Quote: Golgotha
Except they meant to bathe in reeking wounds / Or memorise another Golgotha. (Captain, Act 1:2)
Explain the allusion to Golgotha
- A bleeding sergeant tells King Duncan of Macbeth’s bloody exploits on the field of battle; his actions were so bloody, that the captain wonders whether Macbeth and Banquo were trying to replicate the scenes at Christ’s crucifixion.
- It could also be suggested that just as Christ was killed by soldiers, Duncan will potentially suffer the same fate.
Quote: Bellona’s Bridegroom
Till that Bellona’s bridegroom, lapped in proof / Confronted him with self-comparisons / Point gainst point, rebellious arm ‘gainst arm / Curbing his lavish spirit. (Ross, Act 1:2)
Explain the allusion to Bellona’s bridegroom?
- Shakespeare’s comparison to Bellona portrays Macbeth as a true warrior.
- Bellona was the Roman goddess of war.
- A Shakespearean audience would have been familiar with the reference and the implied ruthlessness with which Macbeth fought.
Quote: Porter scene
Here’s a knocking indeed! If a man / were porter of hell-gate, he should / have old turning the key…but this place is too cold for / hell. I’ll devil porter it no further. I had / thought to have let in some of all / professions that go the primrose way / to the everlasting bonfire… Anon, anon! I pray you remember / the porter. (Porter, 2:3)
Explain the significance of the Porter Scene
- the knocking signals how the Macbeths cannot escape the consequences of reality, lending these scenes a “peculiar awfulness and depth of solemnity”
- The Porter’s assertion that alcohol ‘may be said to be an equivocator’ as it ‘provokes the desire, but it takes / away the [sexual] performance, indirectly compares Macbeth to an impotent drunk.
- This could be compared to Macbeth’s later reference to his ‘fruitless crown’ and barren sceptre’.
Quote: Sextus Tarquinius
Witchcraft celebrates / pale Hecate’s offerings, and withered murder, / Alarumed by his sentinel, the wolf, / Whose howl’s his watch, thus with his stealthy pace / With Tarquin’s ravishing strides, towards his design / Moves like a ghost. (Macbeth, Act 2:1)
Explain the context of the allusion to Tarquinius
- Sextus Tarquinius, the youngest son of the King of Rome, raped his cousin’s wife, Lucretia, after a dispute about her virtue - an act which drove her to suicide.
- According to some, this was a pivotal event in the overthrow of the monarchy and the establishment of the Roman Republic, as this brought an end to the tyrannical reign of Tarquin the Proud.
- Sextus fled to Gabii, hoping to become King there, but he was killed for his previous crimes, a fate which also befalls Macbeth.
What are the parallels between Macbeth and Sextus Tarquinius?
- The reference parallels Macbeth’s attack on virtue - on Duncan.
- Like Tarquin, his urge and his desire overpower and cloud his moral judgement, and he commits the act, fully aware of the catastrophic consequences.
Quote: Allusion to Pontius Pilate
A little water clears us of this deed / How easy it is, then! (Lady Macbeth, Act 2:2)
Explain the allusion to Pontiius Pilate
- The reference is, of course, to Pontius Pilate who publicly washes his hands and claims he is not guilty for condemning Christ to death, rather buckling under the pressure from Jewish leaders.
- Lady Macbeth is behaving in a similar vein, simply washing her hands of the situation and hoping the water will wash away the ‘stain’ of Duncan’s death.
- Later in the play Lady Macbeth thinks she sees blood on her hands, perhaps a manifestation of the guilt she failed to feel immediately after the murder of Duncan.
Quote: allusion to Satan/Seyton
Seyton, I am sick at heart / When I behold - Seyton, I say! - This push / Will cheer me ever, or disseat me now…bring me my armour and send out more horses; skirr the country round; / Hang those that talk of fear. (Macbeth, Act 5:3)
What are the implications of the allusion to Satan?
- The audience would not fail to notice the name of Macbeth’s servant, and the implications this has.
- The question is whether Macbeth is merely calling for his servant, or whether Shakespeare’s implication is that he is calling on the devil?
