Week 3 (Macbeth)

Macbeth: Two Truths are told,

As happy Prologues to the swelling Act

Of the Imperiall Theame. I thanke you Gentlemen:

This supernaturall solliciting

Cannot be ill; cannot be good.

If ill? why hath it giuen me earnest of successe,

Commencing in a Truth? I am Thane of Cawdor.

If good? why doe I yeeld to that suggestion,

Whose horrid Image doth vnfixe my Heire,

And make my seated Heart knock at my Ribbes,

Against the vse of Nature? Present Feares

Are lesse then horrible Imaginings:

My Thought, whose Murther yet is but fantasticall,

Shakes so my single state of Man,

That Function is smother'd in surmise,

And nothing is, but what is not

This dialog of the play takes place as pondering thought that Macbeth has with himself in-between a conversation with is good friend Banquo which is right after he discovers that the three witches’ predictions came true and that he is to soon be made “Thane of Cawdor”. Macbeth is surprised and becomes even more curious then before. This of which gave birth to this deep thought process which makes him wonder if  the witches’ final prediction will come true due to the fact that two became true already “Two Truths are told,”. This text really symbolizes the seed planted that was installed into Macbeth’s mind as the seed shows its effort to grow but is delayed by Macbeth’s good conscious.  Macbeth recognizes that the idea could be a false set up due to its unusual source “This supernaturall solliciting.” He states that this prediction of the future cannot be good or bad. He Asks himself that if it is bad, then why does the idea end with his success “If ill? why hath it giuen me earnest of successe.” And if it is good then why does he feel so guilty about being the future king, fearing what he may have to do to become it. “If good? why doe I yeeld to that suggestion, Whose horrid Image doth vnfixe my Heire.” 

 Macbeth ponders on the current reality which are all facts “Commencing in a Truth? I am Thane of Cawdor.”  This text of the dialog really shows as the seed begins to grow in Macbeths head because it shows the moment where he actually starts to believe in the witches but Macbeth’s ambition is still limited by his inner conscious and morals as he fears the lengths that he may go or have to go in order for this prediction to take place and come true. The possibility of him becoming less than an honest man scares him as he has visions of what he may become “lesse then horrible Imaginings:” and that he doesn’t want to do anything bad but rather he would like the crown to become his own by default.

This conversation Macbeth has with himself is a critical dialog in the play because it symbolizes and is the turning put at which things start to change in Macbeth’s mind. Because it is the point in which the seed planted in his mind starts to grow and is the beginning of his paranoia which is the biggest contribution to Macbeth’s downfall. It is the turning point because it is where he begins to believe the possibility of becoming king and it was his belief of the witches that inspired him to take the action in efforts to actually become king.  This text marks the beginning of Macbeth’s War within himself “Shakes so my single state of Man” and where things start to change.