Lady Macbeth — Macbeth, Act I, Scene v

Production Notes

One of Shakespeare’s most powerful female soliloquies. Lady Macbeth begins by reading aloud from her husband’s letter about the Witches’ prophecy, then pivots — in the same speech — into a terrifying self-invocation. The transition from intimate letter-reader to someone willing herself into ruthlessness is the whole arc of the character in miniature.

Suitable for advanced Players. The speech rewards Facilitators who let Players sit with the silence between “Lay it to thy heart, and farewell” and “Glamis thou art…” — that pause is where the character changes.

Script

LADY MACBETH (reading the letter)

They met me in the day of success, and I have learned by the perfect’st report they have more in them than mortal knowledge. When I burned in desire to question them further, they made themselves air, into which they vanished. Whiles I stood rapt in the wonder of it came missives from the King, who all-hailed me “Thane of Cawdor,” by which title, before, these Weïrd Sisters saluted me and referred me to the coming on of time with “Hail, king that shalt be.” This have I thought good to deliver thee, my dearest partner of greatness, that thou might’st not lose the dues of rejoicing by being ignorant of what greatness is promised thee. Lay it to thy heart, and farewell.

Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be What thou art promised. Yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness To catch the nearest way. Thou wouldst be great, Art not without ambition, but without The illness should attend it. What thou wouldst highly, That wouldst thou holily; wouldst not play false And yet wouldst wrongly win. Thou ‘dst have, great Glamis, That which cries “Thus thou must do,” if thou have it, And that which rather thou dost fear to do, Than wishest should be undone. Hie thee hither, That I may pour my spirits in thine ear And chastise with the valor of my tongue All that impedes thee from the golden round, Which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem To have thee crowned withal. … 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 th’ access and passage to remorse, That no compunctious visitings of nature Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between Th’ effect and it. Come to my woman’s breasts And take my milk for gall, you murd’ring 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!”

Facilitator Notes

Warm-up: Try a vocal expression game first — the speech demands full breath support.

Debrief prompts:

• Where in the speech does the character’s objective shift? What changes in the body when that happens?
• The speech is addressed partly to an absent husband, partly to the spirits. Where does each address begin?
• “Unsex me here” is a radical request. What does Lady Macbeth believe she has to give up in order to act? Do Players agree with her premise?
• How does the Player’s voice change between the letter-reading and the invocation? What does that shift tell the audience?