Lady Macbeth wants what she wants at all costs, but is her hubby a wimp? This depicts her state of mind after reading from "Mac the nice" letter he sent about the coming of Duncan.
Ah, yes, dear Mac. Thane of Glamis, you are, I know;
now, Cawdor, too.
Then king, and I the queen of everything.
Go, go, go. But, I am afraid I know you all too well;
you are not man enough to go get what I want.
You are too much of a nice guy,
too filled with the milk of human kindness,
to do what is necessary to get what you want no matter what.
You want to be great and have ambition
but do not have the tragic flaw to make ambition work for you.
Killer instinct -- ah, that's what's missing.
You won't play unfair even if everyone else does.
Oh, no! Not you, my dear, sweet Mac.
You would take what is given to you wrongly,
then give it back because you didn't get it fairly.
Fool! Come home quickly, Mac, so I can give you
some of my own spirit which will have what I want at any cost.
I will pour it all into your ears and fill your head with my ideas.
LISTEN to me and you will not be lost.
Hear my every word -- yes, everything -- and you, indeed,
will be the king which fate, in mysterious ways, has promised us.
[An attendant enters.]
Lady Macbeth. You have a message for me?
Attendant. Yes. The Scotish are coming. The Scotish coming. All are by land; none are by sea.
Lady Macbeth. Are you mad? Is Macbeth with them? If what you say is true, he would have told me so I could have made preparations.
Attendant. That's why I'm hear -- to tell you to make preparations.
One of my friends heard about it and raced so hard to tell me
what to tell you that he had hardly breath enough to tell me what to tell you.
He nearly died telling me to tell you what I just told you.
Lady Macbeth. Somebody here, anybody, take care of this man with such great news.
[The attendant leaves as Lady Macbeth continues to speak with herself.]
No voice could have brought more welcome news
than that of Duncan's arrival right here in my very house tonight.
Come to me all you spirits that know even the deepest
and darkest thoughts of man or woman; unsex me here.
Don't let me think like a typical woman;
fill me with the cruelest, vilest, most contemptuous evil
ever possible from the top of my head to the tips of my toes.
Make thick my very blood. Yeah, real syrupy, like mud.
Stop up my feelings of compassion and remorse.
I want to like to kill, of course.
I want no sense of guilt to stop me from this dire deed.
The king must bleed himself to death
so I can be the queen along with King Macbeth.
Ah, yes, you evil spirits. Come to my waiting, throbbing breasts;
take away the succulent milk, and fill them both with gall.
Yes, take the kindest part of me, ALL of it,
and make me cold as ice so I can kill once, or twice,
whatever it may take, to be the queen of everything.
Come dark night and cover with your evil spell
with darkness worse than hell
so the knife itself won't see the gash it leaves.
Make me so determined, bold, that even heaven,
seeing what I do, won't say, "Stop," or "Hold."
[Macbeth comes in.]
Lady Macbeth. Well, well, well. Will you look who just walked in.
Glamis and Cawdor. My dearly beloved husband,
and everything, soon to be king. I just now finished reading your letter.
What a nice surprise. I feel the whole future is right here and now. WOW!
Macbeth. Dearest one to my heart, the king is coming here tonight? Is that all right?
Lady Macbeth. Of course. And when does he plan to leave?
Macbeth. In the morning.
Lady Macbeth. Not if I have anything to do with it.
But, you've got to do something for me, dear.
Your face is like an open book;
anybody, even illiterates, can read your mind.
Put on a cheerful face.
Do not let anyone know what I'm thinking.
Don't even think about it yourself.
You're a dead give away.
Don't worry; be happy.
Look delighted with your hands,
yours eyes, your tongue, and every other part of you.
Do your best; I'll do the rest.
Be an angel on top and the devil underneath,
like a poison snake beneath a leaf.
You be the perfect host and leave the rest to me.
Then we'll be rulers for all eternity.
Time is brief.
Macbeth. Do you suppose we could sort of talk about this a bit later?
Lady Macbeth. Of course, my dear. We'll talk, but never fear.
Our royalty is really near.
Trust me. Everything is well in hand. You do your thing; I'll do mine.
Keep all worries off your chest;
I'll take care of all the rest.
[They all leave.]
Poetry by NotaDeadPoet
Read 1127 times
Written on 2007-01-20 at 22:20
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Macbeth, Act I, sc. v On Cowards and the Milk of Human Kindness
[Lady Macbeth continues to think aloud as if Macbeth himself were there to hear. He isn't.]Ah, yes, dear Mac. Thane of Glamis, you are, I know;
now, Cawdor, too.
Then king, and I the queen of everything.
Go, go, go. But, I am afraid I know you all too well;
you are not man enough to go get what I want.
You are too much of a nice guy,
too filled with the milk of human kindness,
to do what is necessary to get what you want no matter what.
You want to be great and have ambition
but do not have the tragic flaw to make ambition work for you.
Killer instinct -- ah, that's what's missing.
You won't play unfair even if everyone else does.
Oh, no! Not you, my dear, sweet Mac.
You would take what is given to you wrongly,
then give it back because you didn't get it fairly.
Fool! Come home quickly, Mac, so I can give you
some of my own spirit which will have what I want at any cost.
I will pour it all into your ears and fill your head with my ideas.
LISTEN to me and you will not be lost.
Hear my every word -- yes, everything -- and you, indeed,
will be the king which fate, in mysterious ways, has promised us.
[An attendant enters.]
Lady Macbeth. You have a message for me?
Attendant. Yes. The Scotish are coming. The Scotish coming. All are by land; none are by sea.
Lady Macbeth. Are you mad? Is Macbeth with them? If what you say is true, he would have told me so I could have made preparations.
Attendant. That's why I'm hear -- to tell you to make preparations.
One of my friends heard about it and raced so hard to tell me
what to tell you that he had hardly breath enough to tell me what to tell you.
He nearly died telling me to tell you what I just told you.
Lady Macbeth. Somebody here, anybody, take care of this man with such great news.
[The attendant leaves as Lady Macbeth continues to speak with herself.]
No voice could have brought more welcome news
than that of Duncan's arrival right here in my very house tonight.
Come to me all you spirits that know even the deepest
and darkest thoughts of man or woman; unsex me here.
Don't let me think like a typical woman;
fill me with the cruelest, vilest, most contemptuous evil
ever possible from the top of my head to the tips of my toes.
Make thick my very blood. Yeah, real syrupy, like mud.
Stop up my feelings of compassion and remorse.
I want to like to kill, of course.
I want no sense of guilt to stop me from this dire deed.
The king must bleed himself to death
so I can be the queen along with King Macbeth.
Ah, yes, you evil spirits. Come to my waiting, throbbing breasts;
take away the succulent milk, and fill them both with gall.
Yes, take the kindest part of me, ALL of it,
and make me cold as ice so I can kill once, or twice,
whatever it may take, to be the queen of everything.
Come dark night and cover with your evil spell
with darkness worse than hell
so the knife itself won't see the gash it leaves.
Make me so determined, bold, that even heaven,
seeing what I do, won't say, "Stop," or "Hold."
[Macbeth comes in.]
Lady Macbeth. Well, well, well. Will you look who just walked in.
Glamis and Cawdor. My dearly beloved husband,
and everything, soon to be king. I just now finished reading your letter.
What a nice surprise. I feel the whole future is right here and now. WOW!
Macbeth. Dearest one to my heart, the king is coming here tonight? Is that all right?
Lady Macbeth. Of course. And when does he plan to leave?
Macbeth. In the morning.
Lady Macbeth. Not if I have anything to do with it.
But, you've got to do something for me, dear.
Your face is like an open book;
anybody, even illiterates, can read your mind.
Put on a cheerful face.
Do not let anyone know what I'm thinking.
Don't even think about it yourself.
You're a dead give away.
Don't worry; be happy.
Look delighted with your hands,
yours eyes, your tongue, and every other part of you.
Do your best; I'll do the rest.
Be an angel on top and the devil underneath,
like a poison snake beneath a leaf.
You be the perfect host and leave the rest to me.
Then we'll be rulers for all eternity.
Time is brief.
Macbeth. Do you suppose we could sort of talk about this a bit later?
Lady Macbeth. Of course, my dear. We'll talk, but never fear.
Our royalty is really near.
Trust me. Everything is well in hand. You do your thing; I'll do mine.
Keep all worries off your chest;
I'll take care of all the rest.
[They all leave.]
Poetry by NotaDeadPoet
Read 1127 times
Written on 2007-01-20 at 22:20
Save as a bookmark (requires login) Write a comment (requires login) Send as email (requires login) Print text
