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The alarum-bell will sound the alarm to defend the castle.

It’s also an outward manifestation of Macbeth’s private alarm as this crucial scene closes. Earlier he was still boasting that his castle had nothing to fear from the siege, and that he himself was beyond fear. Now, as he senses the Witches' prophecy coming true, he knows he must fight for his life.

W. H. Robinson (1872-1944), illustration for Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Bells”

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Macbeth’s furious response suggests that he is not, as he claims above, incapable of fear. The message is further confirmation that the Witches' prophecies are right–his reign is doomed–and his outrage contains more than a hint of terror.

However, it’s possible for an actor to play this moment more resignedly, as though Macbeth really were beyond fear. Contrast the two performances in the sidebar above.

The nervous messenger stands his ground in the face of Macbeth’s “wrath.” He can’t believe what he’s seen either, but he knows he’s reporting the truth.

From the Metropolitan Opera’s 2014-15 production of Verdi’s Macbeth. (Marty Sohl/Metropolitan Opera)

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Gracious my lord: My gracious lord.

The messenger “frets” his brief time upon the stage, much as in Macbeth’s metaphor above. He thinks his bizarre message will confuse and possibly anger Macbeth; Macbeth tells him to spit it out.

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cling: “shrivel” [Riverside Shakespeare].

Macbeth warns the messenger that if he’s lying about seeing moving trees, he’ll hang him from the nearest real tree–and let him starve there.

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Shouted to any troops within earshot. Macbeth first addresses the Messenger, then some combination of himself and his remaining forces, then finally the wind or the universe itself (“Blow, wind!”).

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avouches: vouches for, swears is real. (The French word that means that you guarantee something is avouche.)

There is…here: i.e., it doesn’t matter whether we try to flee or stay and fight: we’re screwed either way.

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If your speech is true, I don’t care if you hang ME from a tree.


Hanging from a tree evokes a kind of crucifixion–ironic, since Macbeth is pretty much the opposite of a Christian martyr. (He has sacrificed others' lives for his own gain, not his own for theirs.)

The existential apathy and disgust Macbeth expressed after learning of his wife’s death has deepened even further. If the messenger is telling the truth, then the Witches were telling the truth, and he’s done for. Someone might as well put him out of his misery.

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Women, as opposed to men invading the castle…

As we soon learn, the cry is for Lady Macbeth, who has just been found dead.

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If their ranks weren’t swelled with troops that should be on our side, we might have met them boldly, face to face, and beaten them back home.


“Beard to beard” recalls the verb “beard,” which in Shakespeare’s time meant “challenge” or “defy.” See e.g. 1 Henry IV 1.3:

What! am I dared and bearded to my face?

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home: “completely” [Riverside Shakespeare].

Banquo means that if the Witches' prophecy is to be trusted completely, Macbeth might become king, too. “Enkindle” is an ambiguous verb here, perhaps suggesting that the prophecy will light a fire of ambition under Macbeth.

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