TEXT:
ACT I - SCENE VII. Macbeth's castle.
Hautboys and torches. Enter a Sewer, and divers Servants with dishes and service, and pass over the stage. Then enter MACBETH
MACBETH
If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well
It were done quickly: if the assassination
Could trammel up the consequence, and catch
With his surcease success; that but this blow
Might be the be-all and the end-all here,
But here, upon this bank and shoal of time,
We’d jump the life to come. But in these cases
We still have judgment here; that we but teach
Bloody instructions, which, being taught, return
To plague the inventor: this even-handed justice
Commends the ingredients of our poisoned chalice
To our own lips. He's here in double trust;
First, as I am his kinsman and his subject,
Strong both against the deed; then, as his host,
Who should against his murderer shut the door,
Not bear the knife myself. Besides, this Duncan
Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been
So clear in his great office, that his virtues
Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against
The deep damnation of his taking-off;
And pity, like a naked new-born babe,
Striding the blast, or heaven's cherubim, horsed
Upon the sightless couriers of the air,
Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye,
That tears shall drown the wind. I have no spur
To prick the sides of my intent, but only
Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself
And falls on the other.
NOTES:
Seward and Divers Servants
It’s unusual enough for Shakespeare to give such specific stage-directions, particularly listing actual titles and figures. A sewer, as mentioned, is something like a head waiter. Evidently the Macbeths are putting on a big dinner if there are this many servants serving it.
Trammel
A trammel was a complicated kind of net - Macbeth is implying that, all things being equal, he’d love to scoop up all consequences and “catch” success as a result of Duncan’s death.
Seneca
In ancient Rome Lucius Annaeus Seneca was primarily a philosopher, but also a playwright. His plays are seldom performed today, since we tend to be more enthralled by the ancient Greek dramas that preceded them (and often tell the same stories…) But Shakespeare would very likely have read and enjoyed Seneca’s tragedies, and some might even make the claim that without Seneca, there would be no Macbeth.
Thyestes
Thyestes was one of Seneca’s more grisly tragedies.
Hospitality
Macbeth worries about his responsibilities to Duncan as his cousin, and his subject, but also as his host. Duties of hospitality are familiar all over the world, traceable back to the ancient Greek idea of philoxenia - literally “love of the foreigner”. A host would certainly have had a duty to ensure that their guest was not murdered under their roof…
Gospel of John
There’s an oblique echo of The Gospel of St. John in this scene - John 13:27 says “after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly.” The idea of doing, and doing things quickly, is how this scene starts. Between this correlation, and the consistent language of “all hails” that echo Judas Iscariot, make Macbeth sound a bit like Judas stepping out from the Last Supper to worry about betraying Jesus, while Macbeth worries about the implications of betraying - and killing - his divinely anointed king.
King James Bible
As a project designed to unite the church and the nation, King James commissioned an English translation of the Bible. It was completed in 1611.