GRAHAM’S MAGAZINE.
Vol. XXXVII. Sept, 1850. No. 3.
Table of Contents
Fiction, Literature and Articles
Shakspeare—Analysis of Macbeth
Pedro de Padilh (continued)
A Visit to Staten Island
Woodlawn: or the Other Side of the Medal
“What Can Woman Do?”
The Bride of the Battle
Doctrine of Form
Coquet _versus_ Coquette
The Genius of Byron
Rail and Rail Shooting
The Fine Arts
Mandan Indians
Review of New Books
Poetry, Music and Fashion
Ode
Lines in Memory of My Lost Child
Evening
The Wasted Heart
A Health to My Brother
On a Portrait of Cromwell
A Sea-Side Reverie
Audubon’s Blindness
Sonnets
On the Death of General Taylor
“Psyche Loves Me.”
To the Lost One
Outward Bound
He Comes Not
The Bright New Moon of Love
Barcarole
Le Follet
Transcriber’s Notes can be found at the end of this eBook.
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GRAHAM’S MAGAZINE.
Vol. XXXVII. PHILADELPHIA, September, 1850. No. 3.
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SHAKSPEARE.
ANALYSIS OF MACBETH.
BY HENRY C. MOORHEAD.
The reader who has not considered the subject in Ulrici’s point of view,
will, perhaps, scarcely be prepared, at first sight, to believe that the
two plays of Macbeth and the Merchant of Venice, have the same
“ground-idea;” that both are, throughout, imbued with the same
sentiment, yet he will readily perceive the similarity of the leading
incidents of these plays. Shylock insists on the literal terms of his
bond, and “stands for judgment,” according to the strict law of Venice.
He is entitled to a pound of flesh; “the law allows it, and the court
awards it;” but his bond gives him no drop of blood, and neither more
nor less than just a pound. Thus the _letter of the law_, on which he
has so sternly insisted, serves in the end to defeat him. In like manner
Macbeth relies with fatal confidence on the predictions of the weird
sisters, that “none of woman born shall harm Macbeth;” and that he
“shall never vanquished be till Birnam wood do come to Dunsinane.” The
predictions are more _literally_ fulfilled than he anticipated, and that
very strictness of interpretation makes them worthless.
Now it is from these incidents—both of the same import—that the
respective themes of these plays are drawn; hence those themes are
substantially the same, and may be thus expressed:
_The relation of form to substance—of the letter to the spirit—of the
real to the ideal._ But the different aspects in which this idea is
presented are multiform; as empty, superfluous words; ambiguities,
equivocations, irony, riddles, formality, prescription, superstition;
witches, ghosts, dreams, omens, etc., etc.
The reason and the propriety of the introduction of the witches in
Macbeth, has often been a subject of speculation. It may be remarked in
general, that Shakspeare always follows very closely the original story
on which his plot is founded. The question as to any given circumstance,
therefore, generally is rather why he has _retained_ than why he has
_introduced_ it. In the history of Macbeth, as he read it in the old
chronicles, he found the weird sisters, and also their _equivocal
predictions_; and it was upon these predictions as a “ground-idea,” (as
has already been observed,) that he constructed the play. The witches,
therefore, were not introduced for the sake of the play, but it might
rather be said the play was written for the sake of the witches.
ACT I.
The prevailing modification of the theme, in the early part of the play,
is “the ambiguity of appearances.” The 1st scene merely introduces the
witches, who are themselves _ambiguous_, and so is their language; “fair
is foul, and foul is fair.” They appear amidst thunder and lightning,
and a hurly-burly of empty words.
In the 2d Scene a bleeding soldier enters, and gives an account of the
battle, and of the achievements of Macbeth and Banquo. Mark how he
dwells on the _doubtful aspect_ of the fight:
“Doubtfully it stood;
As two spent swimmers that do cling together,
And choke their art.”
He represents fortune as smiling at first on Macdonwald’s cause; but
brave Macbeth, “disdaining fortune,” soon turned the tide of victory.
But another revulsion follows, “and from the spring whence comfort
seemed to come, discomfort flows.” The Norweyan lord suddenly renews the
assault, but victory at last falls on Macbeth and Banquo. Ross now
enters and describes the fight, dwelling in like manner on the
_uncertainty_ which attended it; and Duncan, declaring that the Thane of
Cawdor shall no more _deceive_ him, orders his execution. It is worthy
of remark also, that the view here presented of Macbeth’s character is
purely _formal_ or _sensual_. Physical strength and bull-dog courage are
alone spoken of. Swords “smoking with bloody execution,” “reeking
wounds,” and “heads fixed on battlements,” compose the staple of his
eulogy.
_Scene_ 3d—Enter the three witches. There is an idle repetition of
words. The offense of the sailor’s wife is visited upon her husband, who
is, however, to encounter only the _appearance_, not the _reality_ of
destruction. A certain _combination of numbers_ completes the charm.
Macbeth and Banquo now encounter the weird sisters on the heath.
Macbeth’s exclamations relate chiefly to the _ambiguity_ of their
_appearance_. He says, they “look not like the inhabitants of the earth,
and yet are on it.” They “_seem_ to understand me.”
They should be women,
And yet their beards forbid me to interpret
That they are so.
The witches then salute Macbeth in terms which are to him
_incomprehensible_. They call him Thane of Cawdor, which he is, but does
not know it. They also salute Banquo in ambiguous language: “Lesser than
Macbeth and greater.” “Not so happy, yet much happier,” etc., etc.
The witches now “melt into the wind;” upon which Banquo says,
The earth hath _bubbles_ as the water has,
And these are of them.
Ross and Angus now enter and salute Macbeth as Thane of Cawdor, who,
finding the prediction of the witches verified in this particular, asks
Banquo whether he does not hope his children shall be kings. Banquo’s
answer points to the _ambiguity_ of appearances,
That trysted home,
Might yet enkindle you unto the crown,
Besides the Thane of Cawdor. But ’tis strange;
And oftentimes to win us to our harm,
The instruments of darkness tell us truths;
Win us with honest trifles to betray us
In deepest consequence.
Macbeth falls into meditation on the subject; thinks this “supernatural
soliciting” cannot be ill, because it has already given him earnest of
success; cannot be good, because it breeds horrid suggestions in his
mind. The appearances are _ambiguous_ and bewilder him. Banquo,
observing his abstraction, remarks that new honors come upon him like
“strange garments,” wanting the _formality_ of use to make them sit
easy.
The next Scene, (the 4th) though a short one, contains several very
pointed references to the central idea. Malcolm reports to Duncan that
Cawdor, when led to execution, had frankly confessed his treasons;
whereupon Duncan says,
There’s no art
To find the mind’s construction in the face;
He was a gentleman on whom I built
An absolute trust.
This reflection is commonplace enough in itself, but is rendered
eminently striking by his cordial reception of Macbeth the next moment;
he hails as his deliverer, and enthrones in his heart, the man who is
already meditating his destruction, and that very night murders him in
his sleep. Thus precept and example concur in teaching the _uncertainty
of appearances_. Again Duncan says:
My _plenteous joys_,
Wanton in fullness, seek to hide themselves
In _drops of sorrow_.
He then declares his intention to confer _appropriate_ honors on all
deservers, and renews his expressions of confidence in Macbeth.
The subject is now presented in a slightly different aspect. Whereas the
ambiguity of form or appearance has heretofore been insisted on, the
leading idea is now the agreement of form with substance; the
correspondence of appearances with the reality.
Macbeth writes to his wife, informing her of what has happened, that she
may not “lose the dues of rejoicing,” but be able to conform to their
new circumstances. Her reflections on the occasion abound with
illustrations of the theme. She fears his nature; it is too full of the
milk of human kindness to “catch the nearest way.” He cannot rid himself
of what she considers mere ceremonious scruples; “what he would highly
that he would holily;” whilst she thinks only of the end they aim at,
she apprehends that he will stand upon _the manner_ of reaching it. An
attendant now informs her of Duncan’s unexpected approach; and she falls
into a soliloquy which is singularly adapted to the theme. The “hoarse
raven;” the invocation to night; her wish to be unsexed, and that her
milk might be turned to gall, etc., etc. When Macbeth arrives, she says
to him:
Your face, my thane, is as a book, where men
May read strange matters; _To beguile the time_,
_Look like the time_; bear welcome in your eye,
Your hand, your tongue; look like the innocent flower,
But be the serpent under it.
In the next scene she practices that dissimulation which she has
reproached Macbeth for wanting. Her reception of Duncan is full of
ceremony and professions of duty.
The 7th Scene opens with the great soliloquy of Macbeth, “If it were
done, when ’tis done,” etc. He dwells on the _incongruity_ of his
killing Duncan, who is there in double trust; “First as I am his kinsman
and his subject; then as his host.” Duncan, too, “has borne his
faculties so meek;” has been “so clear in his great office;” “he has
honored me of late;” and “I have bought golden opinions from all sorts
of people.” He resolves at last that he will proceed no further in the
business. Lady Macbeth now enters to “chastise him with the valor of her
tongue.” In the course of the argument that ensues, Macbeth shows _his_
regard for _appearances_ by saying:
I dare do all that may become a man,
Who dares do more is none.
whilst she shows _her_ respect for the strictness of the letter by
declaring that _had she so sworn_ as he has done to this, she would,
whilst her babe was smiling in her face, have “plucked her nipple from
his boneless gums,” and dashed his brains out. She then proposes to
drench the attendants with wine, and smear them with Duncan’s blood, so
that suspicion may fall on them; also, “we will make our griefs and
clamor roar upon his death.” And here the first act ends with these
words:
Away and mock the time with fairest show;
False face must hide what the false heart doth know.