In Shakespeare's Macbeth, the letter
Lady Macbeth receives tells the audience a great deal about this Scottish hero—one of
King Duncan's most trusted warriors.
First we learn that
Macbeth not only met three old women, but that he believes they are witches, and that
they have supernatural knowledge of the future.
We find
that Macbeth wanted to question the women further, but they disappeared into thin air,
right in front of him.
We discover that as the witches'
first prediction that Macbeth would become the Thane of Cawdor comes true, Macbeth
assumes that their prediction that he would one day be king is uppermost in his
mind.
It is easy to tell that Macbeth loves his wife in the
way he addresses her:
This have I thought good to deliver thee, my
dearest partner of
greatness...
It is equally
clear that he is excited to share what meaning this news has for
her:
...that
thou mightst not lose the dues of rejoicing, by being ignorant of the what greatness is
promised thee.
This small
segment of the play shows how concisely Shakespeare writes: without coming straight out
and telling us what he wants us to know, he uses the letter from Macbeth to his wife,
and we learn a great deal about the main character of the play.
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