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Macbeth
Please see the bottom of the page for full explanatory notes and helpful resources.

ACT V SCENE I

Dunsinane. Ante-room in the castle.

[ Enter a Doctor of Physic and a Waiting-Gentlewoman]

Doctor

I have two nights watched with you, but can perceive

no truth in your report. When was it she last walked?

Gentlewoman

Since his majesty went into the field, I have seen

her rise from her bed, throw her night-gown upon

her, unlock her closet, take forth paper, fold it,

write upon't, read it, afterwards seal it, and again

return to bed; yet all this while in a most fast sleep.

the benefit of sleep, and do the effects of

watching! In this slumbery agitation, besides her

walking and other actual performances, what, at any

time, have you heard her say?

Gentlewoman

That, sir, which I will not report after her.

Doctor

You may to me: and 'tis most meet you should.

confirm my speech.

[ Enter LADY MACBETH, with a taper]

Lo you, here she comes! This is her very guise;

and, upon my life, fast asleep. Observe her; stand close.

Doctor

How came she by that light?

Gentlewoman

Why, it stood by her: she has light by her

continually; 'tis her command.

Doctor

You see, her eyes are open.

Gentlewoman

Ay, but their sense is shut.

Gentlewoman

It is an accustomed action with her, to seem thus

washing her hands: I have known her continue in

this a quarter of an hour.

LADY MACBETH

Yet here's a spot.

Doctor

Hark! she speaks: I will set down what comes from

her, to satisfy my remembrance the more strongly.

LADY MACBETH

Out, damned spot! out, I say!--One: two: why,

lord, fie! a soldier, and afeard? What need we

fear who knows it, when none can call our power to

account?--Yet who would have thought the old man

to have had so much blood in him.

Doctor

Do you mark that?

LADY MACBETH

The thane of Fife had a wife: where is she now?--

What, will these hands ne'er be clean?--No more o'

that, my lord, no more o' that: you mar all with

Doctor

Go to, go to; you have known what you should not.

Gentlewoman

She has spoke what she should not, I am sure of

that: heaven knows what she has known.

LADY MACBETH

Here's the smell of the blood still: all the

perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little

hand. Oh, oh, oh!

Gentlewoman

I would not have such a heart in my bosom for the

dignity of the whole body.

Doctor

Well, well, well,--

Gentlewoman

Pray God it be, sir.

Doctor

This disease is beyond my practise: yet I have known

those which have walked in their sleep who have died

holily in their beds.

LADY MACBETH

Wash your hands, put on your nightgown; look not so

cannot come out on's grave.

Doctor

Even so?

LADY MACBETH

To bed, to bed! there's knocking at the gate:

come, come, come, come, give me your hand. What's

done cannot be undone.--To bed, to bed, to bed!

[ Exit]

Doctor

Will she go now to bed?

Gentlewoman

Directly.

Doctor

Foul whisperings are abroad: unnatural deeds

To their deaf pillows will discharge their secrets:

More needs she the divine than the physician.

God, God forgive us all! Look after her;

Remove from her the means of all annoyance,

And still keep eyes upon her. So, good night:

My mind she has mated, and amazed my sight.

I think, but dare not speak.

Gentlewoman

Good night, good doctor.

[ Exeunt]

Next: Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 2
_______

Explanatory Notes for Act 5, Scene 1
From Macbeth. Ed. Thomas Marc Parrott. New York: American Book Co.
(Line numbers have been altered.)
_______

The last act brings about the catastrophe of the play. This does not consist merely in the death of Macbeth upon the field of battle. Shakespeare is always more interested in the tragedy of the soul than in external events, and he here employs all his powers to paint for us the state of loneliness and hopeless misery to which a long succession of crimes has reduced Macbeth. Still clinging desperately to the deceitful promises of the witches the tyrant sees his subjects fly from him; he loses the support and companionship of his wife, and looks forward to a solitary old age, accompanied only by "curses, not loud, but deep." It is not until the very close of the act, when he realizes how he has been trapped by the juggling fiends, that Macbeth recovers his old heroic self; but he dies, sword in hand, as befits the daring soldier that he was before he yielded to temptation.

It is worth noting how in this act Shakespeare contrives to reengage our sympathies for Macbeth. The hero of the play no longer appears as a traitor and a murderer, but as a man oppressed by every kind of trouble, yet fighting desperately against an irresistible fate. His bitter remorse for the past and his reckless defiance of the future alike move us with overwhelming power, and we view his tragic end, not with self-righteous approval, but with deep and human pity.

The number of scenes in this act and the frequent changes of place have necessitated many alterations for modern stage performances. But when the construction is regarded with an eye to the simple Elizabethan stage for which Shakespeare composed his work, it will be found a masterpiece of dramatic art. It opens with a prologue which shows us the mental ruin of Lady Macbeth and at the same time recalls to our minds the sins for which she and her husband are now to receive their just reward.

The second scene shows us the revolt of the Scotch nobles; the third, Macbeth's still unshaken reliance upon the witches' prediction; the fourth, the union of the Scottish nobles with the English forces. In the fifth we see Macbeth reduced to the lowest pitch of misery by his forced inaction and by the news of his wife's death. The report of the moving wood which is brought to him in this scene opens his eyes to the "equivocation of the fiend," and the manner in which he receives it prepares us for his final outburst of defiance. The sixth scene brings the avengers before the walls of Dunsinane.

The seventh, shows us Macbeth still clinging desperately to his last hope, that no man, born of woman, can harm him; but in the eighth even this hope is wrested from him, and he falls by the hand of the man he has most deeply wronged. The last scene, for there should be another, beginning at line 35 of the eighth scene, shows Malcolm in Macbeth's stronghold, "compassed by his kingdom's pearl," and points forward to a new era of peace and happiness in Scotland.

At the beginning of this act Lady Macbeth who has apparently dropped out of the story is brought back upon the stage that we may see how she too pays the penalty of her crimes. The strong will that enabled her to defy her woman's nature has broken down utterly; left alone in her castle while Macbeth is in the field she broods by day over past crimes and future punishment, and at night wanders in uneasy sleep through the halls, betraying to all who hear her the deadly secrets of the past.

In spite of the doctor's statement (lines 65-67), we feel that she is doomed, and we are prepared not only for the news of her death in scene v., but also for the report in the last scene that she died by her own hands. The most tragic part of her punishment is that she, who had sinned so deeply for her husband's sake, drifts away from him and dies in lonely isolation.

4. field. We must suppose that at this time Macbeth is in the field endeavouring to suppress the revolt of the Scotch nobles, alluded to in iv. 3. 182-185.

12, 13. do the effects of watching, perform the acts of waking hours.

13. slumbery agitation, activity of sleep.

16. report, repeat.

16. The gentlewoman is afraid lest she should get into trouble by repeating Lady Macbeth's words.

22, 23. her very guise, exactly her habit.

24. stand close, keep concealed.

27.'tis her command. Note Lady Macbeth's terror of darkness. She who had invoked thick night to come and cover her deeds of blood dares not now be left alone in the dark.

29. sense, an old plural form.

32. accustomed. Note how Shakespeare impresses on us the fact that this scene is only one of a number.

37. satisfy, assure.

39. Out, damned spot. Lady Macbeth imagines, herself trying to wash the blood of Duncan from her hands.

40. to do't, to kill Duncan. She is living over again the night of Duncan's murder. She thinks she hears the bell strike two, and knows that this is the signal for her husband to enter the king's chamber.

40. Hell is murky. These words reveal Lady Macbeth's brooding fear of the hereafter. They have no connection with the sentence that follows, for Macbeth never showed the slightest dread of future punishment.

44, 45. old man ... 'him. She now fancies herself in Duncan's chamber, standing over the bed which streams with the blood of the murdered king.

47, 48. The thane of Fife ... now. Lady Macbeth had not been a party to the murder of Macduff's wife; but this crime of her husband's is another of the burdens on her conscience. The words in which she mentions Lady Macduff are thrown into the form of an old song. Perhaps she had heard the snatch of a lament sung for her husband's victims, and is now reproducing it in her sleep.

49, 50. No more o' that ... starting. She now imagines herself back at the feast where Banquo's ghost had appeared.

51. go to, an expression of proof.

57. Arabia, a land famous for its spices and perfumes.

58. little hand, one of the few allusions in the play to Lady Macbeth's personal appearance.

59, 60. sorely charged, heavy laden.

65. beyond my practice, outside of my experience.

68. Wash your hands. She now fancies herself speaking to her husband directly after the murder of Duncan. In the next line she recurs to the scene at the banquet.

70. on's, of his.

72. Even so?, an expression of surprise.

79. Note the change to blank verse. The vivid realism of Lady Macbeth's broken utterances would have been impossible in metre, and while she spoke in prose her hearers naturally used the same form.

79. Foul whisperings, terrible rumours. The doctor may have heard some such talk as that between Lennox and the Lord in iii. 6. If so his suspicions would be more than confirmed by what he has heard Lady Macbeth say.

79, 80. unnatural deeds ... troubles, deeds against nature (cf. ii. 4. 10, 11) give rise to abnormal evils in the body.

80. infected minds, guilty souls.

84. the means of all annoyance, anything by which she could harm herself.
How to cite the explanatory notes:
Shakespeare, William.Macbeth. Ed. Thomas Marc Parrott. New York: American Book Co., 1904. Shakespeare Online. 10 Aug. 2010. < http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/macbeth_5_1.html >.
________

________

More Resources

The Chronology of Shakespeare's Plays
Establishing the Order of the Plays
How Many Plays Did Shakespeare Write?
Shakespeare Timeline

Shakespeare's Reputation in Elizabethan England
Words Shakespeare Invented
Quotations About William Shakespeare

Portraits of Shakespeare
Shakespeare's Boss: The Master of Revels
Top 10 Shakespeare Plays

Shakespeare's Metaphors and Similes
Shakespeare's Blank Verse
Shakespeare Timeline

Edward Alleyn (Actor)
What is Tragic Irony?
Characteristics of Elizabethan Tragedy

More to Explore
Macbeth: The Complete Play with Commentary
The Metre of Macbeth: Blank Verse and Rhymed Lines
Macbeth Character Introduction
Metaphors in Macbeth (Biblical)

Differences Between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth
Explanatory Notes for Lady Macbeth's Soliloquy (1.5)
The Psychoanalysis of Lady Macbeth (Sleepwalking Scene)
The Effect of Lady Macbeth's Death on Macbeth
Is Lady Macbeth's Swoon Real?

The Theme of Macbeth
Macbeth, Duncan and Shakespeare's Changes
King James I and Shakespeare's Sources for Macbeth
Contemporary References to King James I in Macbeth
The Royal Patent that Changed Shakespeare's Life

Origin of the Weird Sisters
Crafting a Sympathetic Macbeth
The Moral Character of Macbeth

_____

Points to Ponder ... "In the words, "Out damned spot - Out I say," the mechanism is that of an unconscious and automatic outburst. It is very doubtful if Lady Macbeth would have used these words if she were in her normal, waking condition. Thus the difference between the personality of Lady Macbeth in her somnambulistic and in the normal mental state, is a proof of the wide gap existing between these two types of consciousness." Isador H. Coriat. Read on...

_____

Soliloquy Analysis: If it were done when 'tis done (1.7.1-29)
Soliloquy Analysis: Is this a dagger (2.1.33-61)
Soliloquy Analysis: To be thus is nothing (3.1.47-71)
Soliloquy Analysis: She should have died hereafter (5.5.17-28)

Elizabethan Use of Mummified Flesh
Three Apparitions in Macbeth
Supernatural Soliciting in Shakespeare
Explanatory Notes for the Witches' Chants (4.1)

Macbeth Plot Summary (Acts 1 and 2)
Macbeth Plot Summary (Acts 3, 4 and 5)
How to Stage a Production of Macbeth (Scene Suggestions)

A Comparison of Macbeth and Hamlet
Knocking at the Gate in Macbeth
Shakespeare's Sources for Macbeth
The Curse of Macbeth

Macbeth Q & A
Essay Topics on Macbeth
Aesthetic Examination Questions on Macbeth
What is Tragic Irony?

Stages of Plot Development in Macbeth
Time Analysis of the Action in Macbeth
Macbeth Study Quiz (with detailed answers)
Quotations from Macbeth (Full)
Top 10 Quotations from Macbeth

Temptation, Sin, Retribution: Lecture Notes on Macbeth
Untie the winds: Exploring the Witches' Control Over Nature
Shakespeare on Omens

Characteristics of Elizabethan Tragedy
Why Shakespeare is so Important
Shakespeare's Language
Shakespeare's Influence on Other Writers

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lady macbeth death sleepwalking in macbeth damned spot out i say

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Macbeth Act 5 Scene 1 - Lady Macbeth's sleepwalking scene

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Please see the bottom of the page for full explanatory notes and helpful resources. ACT V SCENE I Dunsinane. Ante-room in the castle. [ Enter a Doctor of Physic and a Waiting-Gentlewoman] Doctor I have two nights watched with you, but can perceive no truth in your report.

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analysis

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Quote 4

Out, damned spot; out, I say. One, two,-why, then 'tis time to do't. Hell is murky. Fie, my lord, fie, a soldier and afeard? What need we fear who knows it when none can call our power to account? Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?

These words are spoken by Lady Macbeth in Act 5, scene 1, lines 30-34, as she sleepwalks through Macbeth's castle on the eve of his battle against Macduff and Malcolm. Earlier in the play, she possessed a stronger resolve and sense of purpose than her husband and was the driving force behind their plot to kill Duncan. When Macbeth believed his hand was irreversibly bloodstained earlier in the play, Lady Macbeth had told him, "A little water clears us of this deed" (2.2.65). Now, however, she too sees blood. She is completely undone by guilt and descends into madness. It may be a reflection of her mental and emotional state that she is not speaking in verse; this is one of the few moments in the play when a major character-save for the witches, who speak in four-foot couplets-strays from iambic pentameter. Her inability to sleep was foreshadowed in the voice that her husband thought he heard while killing the king-a voice crying out that Macbeth was murdering sleep. And her delusion that there is a bloodstain on her hand furthers the play's use of blood as a symbol of guilt. "What need we fear who knows it when none can call our power to account?" she asks, asserting that as long as her and her husband's power is secure, the murders they committed cannot harm them. But her guilt-racked state and her mounting madness show how hollow her words are. So, too, does the army outside her castle. "Hell is murky," she says, implying that she already knows that darkness intimately. The pair, in their destructive power, have created their own hell, where they are tormented by guilt and insanity.

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Out, damned spot; out, I say. One, two,-why, then 'tis time to do't. Hell is murky. Fie, my lord, fie, a soldier and afeard? What need we fear who knows it when none can call our power to account? Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?

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Macbeth Act 5 Scene 1 | Key Scene | Royal Shakespeare Company

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script, videos, analysis

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Back at Dunsinane, a doctor and a gentlewoman are spying on Lady Macbeth. She's been acting weird lately. Sure enough, she enters the scene sleepwalking and talking to herself. While the doctor and the gentlewoman look on, Lady Macbeth frantically tries to rub an invisible stain from her hand, all while ranting and raving about her husband, guilt, and, of course, blood. At this, the doctor and the gentlewoman realize that Lady Macbeth has been keeping some pretty evil secrets, and that's not something the doctor can help her with. She needs a priest, not a medical professional.

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