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Macbeth : A Linguistic Tragedy
Abstract
Reams have been written on the reasons behind the
catastrophe of the tragic heroes, especially the Shakespearean ones.
That Hamlet fell for his procrastination, Othello for his gullibility, Lear for
his arrogance and Macbeth for his ambition is known to all. But in this
paper I propose to prove that the setback of Macbeth is due to language.
That is to say, it is a fatal linguistic miscalculation on the part of Macbeth
that paves the way for his tragedy. Had Macbeth been a bit more
sensible in dealing with language – both while speaking and spoken to –
he might have been able to avoid his doom. My paper seeks to explore
how Macbeth falls prey to language
Keyword: British Literature, Drama, Shakespeare, Macbeth.
Milton Sarkar
Assistant Professor & HOD
Deptt. of English
Patrasayer College
Patrasayer, Bankura
West Bengal, India
Introduction
Whenever a tragic hero falls we start hunting the reason behind it
and if he is a Shakespearean one more intense the search is. Thus when
Macbeth falls the more of less unanimous consensus is – Macbeth sinks
for his ambition. But is it that simple? Ambition, even to a maximum level, is
present in many, if not in all – do they all fall? There should not be any
gainsaying that ambition, rather ‗vaulting ambition‘ does play a crucial role
in bringing about Macbeth‘s doom but what I propose to prove here is that
the modus operandi of ambition in this play is language. That is to say, it is
a fatal linguistic miscalculation on the part of Macbeth that paves the way
for his tragic setback.
Linguistic miscalculation operates in two ways in the play. In the
first case Macbeth misinterprets what is spoken to him by others (namely
by the witches). Secondly, he uses language as a means of deception. And
apart from deceiving others, Macbeth‘s language acts as means of self–
deception.
The very first scene of the play ends with the chorus of the three witches :
Fair is foul, and foul is fair:
Hover through the fog and filthy air (I. i.11 - 12)
And it is from that instant that we are hurled into a word of
linguistic topsy–turvydom. In this upside–down world the usual codes and
meaning of language can, (as it will) at any moment, choke. Throughout
the play often in his speeches ―Macbeth finds his words leading him into
unexpected areas . . . his syntax does not hold in check the confusion of
his thoughts but generates new and disturbing thoughts. His words do not
nail down single ideas, but set up echoes and reverberations in which
meaning slips away from the speaker or returns in new and unwelcome
forms‖ (Mangan - 194). Macbeth opens his lips for the first time saying:
So foul and fair a day I have not seen
(I. iii. 38)
At his lips the day is ‗fair‘ despite being ‗foul‘, but at his heart it‘s
all foul. What Macbeth brings for Duncan from the battlefield is not just the
win but the germ of Duncan‘s own death. Macbeth, by this time, had
already been fraught with the murderous thought and this covert murder
becomes overt only after a while when he gets startled at hearing that after
the thaneship of Cawdor [2 witch: All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, Thane of
Cawdor! (I. iii. 49)], ultimately he will be getting the kingship of Scotland [3
witch: all hail, Macbeth! that shall be king hereafter. (I . iii. 50)]. Thus we
find Banquo saying: Good sir why do you start, and seems to fear / Things
that do sound so fair? (I. iii. 51-52).
Whether or not Banquo knows it, we should not fail to perceive
that Macbeth starts because at his heart of hearts he knows it full well that
this fair he can achieve only through foul means. Thus even if the day is
fair to Macbeth, it is fair only because of his foul thoughts – indeed foul is
fair for him. This can be further proved if we relate this to those lines of
Macbeth:
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Upon my head they plac‘d a fruitless crown,
And put a barren sceptre in my gripe,
Thence to be wrench‘d with an unlineal hand,
No son of mine succeeding. If‘t be so,
For Banquo‘s issue have I fil‘d my mind;
For them the gracious Duncan have I murther‘d;
Put rancours in the vessel of my peace,
Only for them; and mine eternal Jewel
Given to the common Enemy of man,
To make them kings, the seed of Banquo Kings!
(III. i. 60-69)
Again, typical is the play of language in this speech of
Macbeth:
Had I but died an hour before this chance
I had liv‘d a blessed time; for from this instant,
There‘s nothing serious in mortality;
All is but toys: renown, and grace, is dead;
The wine of life is drawn, and the mere lees
Is left this vault to brag of.
(II. iii. 89-94)
In the face value Macbeth uses language
here to deceive others as observed by Bradley in his
Shakespearean Tragedy that ―this is meant to
deceive‖ (p.359). But at the same time he himself is
deceived in the sense that the he cannot perceive the
real meaning of his words. And according to M.
Murray, Macbeth here, ―is become the instrument of,
the equivocation of the fiend that lies like truth‖ (p.
332). In many a case what he says at the surfacestructure is constantly negated at the deep structure.
After coming back from the front Macbeth says to
Duncan :
our duties
Are to your throne and state, children and servants;
Which do but what they should, by doing everything;
Safe toward your love and honour. (I. iv. 24-27)
All of us know what duty they (i.e. both
Macbeth and lady Macbeth ) did. After a little while
Macbeth says to Duncan:
The rest is labour, which is not us‘d for you; (I. iv. 44)
Really, he did ‗use‘ it unusually well. Macbeth
apologizes to Banquo for not being able to look after
Duncan properly:
Being unprepar‘d
Our will became the servant to defect
Which else should free have wrought. (II. i. 17-19)
Though in reality they were more than prepared.
Again regarding the weird sisters he says to Banquo:
I think not of them:
(II. i. 21)
then what else does he think about? And
whether or not consciously, Macbeth‘s language
caters to his innate evil. For example, in Act. I, Sc. vii
Macbeth says to lady 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
(ll 31 - 35)
Taken at face value it appears here that
Macbeth becomes reluctant to murder Duncan for
some reason or other. But in actuality, through this
kind of a speech, what he really wants is boost from
his wife. Lady Macbeth has always performed the
duty of the pacesetter for Macbeth and more
This supernatural soliciting
Cannot be ill; cannot be good:If ill, why hath it given me earnest of success,
. . .
If good, why do I yield to that suggestion
Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair,
And make my seated heart knock at my ribs,
(I. iii. 130-36)
Actually for Macbeth, good lies in bad, and:
Nothing is but what is not.
(I. iii. 142)
Just after this Macbeth says:
If chance will have me king, why, chance
may crown me,
Without my stir.
(I. iii. 144)
But this is half-true, even untrue. Though
outwardly Macbeth preaches for no-stirring, inwardly it
is all-stirring—brainstorming about the murder. Again,
the witches, being snubbed by Banquo, prophesy
about him:
1
witch: Lesser than Macbeth, and greater.
2 witch: Not so happy yet much happier.
3 witch: Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none.
(I. iii. 65-67)
But Macbeth fails to see the inherent danger
lurking for him in these lines. Rather, he believes what
is most profitable for him to believe remaining blind to
the other half of the prophecy which ultimately leads
to his catastrophe. A few moments after Macbeth
says to the witches:
Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more
By Sinel‘s death I know I am Thane of Glamis;
But how of Cawdor? The thane of Cawdor lives,
A prosperous gentleman; and to be king
Stands not within the prospect of belief,
No more than to be Cawdor (I. iii. 70-75)
But this is also surface structure reality meant to
hoodwink others (namely Banquo), and perhaps
Macbeth himself also. May be one self of Macbeth is
trying to hide his real motive from the other one.
Actually, in the inmost cranny of his heart Macbeth
has started very much believing the sayings of the
witches and by these kinds of questions, rather
ratiocinations, his real intention is to seek
reinforcement for his purpose. Thus though in front of
Banquo he calls the witches, ‗imperfect speakers‘ he
wants them to be the most perfect ones. We may
remember what Macbeth wrote to his wife in the letter:
They met me in the day of success, and I have
learn‘d by the perfect‘st report, they have more
in them than mortal knowledge
(I. v. 1-3)
And the tag, ‗tell me more‘ (‗stay, you imperfect
speakers, tell me more.‘) is crucial in this regard. The
actual meaning of ‗tell me more‘ is tell something that
will boost my (Macbeth‘s) thought of kingship. The
real meaning of the prophecy becomes clear to
Macbeth much later when he realizes that upon his
head the witches placed a futile crown and put a
useless sceptre in his grasp which will be snatched
away from his hand by Banquo‘s son. He comes to
the shocking understanding that he has murdered
noble Duncan and thereby bartered away his soul to
the Devil only to make Banquo the progenitor of kings:
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importantly she has done so with the kind permission
of Macbeth himself [for it is none but Macbeth who
has given her occasion(s) for doing so]. Thus we find
her saying in reply:
Was the hope drunk,
Wherein you dress‘d yourself ? Hath it slept since ?
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 ? Would‘st thou have that
Which thou esteem‘st the ornament of life
And live a coward in thine own esteem,
Letting ‗I dare not‘ wait upon ‗I would‘,
Like the poor cat i‘th‘adage? (I . vii. 35 - 45)
Or, a little later:
What beast was‘t then,
That made you break this enterprise to me ?
When you durst do it, then you were a man;
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
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.
(I . vii. 48 - 59)
Still Macbeth says:
If we should fail?
(I . vii. 59)
In reality, what Macbeth wants from his wife in
answer is the final assurance that they would never
fail at any cost. Thus he gets from lady Macbeth:
...screw your courage to the sticking-place,
And we‘ll not fail.
(I .vii. 61 - 62)
Throughout the play rules of language are always
at mess. Along with Macbeth, language poses a
problem for others as well. ‗Brave‘ Macbeth cannot
pronounce ‗murder‘ (before the perpetration of it) even
to himself:
If ‘twere done, when ‘tis done, then ‘twere well
It were done quickly...
(I . vii. 1 -2)
Macbeth tries to manage it with ‗it‘. Just after
murdering Duncan he says:
I have done the deed
(II . ii. 14)
Or,
To know my deed,‘t were best not know myself.
(II . ii. 72)
Macduff also cannot utter ‗murder‘ – thus after
his detection of Duncan‘s killing he seeks refuge in a
sort of literalism:
O horror! horror! horror!
Tongue nor heart cannot conceive, nor name
thee!
(II. iii. 62 - 63)
Or, a little later when he says to Macbeth and
Lenox:
Approach the chamber, and destroy your sight
With a new Gorgon. – Do not bid me speak:
See, and then speak yourselves – (II . iii. 70 - 72)
Even the witches answer Macbeth that they do:
A deed without a name
(IV. i. 49)
When Rosse breaks the news to Macduff that his
castle is ‗surpris‘d‘ and his wife and babes are,
‗savagely slaughter‘d‘ he goes dumb with grief.
Malcolm wants him to give his sorrow a tongue lest
there is an emotional breakdown. Thus we find him
persuading Macduff:
Merciful Heaven! –
What, man! ne‘er pull your hat upon your brows:
Give sorrow words; the grief, that does not speak,
Whispers the o‘er-fraught heart, and bids it break,
(IV.iii.207-210)
Again when Rosse asks : Is‘t known, who did this
more than bloody deed? (II. iv. 22) Macduff answers:
Those that Macbeth hath slain. (II. iv. 23) In the face
value it refers to the two guards of Duncan but
actually it is Macbeth himself - and by extension lady
Macbeth as well – whom Macbeth murders. We may
remember those lines of Macbeth : Glamis hath
murder‘s sleep, and therefore Cawdor / Shall sleep no
more, Macbeth shall sleep no more! (II. ii. 41-42)
Even lady Macbeth, who emerges quite a defiant
one, at least at the pre-murder (that of Duncan)
phase, does not name murder:
...He is about it
(II. ii. 4)
Or,
Had he not resembled
My father as he slept, I had done’t
(II.ii.12 -13)
Or,
These deeds must not be thought
After these ways...
(II.ii.32-33)
Or,
A little water clears us of this deed (II. ii. 66)
Or,
...Things without all remedy
Should be without regard : what’s done is don
(III. ii. 11 - 12)
She doesn‘t even utter ‗blood‘ in her conscious
moments:
Go, get some water,
And wash this filthy witness from your hand.(II. ii. 45-46)
Or,
My hands are of your colour ; but I shame
To wear a heart so white...
(II. ii. 63 - 64)
But this suppressed blood oozes out at the
‗sleep-walking‘ scene when the consciousness is
suspended:
Here‘s the smell of the blood still : all the
perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little
hand.
(V. i. 47 - 48)
From the very outset of the play to make
sense is the problem as far as language is concerned.
Third witch‘s greeting of Macbeth as the future king of
Scotland [All hail, Macbeth! That shalt be king
hereafter (I . iii. 50)] first sets off the snowball rolling
since it leaves a trail of blood behind it. Construction
remains Macbeth‘s Achilles‘ heel all through which
ultimately paves the way for his fall. Some other
instances in this regard that should not evade
mentioning are the prophecies by the apparitions
created by the witches. The second apparition, in the
form of a bloody child, tells Macbeth:
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Be bloody, bold, and resolute : laugh to scorn
The power of man, for none of woman born
Shall harm Macbeth.
(IV. i. 79 - 81)
Macbeth ponders about ‗none‘ leaving aside
‗harm‘, while the line may also mean that somebody
will harm Macbeth and he will not be woman born –
meaning harm will be there. Only a little later, the third
apparition, that of a crowned child with a tree in his
hand, says to Macbeth:
Be lion–mettled , proud and take no care
Who chafes, who frets, or where conspirers are:
Macbeth shall never vanquish‘d be, until
Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill
Shall come against him.
(IV . i. 90 - 94)
Here also Macbeth is obsessed with ‗never
vanquish‘d be‘ ignoring ‗until‘ , where it may also
mean that Macbeth will definitely be vanquished until
something happens – that is to say, his defeat is only
subject to time and certain factors, but defeat will be
there. Macbeth naturally takes these as some
impossible propositions. How can one be not of
woman born? Or how can a wood move? So he
concludes:
That will never be
(IV. i. 94)
Thus we find Macbeth more than glad to believe
that he will remain invincible till the end. But the
treacherous language has traps that evade him and
he comes to the ghastly understanding of them only
when all is lost. He ―puts his trust in one interpretation
of their words, and is killed by another‖ (Mangan-207).
Actually the pulverization of meaning that starts at the
very onset of the play [Cf. fair is foul, and foul is fair
(I. i. 10)] stretches to the last of it:
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out brief candle!
Life‘s but a walking shadow; a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more; it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
(V.v. 19-28)
Infact for Macbeth all meaning is lost now.
Throughout the play he has been seeking desperately
to sense the predictions. But in vain. Meaning is,
rather has, reduced him to naught so much so that life
itself has become meaningless to him, (a tale/Told by
an idiot...Signifying nothing). Ascending the throne of
Scotland by murdering Duncan, Macbeth was out to
build a ‗tale‘ of his own but in the ultimate reality it
became ‗nothing‘ for him. When only after a little while
it transpires that each soldier of Malcolm‘s army is
moving towards Dunsinane castle with a cut bough in
front of him, the real meaning of the prophecy
becomes clear to Macbeth. This is how Birnam wood
can move towards Dunsinane hill. In actuality, it is a
masterly martial move on the part of Malcolm meant
to ‗shadow the numbers‘ of his army and thereby
‗make discovery err‘ which is, in modern terminology
known as camouflaging. Again, Macduff‘s birth by
Caesarian section is referred to as his not being born
of woman. Thus the apparition of Macduff in the form
of a bloody child (the second apparition) merges with
the ‗naked new-born babe‘ of Macbeth‘s speech (I. vii.
21) that strides the blast and ultimately with Macduff,
the instrument of revenge on Macbeth. The irony is,
even if Macbeth understands the true import of the
prophecies, it is too late. And the coincidence is also
interesting — when Macbeth is musing on the
meaninglessness of life, the meaning construed
(though wrongly) by him out of the auguries, starts
crumbling as it is at this instant that the messenger
brings the news of the coming of Birnam wood
towards the Dunsinane hill.
While showing the apparitions to Macbeth, the
witches do deliberately silence Macbeth. The first
witch tells Macbeth : Hear his speech, but say thou
naught. (lV. i. 70). And all of them warn him: Listen,
but speak not to‘t. (lV. i. 89).
Again, we should not overlook that vital question of
Macbeth to the witches: ...tell me (if your art can tell
so much), shall Banquo‘s issue ever
Reign in this kingdom ?
(IV.i. 101- 103)
The unanimous answer to this question was :
1
2
3
4
5
Seek
to know
no
more (IV. i. 103)
As far as language is concerned this could well
have been the last warning to Macbeth. Though there
are many as five linguistic items in this answer, the
upshot of this line is simply naught as this is no
answer at all. The witches deliberately deny any
answer to Macbeth since his question demands a
yes-no type answer and no mystery could be created
with them. But their silence is indeed more eloquent
than tongue – still Macbeth fails to follow it. Thus,
―looked at in one way, in fact, the entire action of the
play is founded upon the slipperiness of language‖
(Mangan - 207).
Last but not least, the main challenge before
Macbeth is to solve the riddles thrown to him by the
witches. Mention must be made of Hecate‘s censure
to her subordinates :
..How did you dare
To trade and traffic with Macbeth,
In riddles, and affairs of death... (III. v. 3 - 5)
Macbeth was to make sense of these ‗riddles‘
that are nothing if not linguistic puzzles. But he could
not penetrate them and hence the calamity. Thus
what emerges instrumental in Macbeth‘s fall is
language.
Works Cited
Bradley, A.C. Shakespearean Tragedy : Lectures on
Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth. London :
Macmillan & co Ltd, 1956.
Mangan, Michael. A Preface to Shakespeare’s
Tragedies. 1991; Delhi : Pearson Education, First
Indian Reprint, 2003.
Murry, John Middleton.Shakespeare. 1936;
London : Jonathan Cape, 1959.
Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. (Ed.). Kenneth Muir.
London: Methuen & Co. Ltd, 1951. Surrey: Thomas
Nelson & Sons Ltd, 1997.
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