Notes on the notes:
- Clicking on a highlighted line number in the text of Macbeth will open this window and scroll the appropriate note to the top.
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1 play the Roman fool i.e., be a noble suicide, like the famous Romans, Brutus and Mark Antony, who committed suicide after they lost battles
<< 2 lives living people
<< 6 blood of thine i.e., the blood of Macduff's wife and children, who Macbeth had murdered
<< 8 Than terms can give thee out i.e., than words can describe
<< 9 intrenchant incapable of being cut
<< 10 impress make an impression on
<< 13 Despair thy charm i.e., despair of any trust you have in your supposedly magical charm
<< 14 angel i.e., evil angel, devil
<< 16 Untimely prematurely
<< 18 my better part of man i.e., his courage
<< 20 palter equivocate
<< 25 We'll have thee, as our rarer monsters are, / Painted on a pole i.e., we'll have your picture painted on a board and carried on a pole, as is done to advertise a monster in a freak show
<< 29 baited harassed
<< 32 the last i.e., the last thing he has, his courage and ability to fight
<< 35 I would the friends we miss were safe arrived I wish that the friends [fellow soldiers] that are unaccounted for would show up
<< 36 go off die
by these I see, / So great a day as this is cheaply bought i.e., by seeing the number of our soldiers who are safe, I believe we have won a great victory at a low price
<< 42 In the unshrinking station where he fought in the duty station where he fought without shrinking back
<< 46 Had he his hurts before? were his wounds on the front of his body?
<< 50 And so, his knell is knoll'd And so [as an honorable soldier] his death-knell is tolled
<< 51 He's worth no more (Siward is not disrespecting his son. His point is that there is no more worthy death than that of a soldier who does his duty.)
<< 52 paid his score paid his bill; i.e., did his duty
<< 54 stands / The usurper's cursed head (According to Holinshed, Shakespeare's primary source for Macbeth, Macbeth's head was placed on a pike. In Shakespeare's time, traitors' heads were placed on pikes and mounted over the south entrance to London Bridge, very near Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.)
<< 55 the time is free i.e., because Macbeth is dead, we are now free of the terror he inspired
<< 56 compass'd with thy kingdom's pearl surrounded with your kingdom's most noble men
<< 58 I desire aloud with mine I request to hear aloud in unison with my voice
<< 62 reckon with your several loves make an accounting of [and reward] the affection [and service] of each of you
<< 63 make us even with you i.e., give you rewards which will justly repay your service to me
<< 66 Which would be planted newly with the time i.e., which should be started soon, in accordance with this time of happiness
<< 67 As such as
<< 69 Producing forth the cruel ministers bringing forth [for trial] the cruel people who carried out Macbeth's orders
<< 71 self and violent hands i.e., her own violent hands
<< 74 We will perform in measure, time and place i.e., I will do in the proper way, at the appropriate time and place