Lady Macbeth Monologue (Act 1, Scene 5)

Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s great tragedies, full of murder and madness. The play is set in Scotland and follows the downfall of army General and hero Macbeth. After meeting three witches who prophesise his rise to the throne, he reports this information to his wife, Lady Macbeth, who convinces him to murder the current King, Duncan. Their plotting does lead to their rule; however, as they become overwhelmed by their ambition, and in Lady Macbeth’s case, the madness of guilt, their actions eventually lead to their downfall.

After learning of the witches’ prophecy, Macbeth is promoted to ‘Thane of Cawdor’ by King Duncan. Becoming Thane of Cawdor was the first part of the prophecy, and this convinces him that the witches may have been telling the truth. Shaken, but fuelled by the first hint of desire to be King, Macbeth writes to his wife to inform her of what has happened. Lady Macbeth, who receives the letter at their castle, becomes determined to take the crown by any means necessary. In this particular scene, a servant enters and tells her that King Duncan and Macbeth are both travelling back to the castle. She tells the servant to prepare for their arrival and, once he has left, begins this soliloquy:

Original Text

The raven himself is hoarse
That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan
Under my battlements. Come, you spirits
That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,
And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full
Of direst cruelty! make thick my blood;
Stop up the access and passage to remorse,
That no compunctious visitings of nature
Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between
The effect and it! Come to my woman’s breasts,
And take my milk for gall, you murdering ministers,
Wherever in your sightless substances
You wait on nature’s mischief! Come, thick night,
And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell,
That my keen knife see not the wound it makes,
Nor heaven peep throug the blanket of the dark,
To cry ‘Hold, hold!’

Unfamiliar Words And Phrases

Before you delve into the deeper meanings of the text, it is important to identify and understand any unfamiliar words or phrases Shakespeare may have used:

The raven himself is hoarse: Ravens often symbolise death or murder and make an ominous sound when they call. Many actors who perform this imagine that Lady Macbeth has just heard a raven cawing outside the castle.

Fatal: Deadly, also foreboding evil.

Battlements: Part of the castle wall, mostly used during combat. The blocky parts of the castle wall that offer varying cover and places to shoot down from. The double meaning here is that Lady Macbeth is referring to her home, but the suggestion is she is about to go into battle.

Unsex: Remove my femininity or womanhood, the part of me that feels mercy.

Compunctious visitings of nature: Compunctious means showing remorse. She means the natural thoughts that arrive as part of one’s conscience: guilt, remorse.

Fell: Evil, dark.

Effect: intent.

Gall: Bile, acid, bitterness.

Murdering Ministers: Demons, murderous servant.

Sightless substances: Invisible place/being.

Mischief: Harm, injury or evil done on purpose.

Pall: Wrap or cover used to dress and prepare a corpse for burial.

Dunnest: Darkest, thickest.

Keen: Sharp, ready.

Hold!: Stop!

Thought Breakdown

We have marked Lady Macbeth’s monologue and broken it down so that each paragraph introduces the new beats/ideas or thoughts as they come to the character:

Lady Macbeth:
The raven himself is hoarse
That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan
Under my battlements.

Come, you spirits
That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,
And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full
Of direst cruelty!

Make thick my blood;
Stop up the access and passage to remorse,
That no compunctious visitings of nature
Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between
The effect and it!

Come to my woman’s breasts,
And take my milk for gall, you murdering ministers,
Wherever in your sightless substances
You wait on nature’s mischief!

Come, thick night,
And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell,
That my keen knife see not the wound it makes,
Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark,
To cry ‘Hold, hold!’

Modern Translation

Now that we have the individual beats mapped out, here’s an adaptation of the same speech in modernised language. This should help you better understand the intention behind the text:

Lady Macbeth:
The raven’s call announces Duncan’s arrival,
Since the raven sings an omen of death,
He will sing himself hoarse tonight.

Come to me spirits,
That serve thoughts about death,
Remove all my feminine compassion and nurturing,
And fill me instead, from head to toe, with the most horrible cruelty!

Make my blood thick;
Stop any access to feelings of remorse,
So my conscience won’t stop me from achieving my purpose,
Or make me turn towards peace instead of seeing my intention through to violent action.

Come to my breasts,
And turn my breast milk into poison, you demons,
Who I know are here, even though I can’t see you,
Waiting to help evil deeds that break nature’s laws.

Come, thick night,
And cover me in darkest smoke of hell,
So that I won’t have to see my sharp knife or the wound it makes,
And heaven can’t see through the blanket of the night,
To cry out telling me to stop. Stop!’

Performing Lady Macbeth

This monologue, when spoken out loud, becomes almost like an incantation. It might sound like a spell that Lady Macbeth is conjuring. She is calling on spirits to help remove her goodness. She wants them to give her strength, to make her capable of the evil plot she is hatching. Each new thought begins with her summoning something new to come to her and help her achieve her goal.

At this point in the play, Lady Macbeth is still of sound mind, though she won’t always be that way. She realises that what she is about to do flies in the face of the laws of nature. It goes against her very nature. But, she truly believes that with this one horrible act, all her and Macbeth’s wildest dreams will come through. She has weighed up the price of this one evil act against a lifetime of reward. But, as she is confronted with the reality of Duncan’s arrival she realises something else: she can’t do it. She is too soft, too compassionate. If she is going to do this, she will need help from the devil. She’s not being metaphorical here. She is genuinely calling the evil spirits to come and change her very being.

This speech also foreshadows how Lady M will become overwhelmed with guilt and suspicion—to the point of madness. You can use this knowledge of her arc to give your rendition of Lady Macbeth a more vulnerable, and therefore human, characterisation.

Think about the context of the scene: consider that Lady Macbeth is alone on stage for this speech. Her messenger has just left, and she has read the letter. She hears the raven. She is in the castle, and it is night time. How do these details affect your performance? Are you whispering and scared of being overheard? Or are you confident and calling to the heavens? This monologue should build to a dramatic conclusion, but it doesn’t mean that you need to end with a yell.

Shakespeare used a lot of language devices to give this speech a specific mood and atmosphere. Notice the repetition of ‘k/c’ and ‘t’ sounds—harsh, guttural consonants that reflect her brutal treachery—as well as a reliance on serpentine ‘s’ sounds that mirror Lady M’s snake-like nature. There is a lot of alliteration: ‘murdering ministers’ and ‘sightless substances’ that hearken to conjuring, as well as dark and dramatic imagery: ‘croaks the fatal entrance’, ‘pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell’.

Conclusion

This monologue, along with much of the dialogue in Macbeth, is a delicious mouthful for any actor. Take your time pulling the text apart, mining the language for meaning, so that your Lady Macbeth is as much a classic villain as she is a real, flawed human being. If you enjoyed this speech, it is worth looking at some of the other monologues from Macbeth.

Best of luck, and enjoy!