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All Site ContentMacbethAct 1Scene 5
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“To beguile the time”
Allusion
Act 1,
Scene 5
Lines 61-65

An explanation of Lady Macbeth’s use of the proverb “to beguile the time…” in Act 1, Scene 5 of myShakespeare’s Macbeth.

Lady Macbeth                                        

Your face, my thane, is as a book where men
May read strange matters. To beguile the time,
Look like the time — bear welcome in your eye,
Your hand, your tongue. Look like the innocent flower,
But be the serpent under't. He that's coming

When Lady Macbeth says, “To beguile the time, / Look like the time,” she’s riffing on the proverb, “to beguile the time with a fair face.” In other words, Macbeth should deceive Duncan and his court by acting like a smiling, welcoming host in order to hide his evil intentions.