Okay, after the introduction scene in which we were introduced to the three weird sisters or the three witches, now we get to Act 1, Scene 2 of Macbeth, in which we are introduced to the other principal characters, mainly King Duncan and his sons and other noblemen of Scotland. Also, one particular injured sergeant or captain, both names are mentioned in different editions. Now, this is taking place a camp near Fos. the way it's pronounced is almost as if the spelling would be F-A-U-Z. I mean, that's how the pronunciation is made.
Now, this is one of the oldest towns in Scotland. I hope you know the geography of Europe, essentially of England. Let me just draw.
My drawing is not very great. So, let me put that disclaimer right at the beginning. So, it's something like, you know, if this is England, Scotland is the northern part. Okay. So, Foss would be somewhere around here in the western part of Scotland.
That's where King Duncan's castle is located. Okay. And it's also the location of the first battle where Macbeth killed Macdonwald. Okay. Now, you hear this word Alarm.
A-L-A-R-U-M. Now, this is the archaic, the old English term for alarm. In this case, It's essentially referring to some kind of trumpets. You have Duncan Malcolm. Malcolm, who is his son.
Donalbin, who is his son. Then you have Lennox with attendants meeting a bleeding captain. Now, in some editions, as I said, some old edition.
This, in fact, is an old edition. It is used as captain. In some of the newer editions, it is mentioned as sergeant. Both are okay. You can go with sergeant.
Absolutely no issues with that. Okay. Now, a sergeant was a high-ranking soldier.
in those days. Now, what is really the significance before we get into the line by line explanation, what is really the significance of that bleeding sergeant or captain in this particular scene? One, he represents the violent blood imagery, which is a very prevalent theme as far as Macbeth is concerned. So right from the outside, the first scene, if you remember, there was thunder and lightning, there was talk of meeting on the heat, there was talk of war, etc.
So there was a sense of eeriness, right? Something very strange. You know, you're not comfortable with that kind of a situation.
In scene two, you have this bleeding sergeant who is talking about what happened in that particular battle. So the blood and violent imagery he reinforces. He's like the visual representation of that violent and blood imagery. Also, By talking about all this before Macbeth is introduced in Act 1, Scene 3, you are kind of setting the mood for what to expect in this particular play by the time Macbeth arrives on the scene. So that's something to prepare both the audience and the reader for.
So the sight of the injured and the blood-soaked sergeant, he represents what? He represents disruption, just like the witches to an extent. though witches are much more negative and toxic.
The sergeant represents the chaos and the bloodshed of the battle in Scotland. Now, Malcolm and Donald Bean are the sons of King Duncan, as I said, and Lennox is a nobleman of Scotland. So, Duncan starts by saying, Dunn means Duncan.
What bloody man is that? He's obviously referring to the blood on his body and his face. He can report as seemeth by his plight of the revolt.
the newest state now the newest state state does not mean a physical geographical area he's essentially saying that from his condition it seems from his condition as seemeth by his plight plight as in condition price condition it seems that he can tell us about the latest news the newest state the latest news about the revolt because there is a smeg donwald who has revolted against King Duncan's Scotland kingdom. So he wants to know what is the latest news and he wants to hear it from the injured sergeant. Malcolm, this is the sergeant who like a good and hardy soldier fought.
So Malcolm is introducing sergeant and telling who is not named the sergeant and he's telling his father, the king, he says this is the sergeant who fought like a good and tough. Hardy means tough. like a good and tough soldier in order to prevent me from getting captured okay let's move forward Sorry, it's a little slow.
So please bear with it. And in case you will have your books with you. Okay. So he says, who fought against mine to ensure that I did not get captured. Okay.
Captivity means against. So it means that Malcolm was also part of the battle. He would have got captured.
But for the presence of this particular sergeant or captain who ensured that Malcolm, the son of King Duncan did not get captured, because if he had got captured. They could have used that as a pawn in order to extract maximum, you know, whatever goodies they wanted from King Duncan. You know, kidnap, abduct, you can actually demand whatever you want. So he says he essentially ensured that I did not and he actually saved me. So now Malcolm talks to the sergeant.
He refers to him as brave friend. Important. Say to the king the knowledge of the broil as thou didst leave it.
Now. broil means battle okay battle so he says please inform king duncan about whatever you know about what was happening on the battlefield in that particular battle till the moment you left it why because of serious injuries because of injuries you have to leave it so please inform king duncan what happened till that precise moment when you left the battlefield now the sergeant speaks Now you see here it is written cap but earlier he has been referred to as a sergeant which is why I said both words can be used. Doubtful it stood as two spent swimmers that do cling together and choke their art.
This is an important line. What does it mean? Now sergeant is saying that the outcome was in doubt.
Outcome was in doubt. Doubtful it stood. The battle, the way it was being waged, it was very doubtful which side would actually win.
King Duncan's army or the rebels army led by mcdonwald so he says the two armies were like too exhausted and tired spent means you know you say no spent force spent forces that whose energy have got completely dissipated so spent recent essentially refers to tiredness okay tiredness so like two exhausted and tired swimmers um and drowning swimmers clinging to each other making it impossible for either to stay afloat so they were clinging to each other it was very difficult for them to stay afloat okay uh so they were kind of in that sense choking their art art is what the art of swimming okay so he's kind of describing it in a rather artistic kind of manner the merciless mcdonald worthy to be a rebel for to that multiplying villainies of nature to swarm upon him now what does he mean See, basically Shakespeare has used the imagery of two swimmers who are kind of, you know, almost embracing each other, clinging to each other as they struggle to stay afloat. Okay. And alive while death is actually, it could be a possibility for both of them.
Okay. Choke their heart essentially means that they hampered each other's movement so that neither could use their art or the skill of swimming. For to that, for to that means because of that.
and it is really no surprise that mcdonald has turned out to be a rebel or a traitor so he says someone as merciless as mcdonald mcdonald is not really known to be a good man so someone as merciless as mcdonald has turned out to be a traitor so it is really no surprise so because of that now what happens because of that is that the merciless mcdonald is fit to be called a rebel fine Now, all the evils found in nature, multiplying villainies of nature, all the villainies which are found in nature, whatever that can be, they are there in McDonald's world. They are attracted to him. They are attracted to him like a swarm, swarm of bees, swarm of flies, we say, right?
Makhiyon ka jhund, right? So swarm of flies. So they are attracted to him almost like a swarm of flies to meet. to any kind of eatable, in this case, meat.
So, that is what is happening. From the hybrid is a cluster of islands on the west coast of Scotland. So, from the western isles. What is this western isles?
He is referring to one particular area in Scotland, which is a cluster of islands of the west coast of Scotland. The cairns which are being referred out here, the cairns were Scottish or Irish. foot soldiers who essentially would carry a sword or a bow arrow basically light weapons uh the gallo glass the gallo glass that is being referred to now this can all come at you know one two marks or even in mcqs which is why you need to know what exactly they uh refer to so mech uh glass gallo glass for mercenary armored uh warriors mercenary means that who would kind of do things for a price that is you pay them some money and they would do this they will come and fight against the enemy on behalf of your army. So in this case, the gallop glass, they would serve as bodyguards to the Irish or Scottish, which is known as an umbrella term as Celtic.
It includes both Irish as well as Scotland, which was also part of the entire Great Britain Kingdom at one point in time. So Celtic chieftains and they were handpicked for their strength and massive size. They would always carry an axe.
I mean, both Kearns and Gallo Glass in that sense is talking about two different kinds of warriors. These people would carry an axe. These people would carry small weapons.
These people are known to be more of bodyguards because of their rather hefty size. So what the captain is saying is that fortune on his damned coral smiling. So fortune smiled on McDonald Donwald's McDonald McDonald.
meant on world's cause okay and like a prostitute who would kind of grant favors to her client okay where is it so like a prostitute like a rebel's whore like a whore means prostitute so like a prostitute who would grant favors to her fortune on her damned coral smiling showed like a rebel's whore but all whore but all is too weak for brave macbeth well he deserves that name so He's saying that, you know, like a prostitute who would grant favors to her client, showered him with all favors, you know. So, all this help was available to Macdonald. Okay.
So, the reference is what? The reference is to all these troops which are coming from the Western Isles, from the Hebrides. Okay.
So, now at this point in time, Shakespeare introduces Macbeth for the second time. First time was from the witches. The second time is from the injured sergeant. Both times you see.
That is conveying something very negative and very sinister and this one is conveying the blood imagery. So that's how Macbeth is introduced even before he has actually arrived on stage. And it helps to build up interest.
You know, you are curious to know someone called Macbeth is being spoken about by different characters. So there is an element of curiosity which is there in the spectator, in the reader. even before he actually makes an appearance so he says for brave macbeth well he deserves that name another point is saying that he deserves that name so it's some kind of an affirmation that death person called macbeth who we have not met so far is actually a very brave kind of person who the witches are also keen on meeting upon the heat right disdaining fortune with his brandish with smoke with bloody execution like valius minion carve out his passage till he faced his sleeve a sleeve sorry face the sleeve i have put a question about what is the significance of this phrase brave magbuth please have a look at the question and answer now uh the sergeant is saying that he arrived with contempt you know content means he's so confident about his skills he may okay you know i will come and conquer everybody defeat the rebel forces so he arrived with um content disdaining fortune disdain also essentially conveys you know that i look down upon them right that was smiling on and on the fortune which was smiling at mcdonald we already spoken about the rebel score right and waved brandished brandished means he waved his talwar he waved his sword steel steel means sword so this is waved and he's talking about waved his sword with smoke with bloody execution so this is waved his sword okay with smoked with bloody execution disdain as i already said it also conveys it defines it also conveys uh fate you know uh or going against the fortune the fate okay so um Interestingly, Macbeth uses the sword in this particular case to change the course of this particular battle.
Later on, he will use the sword against Duncan, right, in order to change his own fortune. So please keep marking all these elements of dramatic irony that Shakespeare is in a very subtle manner introducing into the play. You know, if you already know the story, if you have seen the introduction video that I had done, so you know the story.
So all these small, small elements are interesting. So in... If you get an answer about the significance of the sword and if you make a reference to that, it always shows to the examiner that this particular student knows a little more than the others because he or she is able to make the correlation between what is happening now and what will happen later in the play. And all this because you are an SWA student. okay bit smoked with bloody execution bit smoked with bloody execution what does this mean it is a metaphor for a bloody image you know completely blood so and it creates what it creates a rather dramatic effect you know so much of blood you know you feel almost revolted you feel sorry you feel a little agitated about what you are seeing on stage or even while you're reading and it emphasizes the the fury of the battle, the fury of the battlefield and the fact that it is very, very ferocious on that particular battlefield and this innocence also, listen to this carefully, it foreshadows the assassination of King Duncan.
As I said, bloodshed and the blood imagery is an integral part of this particular play. So, that is something which you need to be very conscious of throughout the play in almost every other scene. Valor's Minion Minyan is someone who is like a chela kind of thing in Hindi. So it means the servant of courage.
Valor means courage. Okay. Valor means courage.
And Minyan means someone who is a slave or a servant. Carved out his passage till he faced the slave. So he is saying that as if Macbeth was the favorite Minyan.
He is the favorite of Valor himself. And he cut a path. through the enemy troops till he faced the slave that is Macdonald which never shook hands nor bade farewell to him.
It says that you know there was no kind of I mean there is obviously very clear animosity between Macdonald and Macbeth who is fighting on behalf of King Duncan till he unseemed himself from the knave to the chaps. Knave refers to the navel and chaps refers to the jaw. navel essentially the stomach right so unseen from the battle meant it means that again the motif of blood returns to magbeth and it says it's very gory imagery because what he is doing and this is something extremely gory again something which will happen later on in the play so magbeth essentially rips apart macdonald like it happens it happened with the character in mahabharata i think bhim rips apart Was it Jarasandha?
If I remember my Hindu mythology correctly. You know, he rips apart that particular demon. So, vivid and gory images of Macbeth ripping apart, unseamed. Unseamed means you kind of seam, cloth, tailoring, right? Unseam, right?
So, that is what is important. And decapitating him, you know, completely, you know, the body, the human body is ripped apart. So, you are decapitating that particular.
human body and then sticking fixed means sticking his head upon our battlements what he has done then he has removed the head and he has put outside the castle in scotland to show what he can do to the enemy so you get an idea about the fury of macbeth on the battlefield you get an idea about what he could possibly do on the battlefield also that he could actually subject his enemy to such kind of bloodshed and violence. That is what Macbeth is capable of. Okay. And he has put Macdonald's head as a trophy of victory. Please remember this phrase and use it in your answers as a trophy of victory.
And this particular act of Macbeth is designed to frighten, not just the enemy, the enemy, the rebel forces, because the next time anyone wants to rebel, he will think about what Macbeth did to Macdonald. It also sets you to prepare, okay, this is a guy who is a protagonist of this particular play written by William Shakespeare, who is capable of so much violence. That is what it prepares the reader and the spectator for. Okay. Now, the irony is, again, yet another thing which SW students would know and should point out in their answers.
The irony is that at the end of the play, Macbeth Two is decapitated by a character called Macduff. Okay. He cuts his forehead, his head and brings it to Malcolm, King Duncan's son. So in that sense, it gives a cyclical structure to the play.
What happens in act one happens again to another character at the end of the play. So there is a cyclical structure which is given to this play Macbeth. And this kind of foreshadows the ending of the play.
you know we know okay this has happened will there will be an equal retribution later on at the end of the play that's what is really shakespeare so shakespeare has this very way of kind of doing these kind of things okay oh valiant cousin worthy gentleman so uh so basically magbeth what he has done he is that he's cut a path till he faced macdonald he did not pause to shake hands uh with macdonald or say goodbye and cut him from his stomach to the jaws you know so this part of the body he ripped apart and subsequently placed his head outside the castle uh in front of the castle in force. And it is very clear that Macbeth's entry into the battlefield was like the turning point of that particular battle which was referred to by the witches in Act 1, Scene 1. Also, it turns in Duncan's favor. The King Duncan's army manages to win that particular battle. Now, Duncan calls him a heroic, valiant means courageous, heroic, brave cousin. He is referring to him as cousin.
I'll tell you why. And he calls him a... worthy gentleman because Duncan's mother and Macbeth's mother were actually sisters.
So, that makes Duncan a cousin of Macbeth. However, I must also point out here that Shakespeare is known to have used the word cousin also a little loosely even when it is not only referring to relatives but with some kind of kinship. In that sense also, in other place, he has used the word cousin.
But in this particular case, there is a sense of relationship between King Duncan and Macbeth. So that I just wanted to point that out to you. Sargent says, as when the sun begins its reflection, let me just move it forward. It is a very old edition which I got, which is probably why it is kind of little. So as when the sun begins his reflection, shipwrecking storms and direful thunders break.
So from that spring winds, comfort seem to come, discomfort swells. So what is he saying is that he's reporting to Duncan the good news of Macbeth's victory, as well as the bad news that the king of Norway has begun a fresh assault. OK, so he says that just as terrible storms.
shipwrecking storms shipwrecking means so they are so terrible they're like the tempest you know which kind of create storms on the seas and dreadful thunder direful thunder dreadful means again very fearful and dreadful thunder suddenly arise when the sun begins to rise in the east so also new trouble begins to rise when it seemed that we have reached our moment of triumph with the killing of mcdonald world okay so discomfort swells so the good news was there i told you about the good news of we having won the battle as a result of megbeth's waller now there is a bad news discomfort is swelling again we are getting some bad news when we thought all was going well listen king of scotland listen mark means listen king of scotland listen no sooner justice had with valor armed compelled these skipping kerns to trust their heels trust their heels means to run away from the battlefield. Kerns were the ones which were helping Macdonald to trust their heels means to run away. But the Norwegian Lord, that is the King of Norway, surveying vantage, sensing some kind of an advantage with furbished arms and new supplies of men, that is with new soldiers, etc. coming and with more modern and better weaponry.
He began a fresh assault. with fresh soldiers and new weapons. So that is the second bit of news. So if you get a question about the news which had been brought by the sergeant, you need to talk about the first battle and then you need to talk about what King of Norway had done.
Let me move it forward. Dismayed not this, our captains, Macbeth and Banco. So Duncan is asking whether this did not trouble our captains.
Who are the two captains? Macbeth and Banco. The sergeant says, yes, as sparrows, eagles or the hare, the lion. So now he's being a little, let's say a little not sarcastic, but in a very poetic manner, he's kind of describing. He's saying that, well, yes, they did trouble as much as a sparrow troubles the eagle.
OK, or a rabbit or a hare troubles the lion. Obviously, both don't happen. A rabbit does not trouble the lion.
OK, unless he runs very fast. or sparrows don't trouble the eagle which will be able to catch them. Similarly, these King of Norway's forces do not trouble our heroes, that is captains Macbeth and Banquo, which means no, not at all, not at all trouble. If I say, truthfully sooth means truthfully if i speak truthfully i must report they were as cannons overcharged with double cracks so they doubly redouble strokes upon the four except they meant to bathe in reeking wounds or memorize another golgotha i cannot tell what does this mean so he says that if i speak truthfully i must tell you that they were like cannons cannons is like through which the gola baru this thing to you know put it in in recent bahubali etc kind of movies you would have seen right they were like cannons loaded with double dose of gun power cannons overcharged with double cracks double dose of gun powder so they exploded on the enemy who megbet and banco so they exploded on the enemy doubling their impact with greater ferocity so they were even more ferocious this time in the battle against the king of norway perhaps they wanted to bathe in the blood Okay, except they're meant to bathe in reeking wounds.
They wanted to bathe. So bathe in blood of the wounds of their enemies. Just imagine the kind of very reprehensible, you kind of cringe at the kind of the power of the language that Shakespeare has used, telling it through a very injured sergeant, talking about extreme bloodshed. The thought of someone actually drinking or bathing in the blood of the wounds of the enemies it conveys an extremely reprehensible very disgusting kind of an image right to indulge in total carnage you know total bloodshed to make that battlefield another Golgotha now what is Golgotha I cannot tell or to memorize means to kind of remember or to remind people of another Golgotha to make that battlefield another Golgotha according to the New Testament Jesus Christ was crucified at a spot outside Jerusalem called Golgotha. Okay.
That is something which is the reference, which is why the reference to Golgotha. Now, let me give you some more extra information. I put it in the notes also.
The word Golgotha actually means the place of the skull. And the Latin word for skull is Calvaria, which is why in English, many Christians refer to Golgotha as Calvary. Okay. Just for your GK. Okay.
So he says, but I am now feeling, but I am feeling pleased. tired itna bulwadia i am also feeling tired i am feeling very tired my gashes cry for help gashes means my wounds are crying for some kind of medical attention duncan said so well thy words become thee as thy wounds they smack of honor both go get him surgeons so duncan says your words speak of honor just like your wounds do because the wounds are proof that you fought valiantly on the battlefield saved my son malcolm also from getting captured remember so you In the character sketch of the sergeant, you need to mention all these facts. Not just he's a messenger of what happened, of facts, he's also someone who saved his son Malcolm, the crown prince Malcolm, from captivity. So he says, your words convey that you're an honorable man, get him to a surgeon. That is, get someone to cure him of his surgeons.
Who comes here? So the captain, the sergeant exits and enters Ross and Angus. Ross essentially role is that of a messenger.
Malcolm says, what a haste looks with the worthy thane of Ross. Thane is another title in Scotland. Just like Macbeth at this point in time is a thane of Glamis. It's spelled as G-L-A-M-I-S.
It's pronounced as Glamis. What a haste looks through his eyes. So should he look that seems to speak things. strange so duncan says uh after uh he has gone that his eyes convey that he has something important and incredible to convey okay uh important haste means something very important something hasty he has to convey the news so so she should look that seems to speak things strange so he has something very important and incredible to convey god save the king when then came as thou worthy thane ross says from five you great king where the norwegian banners flout the sky and fan our people cold so he's also telling about that particular battles he says great king i come from five where the norwegian banners fly in the sky uh flout indicates that they are doing something which they should normally not do they are going against the uh rules they are mocking our land okay they are fanning our people cold norway himself that is the king of norway with terrible numbers assisted by that most disloyal traitor The Thane of Cawdor began a dismal conflict till that Bellona's bridegroom lapped in proof confronted him with self-comparison. So he's saying that the king of norme himself with a large army and assisted by the disloyal traitor the thane of codder began a battle that our forces looked likely to lose till the point when megbeth clad in armor now megbeth comes to the rescue once again megbeth clad in armor armor i mean referring to proof out here which is lapped in proof means lapped in that weapon armor confronted him with self-comparisons he kind of took him on confronted him with self-comparisons.
There was a hand-to-hand combat, arm against arm. And he broke the spirit of the army. When he says curbing his lavish spirit, he broke the spirit of the enemy forces.
And in the end, we emerged. Victory fell on us. We emerged victorious. Now, Bellona's bridegroom, Bellona was the Roman goddess of war.
And Meghbeth is being referred to as her bridegroom. So again, elevating him even before he has actually been uh you know has made an entry in this particular play it is used to exaggerate the heroism of Macbeth so Bellona's bridegroom as a key phrase please use it in your answers whenever you are talking about Macbeth okay Duncan reacts saying great happiness Ross says Sweno Sweno is the name of the Norwegian king craves composition Nor would we deign him burial of his men till he dispersed at cent columns inch $10,000 to our general use. So he says he desires truce, that he desires some kind of, he has waved the white flag.
He wants a truce with us and he begs for a peace treaty, craves composition, means he begs for a peace treaty. We refuse to allow him, that is deign, we refuse to allow him the burial of his men. till he actually went back, retreated means he went back, dispersed he went back to send columns inch, though it is spelled as c-o-l-m-e apostrophe s, the pronunciation is columns, k-o-l-l-u-m's and gave us $10,000 for our use.
So those are the conditions which have been imposed. Duncan, no more that thing of quarter shall deceive. our bosom interest so he says dollars is a reference to the silver coins inch means island duncan says that the thane of codder will never again deceive our interest go proclaim that he will be executed so immediate punishment being given to him go pronounce his present death and with his former title greet macbeth so it says that the thane of codder title will now pass on to macbeth who is now the thane of glams okay so that is what will happen. So Ross says, I will get it done. Noble Macbeth has won what Thane of Cawdor has lost.
What he had lost, Noble Macbeth has won. So noble is another adjective which has been used for Macbeth. Please use it as a keyword. So basically, this line introduces the fact that titles were not hereditary. They had to be kind of gained or lost purely on the basis of merit, which is an important point.
And it's an idea. which kind of gets dangerous because when ambition meets this kind of an arrangement, it means anyone could actually try to become the king and in this case by murdering the king, what Macbeth does to Duncan. Now, a few points before we close Act 1, Scene 2. Macbeth kills Macdonald taking revenge for his treachery against the throne.
It is ironic because the same Macbeth kills Duncan in order to gain the throne of the kingdom of Scotland. Okay, so here he's very ferociously protecting Duncan but the same Macbeth once he hears of the prophecies by the three witches, he completely goes the other side and he decides to become the aggressor against King Duncan himself. That is an important point that you need to bear in mind. So any long five mark or ten mark question that you get, you should be able to put it in that kind of a context of what happens later on in the play also because it will give your answer that much more depth.
The scene also shows that Macbeth was given to use extreme violence. That's another important aspect of Macbeth that comes through even though we have not met Macbeth so far. The blood-soaked sergeant, he's pretty unrecognizable.
because there is so much of blood on his face and his body. Pretty much like Macbeth, who also will get transformed into a monster who will be covered by the blood of all those people who he kills in order to achieve his ambition. So that's another important comparison that you could draw between the sergeant and Macbeth. That works very well, literally, and this in a metaphorical kind of a sense.
The third point is very important because it shows Duncan's inability to judge people correctly. He's very happy with what Magbeth has done. So he does not kind of think that could he also become a potential threat to me. and my family later on.
He immediately rewards Macbeth. So you could think that he's a fair king. That's one way of looking at Duncan.
The other way of looking at Duncan is that he does not have a very great judgment of the people around him. Because he's doing what? He's replacing one traitor, who? Macdonald, with another potential traitor that is going to be Macbeth. Macbeth and Banco are compared to eagles and lions and the lion actually appears on the crest of the royal court of the arms of the king of Scotland.
So, it's just a small detail. And Duncan is shown as someone who is concerned about the bleeding soldier, tells his people that he should be taken to a surgeon, of course, after knowing all the news from him. So, this is as far as Act 1 Scene 2 is concerned. I hope you have understood it very thoroughly.
Go through the notes because Shakespeare is not something which you will understand and remember in one reading. multiple readings will be required and Macbeth definitely is that kind of a play. So, please go through the notes because in the notes, each and every line is explained with the exact words, etc.
Plus, there will also be question and answers which will follow, which will make it all, you know, I will feed you a spoon and give it to you. It will be easy for you whatever you want to write in your examination. Bye-bye. I will now see you in Act 1, Scene 3 where we will finally get to meet Macbeth. Thank you very much.