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Macbeth Act 5
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He has distanced himself from her in an attempt to protect her but as
she cannot live without him, this has had a large negative effect on her and she is merely a shell of
what she once was
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Macbeth does not understand that she must have him in her life to survive, and therefore she
cannot live
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In this scene, she now speaks solely in prose - very different to the poetic way of speaking she
used previously
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Previously (Act 2 Scene 2) Macbeth noted the importance of sleep and that a good night’s sleep
heals the mind (also referenced by the doctor as he says “the benefit of sleep”), and in this scene
Lady Macbeth is sleepwalking
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As
she is sleepwalking and therefore unaware of the doctor and gentlewoman, she is speaking the
truth and nothing else
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Lady Macbeth cannot seem to stop imagine the smell of Duncan’s blood on her hands, and this is
what destroys her
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In a way this is ironic as when Macbeth
murdered Duncan and they were covered in blood, she claimed that a “litter water” would cleanse
them of the act committed
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(“accustomed action with her, to seem thus washing her hands”)
Not only has the castle became hell after Duncan’s murder, but Lady Macbeth’s mind has in turn
became her own personal form of hell
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Lady Macbeth now has a conscience, having swapped her evilness with her husband’s
conscience
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She also addresses the sheer slaughter of Macduff’s family
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Where is she now?”)
Disease imagery is used again as the doctor informs the gentlewoman that he cannot fix her
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The disease he is referring to is Lady Macbeth’s conscience that
has ruined her
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Act 5 Scene 2
Macbeth’s depression is shown in this act frequently, having had traces of it previously
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He is also basing his actions off the false senses of security that the witches
have provided him with and although he does not think he is immortal, he believes he is invincible
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Macbeth cannot control what is going to
happen (“he cannot buckle his distemper’d cause”) and the people who are still by his side are only
there down to fear of the man
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This shows that Macbeth is nothing more than a
common thief, and is overwhelmed by the ‘robe’ as it is not his and was never meant to be his
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“Meet we the med’cine of the sickly
weal / and with him pour we in our country’s purge” - Macbeth is killing the country and killing him
will be the medicine required to heal it
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He is on his own and therefore is speaking the
truth
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Macbeth should be feeling invincible due to the security, but he is not - a sign of his depression
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He looks to the future and does not like what he sees, feeling worse than
before
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He is depressed and fed up with living as he knows he will not
be able to have anything he had before
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He knows no one will ever love him or respect him again
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(“I’ll fight till from my bones
my flesh be hack’d”)
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However, we
know it is easy for him to be brave at this point as he still has his sense of security
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(“she is troubled with thickcoming fancies”)
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Macbeth tells the doctor about his horrors and asks him to “pluck” the memory of killing Duncan
from his mind but the doctor notes he cannot do anything to help that
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It is shown in this scene how the witches have
managed to trick Macbeth with his first false sense of security as the soldiers have reached the
woods
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Act 5 Scene 5
Macbeth hears women crying, and thinks back to what has startled him in the past
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He is informed the queen has killed herself, and replies very problematically
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On one hand, he wishes her death wasn't’ something that had happened, but on
the other he is being cold and wishes she could have offed herself at a more convenient time
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There is an image of an actor, that life is unable to be grasped by anyone
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Macbeth notes that once you are dead, you
are gone and are nothing - we are all insignificant
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A message arrives to inform Macbeth about the wood moving
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This is admirable and shows his
warrior side again
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He accepts
that he might have been tricked and heads out to face the army
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Act 5 Scene 6
This scene just moves the plot on
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Act 5 Scene 7
Although Macbeth knows the witches have tricked him, he is clinging on to the fact he can
apparently not be harmed by “man of woman born”
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Siward’s son dies
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he
only wants revenge for the slaughter of his family by killing Macbeth
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His bravery is admirable but he is still relying on his last security so it is easy to be
brave
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(“I’ll not fight with thee”)
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But he does not stop fighting, and this does not work
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(“Macduff was from his mother’s womb untimely ripp’d”)
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(“Then yield thee
coward”)
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(“I
will not yield to kiss the ground before young Malcolms feet”)
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Act 5 Scene 9
Siward is informed of his son’s death and is pleased to find out he died valiantly
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