This brief but crucial scene serves as a strategic pause before the final confrontation, allowing Shakespeare to present the perspective of Macbeth's former allies who have now turned against him. The lords function as a collective chorus, providing political commentary and reinforcing the play's themes of legitimacy versus usurpation. Their unified voice represents the restoration of natural order that Malcolm's return promises.The scene's central metaphor — Macbeth's title hanging "like a giant's robe / Upon a dwarfish thief" — crystallizes the play's exploration of appearance versus reality. Angus's image suggests that Macbeth has never truly grown into the role of king; rather than the crown ennobling him, it reveals his fundamental inadequacy. The metaphor also implies that legitimate authority has a natural fit, while stolen power will always appear awkward and ill-suited.Shakespeare employs medical imagery throughout the scene, with Caithness referring to Malcolm as "the med'cine of the sickly weal" and speaking of Scotland's need for a "purge." This disease motif frames Macbeth's reign as a sickness that has infected the entire nation, requiring drastic treatment to restore health. The imagery reinforces the idea that Macbeth's rule is fundamentally unnatural and destructive to the body politic.The lords' discussion of whether...
Scene Summary
The Scottish lords Menteith, Caithness, Angus, and Lennox march to join Malcolm's forces near Birnam Wood. They discuss the approaching English army led by Malcolm, his uncle Siward, and Macduff, all burning for revenge. The lords report that Macbeth has fortified himself at Dunsinane Castle, with some calling him mad and others labeling his behavior "valiant fury." However, they recognize that Macbeth can no longer control his chaotic reign.
Angus delivers the scene's most memorable image: Macbeth's stolen title hangs on him "like a giant's robe / Upon a dwarfish thief." The lords conclude that they must march to restore rightful rule to Scotland, viewing Malcolm as the medicine needed to cure their diseased nation. They head toward Birnam Wood to join the forces that will purge Scotland of Macbeth's tyrannical rule.
"Revenges burn in them, for their dear causes / Would to the bleeding and the grim alarm / Excite the mortified man." — Menteith (5.2.3-5)
"Some say he's mad; others, that lesser hate him, / Do call it valiant fury." — Caithness (5.2.13-14)
"He cannot buckle his distempered cause / Within the belt of rule." — Caithness (5.2.15-16)
"Now does he feel / His title hang loose about him, like a giant's robe / Upon a dwarfish thief." — Angus (5.2.20-22)
"Who then shall blame / His pestered senses to recoil and start, / When all that is within him does condemn / Itself for being there?" — Menteith (5.2.22-25)
"Meet we the med'cine of the sickly weal, / And with him pour we in our country's purge / Each drop of us." — Caithness (5.2.27-29)
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