
Shakespeare's Monologues
The character Macbeth is a general from Scottish descent, known for his title as the thane of Glamis and of his prowess on the battlefield. He is proud and strong, but easily manipulated. He is entranced by the prophecy of three witches, and sets out to kill those who would get in his way, while becoming more and more mentally unstable.
The monologue takes place right before Macbeth ends the life of Duncan, the king of Scotland. Macbeth has killed on the battlefield, but never assassinated anyone for power. During the monologue Macbeth imagines a dagger, which is the first real sign of Macbeth's mental instability. As he goes on about the dagger that only he can see he notices it covered in blood and at first is shocked, but accepts the meaning behind it and uses this mentally created dagger as a guide to murder King Duncan.
Character description, monologue synopsis, and monologue scoring provided by a student in the Spring 2019 THT 352 class. This student chose to remain anonymous.
Is this a dagger which I see before me,
The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.
I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.
Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible
To feeling as to sight? or art thou but
A dagger of the mind, a false creation,
Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?
I see thee yet, in form as palpable
As this which now I draw.
Thou marshall'st me the way that I was going;
And such an instrument I was to use.
Mine eyes are made the fools o' the other senses,
Or else worth all the rest; I see thee still,
And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood,
Which was not so before. There's no such thing:
It is the bloody business which informs
Thus to mine eyes. Now o'er the one halfworld
Nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse
The curtain'd sleep; witchcraft celebrates
Pale Hecate's offerings, and wither'd murder,
Alarum'd 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. Thou sure and firm-set earth,
Hear not my steps, which way they walk, for fear
Thy very stones prate of my whereabout,
And take the present horror from the time,
Which now suits with it. Whiles I threat, he lives:
Words to the heat of deeds too cold breath gives.
| Number of Syllables | Scored Text | Meaning of Beat |
| 11 | Is this a dagger which I see before me | Beginning of Beat 1, to comprehend |
| 11 | The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee | |
| 11 | I have thee not, and yet I see thee still | |
| 10 | Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible | End of Beat 1 |
| 10 | To feeling as to sight? or art thou but | Beginning of Beat 2, to confirm |
| 11 | A dagger of the mind, a false creation | |
| 11 | Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain | End of Beat 2 |
| 10 | I see thee yet, in form as palpable | Beginning of Beat 3, to make connections |
| 6 | As this which now I draw | |
| 11 | Thou marshall'st me the way that I was going | |
| 10 | And such an instrument I was to use | End of Beat 3 |
| 12 | Mine eyes are made the fools of the other senses | Beginning of Beat 4, to understand |
| 10 | Or else worth all the rest: I see thee still | |
| 10 | And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood | |
| 10 | Which was not so before. There's no such thing: | End of Beat 4 |
| 10 | It is the bloody business which informs | Beginning of Beat 5, to ground oneself |
| 11 | Thus to mine eyes. Now o'er the one halfworld | |
| 10 | Nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse | |
| 9 | The curtain'd sleep; witchcraft celebrates | |
| 12 | Pale Hecate's offerings, and wither'd murder | End of Beat 5 |
| 10 | Alarum'd by his sentinel, the wolf | Beginning of Beat 6, to avoid detection |
| 11 | Whose howl's his watch, thus with his stealthy pace | |
| 11 | With Tarquin's ravishing strides, towards his design | |
| 10 | Moves like a ghost. Thou sure and firm-set earth | |
| 10 | Hear not my steps, which way they walk, for fear | |
| 10 | Thy very stones prate of my whereabouts | End of Beat 6 |
| 10 | And take the present horror from the time | Beginning of Beat 7, to remember current objective |
| 10 | Which now suits with it. Whiles I threat, he lives | |
| 10 | Words to the heat of deeds too cold breath gives | End of Beat 7 |
Definitions from David & Ben Crystal / Shakespeare's Words are under copyright, and may not be used without their express permission. All other definitions are from sources in the public domain.
Unless otherwise indicated, all other content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA) license.