"Make thick my blood," which Lady Macbeth says in a speech in Act I, means the same as the modern phrase, "harden my heart." Lady Macbeth has heard from her husband the prophecy of the three witches that he will become Thane of Cawdor and King of Scotland. He has unexpectedly become Thane of Cawdor, so his wife believes the entire prophecy is true. Lady Macbeth is extremely ambitious, and she very badly wants her...
"Make thick my blood," which Lady Macbeth says in a speech in Act I, means the same as the modern phrase, "harden my heart." Lady Macbeth has heard from her husband the prophecy of the three witches that he will become Thane of Cawdor and King of Scotland. He has unexpectedly become Thane of Cawdor, so his wife believes the entire prophecy is true. Lady Macbeth is extremely ambitious, and she very badly wants her husband to become ruler. To her mind, that means Macbeth must murder the current king, Duncan. Since Lady Macbeth has a conscience and feels terrible about the idea of killing an innocent man, she needs to harden her own heart to push her husband to do this evil deed.
In this same speech, she says "unsex me here and fill me from the crown [head] to the toe top-full with direst cruelty." She asks the "spirits/that tend on mortal thoughts" to stop her from feeling remorse or sorrow over what she is demanding her husband to do. She realizes she is preparing to step outside of the bounds of morality. She is willing to sacrifice her morals to her ambitions: nothing matters more to her at this point than becoming queen. In the end, however, she will fail to stamp out her conscience, and her guilt will haunt her.
which act and scene in the play does she say this?
ReplyDeleteAct 1 scene 5
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