Commentary on passage from Macbeth

This passage, taken from the fifth scene of act I, is Lady Macbeth’s soliloquy prior to the arrival of King Duncan. Earlier in the Act, Macbeth and Banquo had encountered the three witches who told them both various predictions for their future. Banquo was told he would be father to Kings and Macbeth told that he would first become Thane of Cawdor and then King of Scotland one day. When, after a display of …

…kill King Duncan to claim the thrown for Macbeth, Lady Macbeth becomes very focused and determined to succeed in her murder plans. With the perfect “hell” environment surrounding her and the images of death keeping her guided, Lady Macbeth gives one last speech to the spirits asking for their assistance. She begs for her feminine personality to be replaced with that of masculinity on this mortal, eerie scene that foreshadows the death of King Duncan.