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All Site ContentMacbethAct 2Scene 3
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Folklore Context: The Political and Natural Worlds
Context and Language Videos
Act 2,
Scene 3
Lines 50-59

An explanation of the reference to the reflection of the political situation in Scotland in the natural world in Act 2, Scene 3 of myShakespeare's Macbeth.

myShakespeare | Macbeth 2.3 Folklore Reference: The Political and Natural Worlds

Lennox

The night has been unruly. Where we lay,
Our chimneys were blown down; and, as they say,
Lamentings heard i' the air, strange screams of death;
And prophesying, with accents terrible
Of dire combustion and confused events
New hatched to the woeful time. The obscure bird
Clamored the livelong night. Some say, the earth
Was feverous and did shake.

Macbeth

                                                  'Twas a rough night.

Lennox

My young remembrance cannot parallel
A fellow to it.
Video Transcript: 

RALPH:   Davina, before we discuss this passage by Lennox, I just want to point out a clever little bit of Shakespeare’s writing, the kind of thing that often gets overlooked. Look at the exchange just before this passage.

DAVINA:  I know which part you mean.  Lennox asks if the king departs today, and Macbeth replies that he does, but then corrects himself, saying “he did arrange so.”  

RALPH:  Exactly.  It’s as if Macbeth is in the habit of always speaking very precisely.  So even here, when he’s trying to cover up a murder, he can’t help but say it in a way that is technically true – Macbeth knows the king won’t depart today, because he knows the king is dead, but he can truthfully tell Lennox that the king planned to leave today.

DAVINA:   Then Lennox recounts the strange events from the previous night: chimneys blown over, screams in the air, an owl clamoring all night, and the earth shaking.

RALPH:  According to the folklore of Shakespeare’s time, a failure in the political world was reflected by a disintegration in the natural world as well.

DAVINA:  As above, so below, you might say.

RALPH: Exactly. So the natural world is falling apart as a result of the king’s murder.

DAVINA:  But for the moment, Lennox can’t connect the dots.  He knows that the natural world is acting very strangely, but he doesn’t know yet what’s happened to Duncan.