TEXT:
Retreat and Flourish.
Enter, with drum and colours, MALCOLM, SIWARD, ROSS, other Thanes, and Soldiers
MALCOLM
I would the friends we miss were safe arrived.
SIWARD
Some must go off: and yet, by these I see,
So great a day as this is cheaply bought.
MALCOLM
Macduff is missing, and your noble son.
ROSS
Your son, my lord, has paid a soldier's debt.
He only lived but till he was a man;
The which no sooner had his prowess confirmed
In the unshrinking station where he fought,
But like a man he died.
SIWARD
Then he is dead?
ROSS
Ay, and brought off the field: your cause of sorrow
Must not be measured by his worth, for then
It hath no end.
SIWARD
Had he his hurts before?
ROSS
Ay, on the front.
SIWARD
Why then, God's soldier be he!
Had I as many sons as I have hairs,
I would not wish them to a fairer death:
And so, his knell is knolled.
MALCOLM
He's worth more sorrow,
And that I'll spend for him.
SIWARD
He's worth no more
They say he parted well, and paid his score:
And so, God be with him! Here comes newer comfort.
Re-enter MACDUFF, with MACBETH's head
MACDUFF
Hail, king! for so thou art: behold, where stands
The usurper's cursed head: the time is free:
I see thee compass'd with thy kingdom's pearl,
That speak my salutation in their minds;
Whose voices I desire aloud with mine:
Hail, King of Scotland!
ALL
Hail, King of Scotland!
Flourish
MALCOLM
We shall not spend a large expense of time
Before we reckon with your several loves,
And make us even with you. My thanes and kinsmen,
Henceforth be earls, the first that ever Scotland
In such an honour named. What's more to do,
Which would be planted newly with the time,
As calling home our exiled friends abroad
That fled the snares of watchful tyranny;
Producing forth the cruel ministers
Of this dead butcher and his fiend-like queen,
Who, as 'tis thought, by self and violent hands
Took off her life; this, and what needful else
That calls upon us, by the grace of Grace,
We will perform in measure, time and place:
So, thanks to all at once and to each one,
Whom we invite to see us crown'd at Scone.
Flourish. Exeunt
NOTES:
Richard III
Shakespeare’s Richard III has quite an amount in common with Macbeth - both are tyrants who usurp the crown, embark on a career of murder and destruction, and are killed at the ends of their respective plays. If you’d like to read more, there’s an article called '“The Relation of Macbeth to Richard the Third” - and you can find it here.
Polyptoton
This is a figure of speech, wherein a writer repeats words that come from the same root. So, knell and knolled here, which emphasise the finality of Young Siward’s death. Shakespeare makes great use of the device in one of his most famous sonnets, “Let Me Not To the Marriage of True Minds…”
Brutus and Cassius
At the very end of Julius Caesar, Brutus hears that Cassius is dead, and within the madness of his own final scene, he insists
Friends, I owe more tears
To this dead man than you shall see me pay.
I shall find time, Cassius, I shall find time.
Pick-up Lines
I feel rather embarrassed that I’ve never committed this term to memory. One of the most dynamic elements of this play is how frequently Shakespeare splits lines of verse between characters, allowing the heartbeat of its rhythm to pulse through multiple voices. It’s electrifying when performed well by a company in sync with each other. And now we know what to call them!
Status
At the end of a play the final lines were customarily given to the character with the highest status. Since so many tragedies in particular end with various bodies strewn across the stage, it is often a moment for a lesser character to gain the spotlight. In Hamlet, it is Fortinbras who speaks last - having taken control in the aftermath of that Danish bloodbath. In King Lear, things are more complicated, since the Quarto text gives the final lines to the Duke of Albany, while the Folio gives them to Edgar. It’s an issue to be resolved by any given production. Here, at least, there’s no question that it should be Malcolm, who’s been hailed King of Scotland, that gets the final speech.
The Stone of Scone
For at least the last 1500 years the Stone of Scone (aka the Stone of Destiny) has been an integral part of the coronation process for all Scottish monarchs. One myth suggested that it was Jacob’s Pillow, and had been brought to Scotland over time. In 1296 it was stolen by the English and it took seven centuries for it to be returned to Scotland (for more about this click here) and during which time it became an integral part of the coronation process for English monarchs too. The Stone was transported from Scotland to England in April 2023 and put on display in advance of the coronation of King Charles III, and then returned to Edinburgh after the festivities. It made the news again in November 2023, when activists attacked the glass surrounding it and sprayed slogans with their demands.