The Highland Tale; The King Act One Scene Seven Sub Act Two

 

ARE YOU A MAN?

ACT ONE

SCENE SEVEN

SUB ACT TWO

 

“What ails you, MacBeth?” Lady Elleanor approached the Thane.

“I was unwell. I think the meat was...”

“Rancid? The cuts were fresh from the kitchen.” The lady defended her feast. “The King handled his meat like the lion at the kill.”

“Duncan eats too much.” MacBeth said. “He grew wider at the girth.”

“Yet he eats, MacBeth. Why should he not be when he is the King and you are his Thane? He worries not that Thane will do his killing.”

“Assay your words to the King. I honoured him as my King." MacBeth held up his right hand on the face.

“Are you not King too? You told me what the angels said to you. A prophecy that foretold your Kingship. Your words were in the letter.”

“Spare me those words. I have...” MacBeth sighed. “Prophecies are...”

“Are what, MacBeth? Fake dreams, or illusions that the machines can make?” Lady Elleanor looked at the tired general. “The King mocks you for his... prophecy.”

“The King has none.” MacBeth corrected the lady. “He said it then.”

“Yes, he belittles yours in his words.” Lady Elleanor stood by MacBeth. “Are you not man enough to own up? Do you believe in your prophecy? Or were the angel’s fake?”

“We will proceed no further in this talk. I am tired. The King had honoured me of late, and I have bought golden opinions from all sorts of people. I am basKing in my new honour and position, not throwing it aside so quickly.”

“Were you drunk when you were so hopeful earlier? Did you then go to sleep, and wake up sick and pale in fear of what your prophecy had said before? From this point on I will see your desire in a new way. Are you afraid to act on your desires?” Lady Elleanor pressed on.

“Will you take the thing you want more than anything else? Or will you live as a coward in your own mind, always saying “I can’t” after you say “I want to?” You are like the poor rat in the dark cellar, who wants to eat the meat but is still fed on the straws.

“I beg of you, no more! I dare to do only what is appropriate for a man to do. Anyone who dares to do more is not a real man at all.” MacBeth looked at Elleanor. “What prompts you to speak to me in that manner? All I told you was a dream—a prophecy told to me by the angels. Maybe they are fake too. Or I am...”

“Then what kind of beastly thoughts did you hold when you first told me about all this? I am not Mary. I hold dear to what is there.” Elleanor snapped back. “Are you not man to face your destiny? When will you dare to do it, that is when you were a man.”

“I am a man.” MacBeth hit back.

“No, you are more than that. If you are to become a King, then you will be that is much more of a man. The time and place were not right before, or you would have been King. Now the time and place are perfect; the prophecy revealed that... but it's as if their very perfectness unnerves you.” Lady Elleanor looked hard at MacBeth.

“Mary once she said you deserved more. You are not any man, but the man that is above others. You are a King, one that was destined to be one ever since breastfed. But even as the baby was smiling up at me, I would have yanked my nipple from your mouth and dashed out your brains if you ignored the prophecy.”

“Are you mad? You are asKing me to kill the King so that I can be King? But what if we... I fail?”

“We, fail? Just get a hold of your courage, and we will not fail, for the prophecy was never destined to fail.”

“I am...” MacBeth staggered to his feet.

“You will do as I planned. King Duncan is asleep, as he will be and he surely will be soon, after this day’s hard journey and heavy meal. I will get the servants ……… No, I will do it myself. I will make his guards so drunk on wine and ale that their memory will disappear in the fumes of alcohol. Once they are in their piggish sleep, so drunk they might as well be dead, you and I will be able to do what we please.”

“Do what?” MacBeth asked.

“Kill the unguarded Duncan? And we will place the blame on the drunken guards? They are the friends of the previous Thane of Cawdor.” Lady Elleanor concluded for him.

“You are...” MacBeth struggled to find the words.

“Brilliant? I know I am. Not only men are. I wished it so more than ever to be one.” Lady Elleanor continued. “The fault will be on the guards. The murder weapon was in their hands then.”

“What … No, who will believe us?” MacBeth asked.

“Who would possibly think that it could be anyone else? The two of us will wail with grief when we learn of his death.” Lady Elleanor told MacBeth. “The King was killed in Thane’s castle. Who will grieve more than the host and hostess?

“I am convinced, and now I will use all my strength to achieve this great and terrible thing. Go now, and deceive everyone with a show of friendliness. You must hide your treacherous heart behind a false face.” MacBeth sobers up. He then left the lady in his chamber.

“Go with my blessing, my King.” Lady Elleanor muttered to herself.