Is execution done on Cawdor? Are not
Those in commission yet return’d?
Has Cawdor been executed? Haven't those who were sent to do it returned yet?
Did they execute Cawdor yet? Haven't the guys we sent to do it come back?
is cawdor dead havent messengers returned
My liege,
They are not yet come back. But I have spoke
With one that saw him die, who did report,
That very frankly he confess’d his treasons,
Implor’d your Highness’ pardon, and set forth
A deep repentance. Nothing in his life
Became him like the leaving it; he died
As one that had been studied in his death,
To throw away the dearest thing he ow’d
As ’twere a careless trifle.
Your majesty, they haven't come back yet. But I've spoken with someone who saw him die, who reported that he freely confessed his treason, asked your Highness' pardon, and showed a deep repentance. Nothing in his life became him like the way he left it; he died like someone who had practiced his death, to throw away the most precious thing he owned as if it were a careless trifle.
Your majesty, they haven't returned yet. But I talked to someone who watched him die, and he said that Cawdor freely admitted everything, asked for your forgiveness, and showed real regret. Nothing in his whole life went as well as the way he died; he went like someone who had rehearsed it, throwing away the most precious thing he had like it was nothing.
they haven't come back i talked to a witness cawdor confessed asked forgiveness showed repentance his death was good
There’s no art
To find the mind’s construction in the face:
He was a gentleman on whom I built
An absolute trust.
There's no skill in reading the mind's thoughts from the face: He was a man on whom I built complete trust.
You can't tell what someone's thinking just by looking at their face: I completely trusted that man.
can't read minds from faces i trusted him totally
England in Shakespeare's time operated under strict hereditary primogeniture: the throne passed to the eldest son automatically. Scotland's system was different — the 'tanistry' tradition meant that the most capable male of royal blood could be chosen as successor, not necessarily the eldest son. The king could, and did, formally designate an heir.
This is why Duncan's naming of Malcolm as Prince of Cumberland is not just ceremonial — it's a political act that changes the succession. It also specifically blocks Macbeth. If Scotland operated like England, Malcolm's position would be automatic and Macbeth's ambition would have been frustrated from the start. The need for Duncan to announce Malcolm creates the plot.
James I of England (for whom Macbeth was almost certainly written) was a Scottish king who understood these succession complexities firsthand. His own claim to the English throne was partly through female descent, partly through designation, and partly through political negotiation. The anxiety about succession — who follows whom, on what authority, by what mechanism — was live political territory in 1606.
There's an additional irony in Macbeth's 'The Prince of Cumberland! That is a step on which I must fall down, or else o'erleap.' He frames Malcolm as an obstacle requiring a jump or a fall. By the end of the play, Malcolm is the man who will take the throne — not through murder but through legitimate succession restored. The obstacle Macbeth tries to eliminate becomes the resolution.
O worthiest cousin!
The sin of my ingratitude even now
Was heavy on me. Thou art so far before,
That swiftest wing of recompense is slow
To overtake thee. Would thou hadst less deserv’d;
That the proportion both of thanks and payment
Might have been mine! only I have left to say,
More is thy due than more than all can pay.
Oh, most worthy cousin! The guilt of my insufficient gratitude weighs on me even now. You have achieved so much that even the fastest reward cannot catch up to what you deserve. I wish you had deserved less, so that I could properly thank and repay you! All I can say is: what you deserve exceeds all possible payment.
My dearest cousin! I feel terrible that I can't repay your loyalty. You've done so much that no reward could ever catch up to what you deserve. I wish you'd done less, so I could at least repay you properly! The truth is: you deserve more than anyone can give you.
my greatest cousin i feel guilty i can't repay u u deserve so much no reward's enough i can't thank u enough
The service and the loyalty I owe,
In doing it, pays itself. Your Highness’ part
Is to receive our duties: and our duties
Are to your throne and state, children and servants;
Which do but what they should, by doing everything
Safe toward your love and honour.
The service and loyalty I owe, in performing it, rewards itself. Your Highness' role is to receive our duties: and our duties are to your throne and state, like children and servants; which do only what they should, by doing everything safely toward your love and honor.
The service and loyalty I give you are their own reward. Your job is just to accept what we give you: and what we give is to your throne and power, like children and servants should; we do what we're supposed to, making sure everything protects your safety and honor.
my service rewards itself your job is to receive it we're like children serving keeping you safe and honored
Welcome hither:
I have begun to plant thee, and will labour
To make thee full of growing.—Noble Banquo,
That hast no less deserv’d, nor must be known
No less to have done so, let me infold thee
And hold thee to my heart.
Welcome here: I have started to cultivate you, and will work to make you flourish.—Noble Banquo, You have deserved no less, and must be known to have done so, let me embrace you and hold you to my heart.
Welcome: I'm going to nurture you and help you grow.—Noble Banquo, You deserve the same, and I want everyone to know that you do, so let me hug you and hold you close.
welcome i'll help you grow banquo you too you both deserve honor
There if I grow,
The harvest is your own.
If I grow here, the harvest is yours.
If I flourish in your service, then you get all the benefit.
if i grow you get the reward
My plenteous joys,
Wanton in fulness, seek to hide themselves
In drops of sorrow.—Sons, kinsmen, thanes,
And you whose places are the nearest, know,
We will establish our estate upon
Our eldest, Malcolm; whom we name hereafter
The Prince of Cumberland: which honour must
Not unaccompanied invest him only,
But signs of nobleness, like stars, shall shine
On all deservers.—From hence to Inverness,
And bind us further to you.
My abundant joy, Overflowing in its fullness, seeks to hide itself In drops of tears.—Sons, kinsmen, nobles, And all of you whose places are most important, know: We will establish our power upon Our oldest son, Malcolm; whom we name hereafter The Prince of Cumberland: which honor must not come to him alone, But marks of nobility, like stars, will shine Upon all who deserve them.—From here to Inverness, And we bind ourselves further to you.
My joy is so full it's overflowing and coming out as tears.—Everyone here, You should all know this: We're naming our oldest son, Malcolm, as our heir; he'll be the Prince of Cumberland: and this honor isn't just for him alone, but marks of distinction, like stars, will shine on all of you who deserve them.—Now to Inverness, and we're tying ourselves more closely to you.
i'm so happy macolm is my heir prince of cumberland everyone deserving gets honor going to inverness
When Duncan accepts Macbeth's castle as his lodging for the night, he is invoking one of the most sacred obligations in pre-modern culture: hospitality. In Norse, Greek, Celtic, and early Christian traditions alike, the guest who shelters under a host's roof enters a relationship of mutual protection. The host is obligated to provide safety; the guest is obligated not to harm the host. This relationship was understood to be enforced by divine law — Jupiter was the protector of guests (xenia in Greek), and violation of hospitality invited divine punishment.
Shakespeare was well aware of this. Macbeth himself articulates it in his great soliloquy in 1-7: 'He's here in double trust: first, as I am his kinsman and his subject... and then, as his host, who should against his murderer shut the door, not bear the knife myself.'
Guest-murder — killing the person sleeping under your roof — is not just murder. It's a violation of a three-fold bond: kinsman, subject, host. Each layer makes the act worse. Shakespeare stacks these obligations deliberately to ensure the audience understands that what Macbeth is contemplating is not just political murder but a desecration of fundamental human bonds.
This is why Macbeth's hesitation in 1-7 is genuine and deep. It's not just cowardice or calculation — it's the weight of every moral and social law pressing against him. That he acts anyway is the measure of how completely Lady Macbeth's assault on his will, and his own ambition, have overcome everything else.
The rest is labour, which is not us’d for you:
I’ll be myself the harbinger, and make joyful
The hearing of my wife with your approach;
So, humbly take my leave.
Everything else is just work, which isn't done for you: I'll be myself the messenger, and make joyful the hearing of my wife with your coming; So, humbly I take my leave.
Everything else is just work, which isn't for you: I'll go ahead myself and tell my wife, making her happy with the news of your arrival; So, I'll humbly say goodbye for now.
i'll go ahead tell my wife make her happy bye
My worthy Cawdor!
My worthy nobleman!
My noble friend!
worthy indeed
[_Aside._] The Prince of Cumberland!—That is a step
On which I must fall down, or else o’erleap,
For in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires!
Let not light see my black and deep desires.
The eye wink at the hand, yet let that be,
Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see.
The Prince of Cumberland—that is a step I must either fall from or leap over, because it lies in my path. Stars, hide your fires! Let no light reveal my black and deep desires. Let my eye not watch what my hand does, yet let that deed be done, which my eye fears to see once it is finished.
The Prince of Cumberland—that title stands between me and the throne. I'll either stumble on it or jump over it. Stars, go dark! Don't let anyone see my evil thoughts and dark plans. I want to do something terrible, but I don't want to watch myself do it.
prince of cumberland in my way i gotta jump over it or die stars hide ur light dont see my dark plans i want to do something but i dont wanna watch
True, worthy Banquo! He is full so valiant;
And in his commendations I am fed.
It is a banquet to me. Let’s after him,
Whose care is gone before to bid us welcome:
It is a peerless kinsman.
Yes, noble Banquo! He is equally brave; and his praise feeds me. It is a feast to me. Let's follow him, who has gone ahead to welcome us: He is a peerless kinsman.
That's true, noble Banquo! He's just as brave; and hearing people praise him satisfies me. It's like a feast. Let's go after him, who's gone ahead to get everything ready: He's the best relative anyone could have.
banquo's brave hearing praise of him fills me let's follow macbeth he's the best
The Reckoning
The scene is brief and structurally simple — it exists to close a door. Before this moment, Macbeth could theoretically imagine becoming king through natural succession: Duncan might choose him, die of old age, step aside. When Duncan announces Malcolm as Prince of Cumberland — the explicit title designating the heir — that door closes. If the prophecy is going to come true, Macbeth now knows it requires a killing. Shakespeare makes Duncan's warmth almost unbearable to read. He is entirely present, emotionally generous, calling Macbeth 'valiant cousin, worthy gentleman,' saying that Macbeth has 'begun to plant thee, and will labour to make thee full of growing.' He announces he'll honor Macbeth by visiting his castle. He weeps with joy. Every gesture is the opposite of what's coming — and the audience watches Macbeth receiving it while in the middle of an aside about hiding his 'black and deep desires' from the light. There is a detail Shakespeare includes that critics often miss: the first Cawdor, the traitor, died well. Malcolm reports that he confessed his treasons, asked forgiveness, and met death with dignity — 'as one that had been studied in his death.' This is the first Cawdor's grace. Macbeth is the second Cawdor. He will not die with this grace.
If this happened today…
You've just saved the company during a crisis and the CEO calls you in for a meeting. He tells you how much he loves you, how much you've grown under him, how he's promoting you. Then he announces he's making his son the next CEO. You smile, say the right things, and in the back of your mind a completely different calculation is already running — one you don't want to look at directly.