The Tragedy of Macbeth, Part II: The Seed of Banquo

SCENE V

  Scotland. Forest.

  Enter Fleance, with Soldiers.

  FLEANCE ’Tis strange. Her parents claim she did not come,

  yet she’s not met us at the ship. This is

  the trail where we last met. No trace at all.

  I start to fear some dreadful deed. Spread

  further, and raise the lanterns high.

  FIRST SOLDIER Here my lord!

  Fleance and others discover Fiona’s body.

  FLEANCE O, cruel and unjust heaven! Here’s a sight

  to rend the soul. The very visage of

  an angel tumbled down to earth, but with

  no cloud to stop the fall. O humanity!

  How cruel and how callous thou art.

  Fleance kneels and holds her.

  FLEANCE ’Twere not for me, thou wouldst be safe, embraced

  still by the family thou loved most. The reach

  of my destiny runs too deep, harming

  all who come too close. Had I heart

  left to live, I’d lend it thee, to pump

  the blood that flowed so nobly in thy veins.

  SECOND SOLDIER My lord, we must make to the ship. These

  woods

  become unsafe.

  FLEANCE My love, this time you shall

  accompany, and like the albatross,

  lead our voyage. Great Neptune shall weep

  whilst he hosts, and Ireland will greet

  you with profound celebrity.

  THIRD SOLDIER My lord, we must depart.

  FLEANCE Woe to thee, Malcolm.

  I who gave my life to love shall learn

  the ways of war; I who worshipped Venus

  will turn my face to Mars.

  “Avenge, thou mayst, Fleance!” Would I had

  abided my father’s cry—then thou wouldst live,

  O sweet Fiona. Now I shall obey.

  Vengeance now will be my new companion,

  and vengeance shall breed vengeance unto such extreme

  that violence will but a prologue seem.

  Exeunt.

  SCENE VI

  Dunsinane. Macduff ‘s chamber.

  Macduff, sleeping.

  Enter Malcolm.

  MALCOLM Duncan slept in that very bed

  when Macbeth did his deed. Am I,

  then, too, a parricide?

  ’Tis strange. But yesterday I had never

  dreamed of murder; now this arm that thrust

  Donalbain so deep does by its own crave more,

  as if all of Hades’ minions I’ve unleashed.

  If I could but close the gates, I would;

  but I fear the lock’s been picked, and the weight

  of the world above cannot turn back

  the hinge.

  Macduff, if I think truly on the matter,

  never did me harm; advised me well;

  indeed, I never saw him with my wife.

  I have become infected with this curse

  called power, this insatiable trap

  that leads to nothing but wanting more, that turns

  our friends to foes, suitors to traitors, brothers

  to villains. Even if imagined, our fancies

  are real enough, and fancies beget plans,

  and plans beget action.

  Yet—I had a motive—what was it?

  Man of no woman—tear my union—

  I cannot recall. The early hour plagues

  my memory.

  The dagger shakes.

  The deed must now descend or else forever

  must I forego.

  For the sake of our union, then.

  Awake, O adulterer!

  Malcolm stabs Macduff.

  MACDUFF Am I stabbed by the one I loved the most?

  Rest now, Lady Macduff: thou art avenged.

  Rest now, boy: your coward father doth return.

  Macduff dies.

  MALCOLM Forgive me, Father: it seemed I saw your face

  when I the dagger thrust. Did I then murder

  Duncan? I can’t recall.

  What a hideous death was this!

  So noble was he in the act of dying,

  as if to further scold his taker.

  The blood has stained my arm entire—

  It shall never wash out!

  Exeunt.

  SCENE VII

  Dunsinane. Lady Malcolm’s bedroom.

  Lady Malcolm, sleeping.

  Enter Nurse and Doctor.

  NURSE I tell you, she is not well. I heard

  her cry out “murder.” She plots some treachery,

  just like her mother.

  DOCTOR Speech in sleep does not point to the doing.

  NURSE I tell you— Hark!

  LADY MALCOLM O king, do not murder!

  NURSE There! ’Tis proof!

  DOCTOR She spoke not to murder.

  NURSE ’Tis but the same—her mind is occupied

  with the deed.

  DOCTOR ’Tis not the same. She is

  a noble and virtuous queen—do not paint

  her otherwise. Yet her mind is troubled.

  Doctor wakes Lady Malcolm.

  DOCTOR My queen, forgive the start.

  LADY MALCOLM Is he safe?

  DOCTOR Who, my queen?

  LADY MALCOLM Macduff.

  NURSE Why would he be otherwise?

  LADY MALCOLM O! What a hideous dream.

  DOCTOR My lady,

  your mind is troubled. I pray you, take as physic

  this root—’twill put you fast asleep.

  LADY MALCOLM Most gracious,

  but ’tis my spirit that suffers, for which no root

  is strong enough.

  NURSE Why so, my lady?

  Answer you not?

  DOCTOR Pray, nurse, leave us.

  NURSE (aside) Leave you, I shall, but not ’til I finish

  my task. I thought it would be simpler; yet she

  resembles too much my daughter. No matter. I must

  see it through. Farwell, Macbeth.

  If I have my say, tomorrow I’ll

  undo thy wedding day.

  Exit Nurse.

  DOCTOR Pray, take this root, my lady. Thou shalt

  sleep well, and sleep shall make thee well.

  LADY MALCOLM ’Tis the place,

  I fear, that makes me unwell.

  DOCTOR Your mother I also did attend.

  LADY MALCOLM What was she like?

  DOCTOR Far from your likeness. I am no man of spirit,

  but if I were, I would also point

  to this place where your mother lived,

  and dreamt as she slept, and walked as she dreamt.

  These stones are held by no mere mortar.

  As unphysic-like as it may be,

  to advise you to hasten from this place

  would be the only remedy in my bag.

 

  LADY MALCOLM You have performed your service graciously.

  I pray you, leave me now.

  Doctor exits.

  LADY MALCOLM He advises too well, and echoes my own

  thoughts of late. Malcolm vowed a life

  free of blood and witchery—within

  these short hours his vows are broken twice.

  What worth, then, is a wedding vow?

  His murder of his brother, in the heat

  of battle, might be a sin forgiven. But

  to murder sweet Macduff! In this, he’s torn

  our union asunder. I shall not

  sleep beside a murderer.

  On the morrow I will depart this place

  and return to my Iona.

  O mother! Would you had never conceived!

  Exit.

  SCENE VIII

  Dunsinane. Ramparts.

  MALCOLM Some water and
this arm comes clean; some more,

  and so does this. Can murder wash away

  so quick? Can murderers keep walking thus,

  breathing free, unpunished by their act?

  Where has judgment gone? It must lurk in

  the afterlife. I think ’tis better, then,

  that I live longer here.

  Enter Three Murderers.

  Yet there seems

  no end to the blood that I must spill

  to keep my kingdom safe—and keep it safely mine.

  What say you, Banquo?

  Fleance lives? Yet more blood to spill.

  FIRST MURDERER My lord? To whom do you in counsel

  speak?

  MALCOLM Why, my guide to the world below.

  FIRST MURDERER Yet I see none.

  MALCOLM Why dost thou return?

  SECOND MURDERER We have done the deed.

  THIRD MURDERER Fleance is dead.

  MALCOLM Which one performed the deed?

  ALL ’Twas I—

  FIRST MURDERER ’Twas all of us, my lord.

  MALCOLM By whose order?

  FIRST MURDERER Why, yours, my lord.

  MALCOLM Where then is the blood?

 

  Murderers hold out their sleeves.

  ALL ’Tis here.

  MALCOLM But ’tis not on my sleeve.

  FIRST MURDERER My lord?

  MALCOLM Your deed is done. Mine, I fear, is yet to come.

  FIRST MURDERER (aside, to other murderers) He suffers from

  some malady . . . ’twill be short time before he learns

  Fleance still lives. Let us quickly flee this place.

  Exit Three Murderers, running.

  MALCOLM So. Fleance is dead. Donalbain is dead.

  Macduff is dead. And Cawdor does not live,

  except in me. Then, there are none left to fear.

  Yet still I feel unsafe. Danger, where

  dost thou lurk?

  Bell rings.

  VOICE Murder! Murder! Macduff lives no more!

  Enter Seyton, Siward, various Nobles and Attendants.

  ATTENDANT My lord! Macduff has been slain!

  MALCOLM Where?

  ATTENDANT Where he slept. Three men, garments stained

  in blood, were spotted fleeing our castle. Suspicion

  falls on them.

  MALCOLM Where is Macduff?

  ATTENDANT My lord?

  He’s slain.

  MALCOLM But where is he now?

  ATTENDANT Gone

  to heaven, I suppose.

  SIWARD My king, we must

  pursue the murderers.

  MALCOLM Pursue.

  Exit Attendants.

  SIWARD This castle is unsafe.

  MALCOLM To be safe,

  we must be safe from ourselves.

  Pursue!

  Exeunt all but Seyton and Siward.

  SEYTON (aside, to Siward) Note you not who’s absent here?

  SIWARD Who?

  SEYTON Why, the queen. How doth she sleep so sound

  despite alarums of murder?

  SIWARD I cannot fathom.

  SEYTON Why, because she is the root.

  SIWARD She?

  SEYTON She has begun erasing all too close

  to her throne. If only she’d spared sweet

  Macduff! We shall be next.

  SIWARD Star of villainy!

  We must inform Malcolm!

  SEYTON In his present

  state, he will not hear. Fear not—tomorrow

  I’ll convince the king.

  SIWARD ’Til then. For now, I’ll join the chase.

  O bloody night!

  Exit Siward.

  SEYTON O opportunity!

  I shall seize thee in confusion yet.

  Sweet Syna, prepare thee Scotland soon to wed.

  O Seyton! Prepare thee, too, to grandfather kings!

  Exit.