enough.

  NURSE Why so, my lady? Answer you not?

  DOCTOR Pray, nurse, leave us.

  NURSE (aside) Leave you, I shall, but not ’til I finish my task. I thought it would be simpler; yet she resembles too much my daughter. No matter. I must see it through. Farwell, Macbeth. If I have my say, tomorrow I’ll undo thy wedding day. Exit Nurse.

  DOCTOR Pray, take this root, my lady. Thou shalt sleep well, and sleep shall make thee well.

  LADY MALCOLM ’Tis the place, I fear, that makes me unwell.

  DOCTOR Your mother I also did attend.

  LADY MALCOLM What was she like?

  DOCTOR Far from your likeness. I am no man of spirit, but if I were, I would also point to this place where your mother lived, and dreamt as she slept, and walked as she dreamt. These stones are held by no mere mortar. As unphysic-like as it may be, to advise you to hasten from this place would be the only remedy in my bag.

  LADY MALCOLM You have performed your service graciously. I pray you, leave me now. Doctor exits.

  LADY MALCOLM He advises too well, and echoes my own thoughts of late. Malcolm vowed a life free of blood and witchery—within these short hours his vows are broken twice. What worth, then, is a wedding vow? His murder of his brother, in the heat of battle, might be a sin forgiven. But to murder sweet Macduff! In this, he’s torn our union asunder. I shall not sleep beside a murderer. On the morrow I will depart this place and return to my Iona. O Mother! Would you had never conceived! Exit.

  SCENE VIII

  Dunsinane. Ramparts.

  MALCOLM Some water and this arm comes clean; some more, and so does this. Can murder wash away so quick? Can murderers keep walking thus, breathing free, unpunished by their act? Where has judgment gone? It must lurk in the afterlife. I think ’tis better, then, that I live longer here.

  Enter Three Murderers.

  Yet there seems no end to the blood that I must spill to keep my kingdom safe—and keep it safely mine. What say you, Banquo? Fleance lives? Yet more blood to spill.

  FIRST MURDERER My lord? To whom do you in counsel speak?

  MALCOLM Why, my guide to the world below.

  FIRST MURDERER Yet I see none.

  MALCOLM Why dost thou return?

  SECOND MURDERER We have done the deed.

  THIRD MURDERER Fleance is dead.

  MALCOLM Which one performed the deed?

  ALL ’Twas I—

  FIRST MURDERER ’Twas all of us, my lord.

  MALCOLM By whose order?

  FIRST MURDERER Why, yours, my lord.

  MALCOLM Where then is the blood? Murderers hold out their sleeves.

  ALL ’Tis here.

  MALCOLM But ’tis not on my sleeve.

  FIRST MURDERER My lord?

  MALCOLM Your deed is done. Mine, I fear, is yet to come.

  FIRST MURDERER (aside, to other murderers) He suffers from some malady … ’twill be short time before he learns Fleance still lives. Let us quickly flee this place. Exit Three Murderers, running.

  MALCOLM So. Fleance is dead. Donalbain is dead. Macduff is dead. And Cawdor does not live, except in me. Then, there are none left to fear. Yet still I feel unsafe. Danger, where dost thou lurk? Bell rings.

  VOICE Murder! Murder! Macduff lives no more!

  Enter Seyton, Siward, various Nobles and Attendants.

  ATTENDANT My lord! Macduff has been slain!

  MALCOLM Where?

  ATTENDANT Where he slept. Three men, garments stained in blood, were spotted fleeing our castle. Suspicion falls on them.

  MALCOLM Where is Macduff?

  ATTENDANT My lord? He’s slain.

  MALCOLM But where is he now?

  ATTENDANT Gone to heaven, I suppose.

  SIWARD My king, we must pursue the murderers.

  MALCOLM Pursue. Exit Attendants.

  SIWARD This castle is unsafe.

  MALCOLM To be safe, we must be safe from ourselves. Pursue! Exeunt all but Seyton and Siward.

  SEYTON (aside, to Siward) Note you not who’s absent here?

  SIWARD Who?

  SEYTON Why, the queen. How doth she sleep so sound despite alarums of murder?

  SIWARD I cannot fathom.

  SEYTON Why, because she is the root.

  SIWARD She?

  SEYTON She has begun erasing all too close to her throne. If only she’d spared sweet Macduff! We shall be next.

  SIWARD Star of villainy! We must inform Malcolm!

  SEYTON In his present state, he will not hear. Fear not—tomorrow I’ll convince the king.

  SIWARD ’Til then. For now, I’ll join the chase. O bloody night! Exit Siward.

  SEYTON O opportunity! I shall seize thee in confusion yet. Sweet Syna, prepare thee Scotland soon to wed. O Seyton! Prepare thee, too, to grandfather kings! Exit.

  SCENE I

  Ireland.

  Ross, Lennox, Angus, various Nobles and Soldiers.

  Enter Fleance.

  ROSS Our good Fleance. News has already spread of the tyrant’s latest treachery. Accept our most profound remorse, which comes with the might of our good men to help exact revenge.

  FLEANCE Revenge? Too light a word. It would have been a fitting term after the murder of my dear father. But with the death of my love, revenge shall learn new meaning.

  LENNOX Surely, though, you will spare the people of Scotland?

  FLEANCE I will spare none close to Malcolm. All else shall live.

  ANGUS Well spoken. First among those are Seyton, Siward—

  FLEANCE First are those three murderers.

  ROSS Be heedful that our army, e’en swelled with your brave ranks, remains a fraction still of Scotland’s force.

  FLEANCE ’Tis of small consequence. Fear has fled me since the death of my Fiona. Caution and temperance have vanished with the loss of all I loved. I’ll happily gallop straight into the fiercest hordes of the warring world.

  ROSS News of Malcolm’s malady has spread. Perhaps his soldiers, deeming his cause unjust, will part and join our ranks.

  FLEANCE If not, our ranks will do. Better to die defying a tyrant than to live in fear of one.

  LENNOX Look! The heavens light a celestial streak.

  ANGUS A sign. It marks the fall of a king.

  FLEANCE And the rise of another. To the ships! Exeunt.

  SCENE II

  Dunsinane. Ramparts.

  Enter two guards.

  FIRST GUARD ’Tis awful strange. The heavens churn, as if battling with each other.

  SECOND GUARD Such a night I have not seen.

  FIRST GUARD ’Tis almost daybreak, yet ’neath such stars, the day seems near broke.

  SECOND GUARD Does not sit well for Scotland.

  FIRST GUARD Think you?

  SECOND GUARD When the stars cross just so, bodes the death of a saint.

  Enter Ghost of Macbeth.

  SECOND GUARD You there! Stand to!

  FIRST GUARD Do not come closer!

  SECOND GUARD Look! He floats!

  FIRST GUARD Why, ’tis King Macbeth!

  SECOND GUARD He tries to speak but cannot! Exit Ghost of Macbeth.

  FIRST GUARD O hideous night!

  SECOND GUARD Never have these ramparts needed more guarding—and never have we been less equipped! Exeunt.

  SCENE III

  Dunsinane. Malcolm’s chamber.

  Malcolm, seated.

  Enter Seyton.

  SEYTON The hunt advances for our lord Macduff’s three murderers. They should be caught by midday.

  MALCOLM Is this a day which breaks outside my window? Why streaks the light a bloody red?

  SEYTON ’Tis but a
sunrise, my lord.

  MALCOLM Does not bode well. Fleance is dead, yet still I am not safe.

  SEYTON You seem safe enough.

  MALCOLM Another seed of Banquo must hide far in the land.

  SEYTON Closer, I fear.

  MALCOLM What say you?

  SEYTON Nothing, my lord. I have o’erspoke myself.

  MALCOLM Speak again. Now, sirrah!

  SEYTON My lord, I should not want to be the cause of some misfortune.

  MALCOLM A greater shall descend if presently you do not speak.

  SEYTON So be it—but pray you, do not then direct your wrath upon the one conveying. A certain nurse has of late approached me and has confided misgivings about her lady. She has discovered … intentions on your throne.

  MALCOLM A lady? My throne? Who, pray? Who? Speak!

  SEYTON Your queen.

  MALCOLM What!? Lies! Treason! You shall hang! Guards! Guards!

  SEYTON My lord, I vow, ’tis true. She was heard plotting—

  MALCOLM Guards!

  SEYTON And aims to avenge her parents—

  MALCOLM Guards! Ho!

  SEYTON And claims that she is rightful Cawdor!

  Enter Guards.

  MALCOLM What? Cawdor?

  FIRST GUARD My king? We crave your bidding.

  MALCOLM Cawdor, say you? My queen?

  SECOND GUARD My liege?

  MALCOLM Go to. Exit Guards.

  SEYTON She was heard claiming her father’s title. She ’magines she is Cawdor, and by this right can seize your throne and rule Scotland alone.

  MALCOLM Can it be? One so close?

  SEYTON I speak true, my king. I have the nurse who will avouch. She waits outside the door.

  MALCOLM Fetch her. Seyton opens the door.

  Enter Nurse.

  NURSE My liege.

  MALCOLM Speak truly, woman, or these words shall be your last.

  NURSE My king, your lady I’ve attended these several days.

  SEYTON Go on.

  NURSE She owns a face of virtue, yet such secret ambition I ne’er have witnessed—

  MALCOLM Guards!

  NURSE Upon her entrance she demanded I fetch the scepter.

  MALCOLM Scepter? For what purpose?

  NURSE So, said she, to test the weight of it. Before I’d barely pressed it to her palm, she demanded that I bring her crown.

  MALCOLM Crown?

  NURSE She aimed to wear it e’en to bed, but hid it so that you would not suspect. And when your royal chamber sat vacant, she had me lead her thither.