Act I, Scene ii

A camp near Forres Alarum within. Enter DUNCAN, MALCOLM, DONALBAIN, LENNOX, with attendants, meeting a bleeding SERGEANT

DUNCAN What bloody man is that? He can report, As seemeth by his plight, of the revolt The newest state. MALCOLM This is the sergeant Who, like a good and hardy soldier, fought 'Gainst my captivity. Hail, brave friend! Say to the king the knowledge of the broil As thou didst leave it. SERGEANT Doubtful it stood— As two spent swimmers that do cling together And choke their art. The merciless Macdonwald— Worthy to be a rebel, for to that The multiplying villainies of nature Do swarm upon him—from the western isles Of kerns and gallowglasses is supplied, And fortune, on his damned quarrel smiling, Show'd like a rebel's whore. But all's too weak, For brave Macbeth—well he deserves that name— Disdaining fortune, with his brandish'd steel, Which smok'd with bloody execution, Like valor's minion, carv'd out his passage Till he fac'd the slave—

"Alarum" = a trumpet call indicating that the setting is a military one "within" = Seen often in stage directions, "within" refers to sounds coming from, or action occurring, offstage. Duncan = the king of Scotland, a good king, affectionately regarded as "the good old man" Malcolm = Duncan's firstborn son Donalbain = Malcolm's younger brother Lennox = a thane of Scotland, a thane being a warrior, commander, and minor nobleman, just below the rank of earl in the English nobility

"bloody" = Blood is referred to more than a hundred times in Macbeth. Plainly, blood is an important motif. "He can report, / As seemeth by his plight, of the revolt / The newest state" = Judging by the sergeant's bleeding wounds, Duncan sees that this man will be able to supply a fresh account of the battle currently being fought. "plight" = trouble; crisis "revolt" = The word "revolt" indicates that the war in Scotland has something to do with trouble from within—with rebellion. It is worth observing here that a traditional metaphor of rebellion or treason, where it is raised against a good and loved monarch, is that of a disease in the body. But where rebellion is raised against a tyrant, the common metaphor is of a medicine. Shakespeare will use these common metaphors, disease and medicine, as complementary motifs in Macbeth.

"broil" = conflict

"As two spent swimmers that do cling together / And choke their art" = like two exhausted ("spent") swimmers who hold onto each other (in efforts to save themselves) and so wind up failing at their ability to swim ("choke their art" and therefore drown). The sergeant's simile, then, indicates that, at first, Duncan's troops were losing the battle and losing hope. "Worthy to be a rebel" = with good reason called a traitor "The multiplying villainies of nature / Do swarm upon him" = The many evil traits and behaviors ("multiplying villainies") appearing in a traitor, such as Macdonwald, are like the lice or maggots that swarm over a diseased body or like the flies that swarm over manure. "from the western isles / Of kerns and gallowglasses is supplied" = Macdonwald has added kerns and gallowglasses to his rebel troops—each of these being a class of soldiers from Ireland and understood, in this context, to be mercenaries (soldiers of fortune)—those who fight not out of duty or in defense of a noble cause, but for a pay cheque. They serve the master who pays them the best wages. "And fortune, on his damned quarrel smiling, / Show'd like a rebel's whore" = Traditionally fortune is personified as a woman, and a kind of woman specific to the quality of one's fortune. When a person's fortune is good, when all's well, fortune is a beautiful lady or a chaste maid. But when fortune turns ill, the beautiful lady becomes a harlot, a slut. In the quoted passage, fortune, favoring the rebels, appeared to the losing Scottish to be one of these ill-favored ladies, a "whore." "Disdaining fortune" = heedless of what was to come (and seen therefore as heroic; he has been called, after all, "brave Macbeth"). That Macbeth should be depicted, at this past point, as one unconcerned with consequences is, as we shall see in the future, entirely ironic. "like valor's minion" = like the servant ("minion") of bravery ("valor") (valor being personified as a commander whom one might serve)

Which ne'er shook hands, nor bade farewell to him, Till he unseam'd him from the nave to the chaps, And fix'd his head upon our battlements. DUNCAN O valiant cousin! Worthy gentleman! SERGEANT As whence the sun 'gins his reflection Shipwrecking storms and direful thunders break, So from that spring, whence comfort seem'd to come, Discomfort swells. Mark, king of Scotland, mark: No sooner justice had, with valor arm'd, Compell'd these skipping kerns to trust their heels, But the Norweyan lord, surveying vantage, With furbish'd arms and new supplies of men, Began a fresh assault. DUNCAN Dismay'd not this Our captains, Macbeth and Banquo?

"Which ne'er shook hands, nor bade farewell to him" = Macbeth offered no silly civilities to Macdonwald. He simply attacked. "unseam'd him from the nave to the chaps / And fix'd his head upon our battlements" = split him open from the navel to the jaw and stuck up his severed head on our battle wall (presumably on a spear) In this account of Macbeth's action in battle, we should not judge him by our own moral standards. His treatment of Macdonwald is not to be seen as the work of a vicious killer. Rather, he is understood to be a valorous soldier loyally serving his king, which, of course, is the reason that Duncan proclaims him a "valiant cousin" and a "worthy gentleman." (Incidentally, Macbeth and Duncan are said to be actual cousins—i.e. true blood relations—not just kinsmen.)

"whence" = from the place "'gins" = clipped form of begins "As whence the sun 'gins his reflection / Shipwrecking storms and direful thunders break" = from the same direction in which the sun's light is first seen (in the east), destructive ("shipwrecking") storms and frightening ("direful") thunder also come "So from that spring, whence comfort seem'd to come, / Discomfort swells" = in the same way ("so"), the source ("spring") of comfort (the warm, light-giving sun, which first shows in the east) is also the source of discomfort (the terrible storms that so shake us also rise in the east). In this conceit, the Sergeant implies a comparison of the good fortune of Macbeth's heroism to the blessed sun shining on all deservers, and then a comparison of the ensuing bad fortune of a newly attacking force (the Norwegians) to cursed storms. Note here the appearance of the idea that "fair is foul and foul is fair." We might also identify it as a case of the even-handedness motif—the blessed sun and the cursed storms being equally weighted opposites. "Mark" = observe; note "with valor arm'd" = equipped with courage "Compell'd these skipping kerns to trust their heels" = forced the cowardly kerns to run away "the Norweyan lord" = We see that Norwegian troops are also involved in this insurrection against the Scottish throne. "surveying vantage" = spotting a chance to gain a victory "furbish'd" = polished. The implication of freshly polished weapons ("arms") is that their carriers, the Norwegian soldiers, had not yet battled by this time. Therefore they would have been a fresher, stronger set of warriors than were the now weary, wounded forces of Duncan.

Macbeth and Banquo are both thanes of Scotland, fellow warriors and commanders. And Banquo, we will learn, has this day served Duncan as nobly as Macbeth has done.

SERGEANT Yes,

As sparrows eagles or the hare the lion. If I say sooth, I must report they were As cannons overcharg'd with double cracks. So they Doubly redoubled strokes upon the foe. Except they meant to bathe in reeking wounds, Or memorize another Golgotha, I cannot tell— But I am faint. My gashes cry for help. DUNCAN So well thy words become thee as thy wounds. They smack of honor both. Go, get him surgeons. Exit SERGEANT, attended Who comes here? Enter ROSS MALCOLM The worthy thane of Ross. LENNOX What a haste looks through his eyes. So should he look That seems to speak things strange. ROSS God save the king! DUNCAN Whence cam'st thou, worthy thane?

The Sergeant's answer to Duncan's question of whether Macbeth and Banquo were disheartened at encountering the Norwegians' "fresh assault" is important in that it hints at the idea of equivocation—a significant idea in Macbeth and one that we will focus on in scenes to come. It is enough at this point to define equivocation as the paradoxical condition of making a statement that is at the same time true and false. Though this weighty definition would seem to suggest that the Sergeant's answer is meant to be a powerfully fraught line, it isn't. It's just a bit of a joke. Responding to the king's question, he answers, "Yes." But then in comparing the two captains' degree of fear to the degree of fear shown by certain animals when they encounter certain other animals (eagles don't feel much fear in the face of sparrows, and lions aren't especially frightened of rabbits), he makes it clear that the Norwegians did not frighten Macbeth and Banquo at all. In this way, the Sergeant's answer is, in the same moment, both a yes and a no, and each can be heard as true. Incidentally, the Sergeant introduces here another motif of the play: animals—in particular, animals of prey and animals preyed upon.

"sooth" = truth "As cannons overcharg'd with double cracks" = like cannons packed with twice the amount of gunpowder they normally would have "Except they meant to bathe in reeking wounds" = unless ("except") they intended to bathe in stinking ("reeking") blood (their enemies' blood) "Or memorize another Golgotha" = or recreate ("memorize") another scene of sacrifice (Macbeth and Banquo's would-be sacrificing of themselves). Golgotha, also called the Hill of Skulls, is said to be the location of Christ's crucifixion. It was, therefore, a scene of sacrifice.

"So well thy words become thee as thy wounds" = The verb "become," in this context, means to suit—that is, to be appropriate and flattering to the person who possesses the becoming thing. I could say, for example, that your hat is most becoming. It looks lovely on you—not so great on someone else, maybe, but on you, lovely! Duncan, then, praises the Sergeant for his words and wounds, for each signifies his honor and loyalty. Most importantly here—because the verb become and the adjective becoming are so often used in the context of clothing—Duncan's use of "become" obliquely suggests another key motif in Macbeth, and it is that of clothing, especially of clothing that is not becoming, not well suited to its wearer. "smack of" = taste like; signify; give the impression of

"That seems to" = who seems about to

ROSS From Fife, great king, Where the Norweyan banners flout the sky And fan our people cold. Norway himself, With terrible numbers, Assisted by that most disloyal traitor, The thane of Cawdor, began a dismal conflict, Till that Bellona's bridegroom, lapp'd in proof, Confronted him with self-comparisons, Point against point, rebellious arm 'gainst arm, Curbing his lavish spirit—and to conclude, The victory fell on us. DUNCAN Great happiness! ROSS That now, Sweno, the Norways' king, craves composition. Nor would we deign him burial of his men Till he disbursed at Saint Colme's Inch Ten thousand dollars to our general use. DUNCAN No more that thane of Cawdor shall deceive Our bosom interest. Go pronounce his present death, And with his former title greet Macbeth. ROSS I'll see it done. DUNCAN What he hath lost, noble Macbeth hath won. Exeunt

Fife = a region in Scotland, of which one Macduff is the thane "flout" = mock "Where the Norweyan banners flout the sky" = Norway and the thane of Cawdor, having made conquest of Fife (temporarily, as we shall see) had planted Norwegian flags ("banners") to indicate their new possession. "Norway himself" = the king of Norway (Sweno) "terrible numbers" = a great many soldiers; a terrifying force "The thane of Cawdor" = another traitor to the Scottish throne. Note: Add the traitor Cawdor to the traitor Macdonwald, to make two traitors. Hmm . . . will there be an unexpected third traitor to add to the train? "dismal" = dreadful Bellona = the consort of Mars, the Roman god of war. Macbeth seems (somewhat awkwardly) to be identified with Mars himself, so magnificent a soldier is he. "lapp'd in proof" = dressed ("lapp'd) in battle armor (called armor of proof, being approved or tested metal). Note the clothing motif here, wherein we see Macbeth dressed in the gear that best becomes him: his soldier's armor. "Confronted him with self-comparisons, / Point against point, / rebellious arm 'gainst arm" = Macbeth stood opposed to the thane of Cawdor, equally matched ("with self-comparisons") in weaponry and strength to his foe. Note the even-handedness motif. "lavish" = insolent; traitorous "That now" = that now being the condition (that Norway and the Scottish traitors have been defeated) "craves composition" = begs for terms of peace "deign" = allow; permit "disbursed" = paid out "our" = Duncan uses the imperial plural (the royal we)—the privilege reserved for royalty (and certain other high-placed persons) to refer to themselves in plural terms rather than singular, based on the idea that the ruler speaks not for him/herself alone but for all subjects of the realm. "bosom interest" = heart's trust "present" = soon to be. The (former) thane of Cawdor is shortly to be executed, at Duncan's order. "And with his former title greet Macbeth" = Duncan commissions Ross to seek out Macbeth and to reveal that, as a reward for having defeated Cawdor, he is to be made the new thane of Cawdor. This thaneship will be an addition, then, to the one that Macbeth already possesses. He is currently the thane of Glamis (pronounced GLAWMZ). Some subtle foreshadowing, note: Duncan says, "With his [Cawdor's] former title greet Macbeth." But strictly speaking, Cawdor's most recent "title" has been "that most disloyal traitor"!