Macbeth, Act V Scene I: Paraphrase, Explanation and Word Meanings
One of Shakespeare’s most haunting scenes, Macbeth Act V, Scene I reveals Lady Macbeth overwhelmed by the guilt she once believed could be washed away. Sleepwalking through Dunsinane Castle, she rubs her hands and cries, “Out, damned spot!” The bloodstain is imagined, but her anguish is painfully real. As a doctor and a gentlewoman watch, her broken words reveal memories of violence that royal power cannot silence.
This English Mines guide presents a clear, line-by-line paraphrase, detailed explanations and contextual word meanings to help you understand the scene’s Shakespearean language. Explore how blood imagery, restless sleep, repetition and dramatic irony expose Lady Macbeth’s troubled conscience—and transform her earlier confidence into helpless despair.
Complete Text and Paraphrase of Macbeth, Act V Scene I
The numbers identify the scene’s printed lines. A continuous sentence is kept together where it runs across more than one line.
Original Shakespearean Text | Modern Paraphrase and Notes |
Stage direction [Setting] Dunsinane. A room in the castle.[Enter a Doctor of Physic and a Waiting-Gentlewoman] | In a room at Dunsinane Castle, a physician and a lady attending the queen enter. Word meanings Physic: medicine. Waiting-Gentlewoman: a female attendant of gentle birth. Explanation The private room becomes a place of observation. Macbeth is absent; the two witnesses allow the audience to see Lady Macbeth without her usual public control. |
Doctor [Lines 1–2] I have two nights watched with you, but can perceive no truth in your report. When was it she last walked? | I have kept watch with you for two nights, but I have seen nothing that confirms your account. When did she last walk in her sleep? Word meanings Watched: kept vigil. Perceive: observe or recognise. Report: account. Explanation He has not yet witnessed the behaviour himself. His question concerns sleepwalking, not an ordinary walk. His cautious approach establishes him as an observer seeking evidence. |
Gentlewoman [Lines 3–7] Since his majesty went into the field, I have seen her rise from her bed, throw her night gown upon her, unlock her closet, take forth paper, fold it, write upon ’t, read it, afterwards seal it, and again return to bed; yet all this while in a most fast sleep. | Since the king went on military campaign, I have seen her get out of bed, put on her nightgown, unlock her private cupboard or chamber, take out paper, fold it, write on it, read it, seal it, and return to bed. Throughout, she remains deeply asleep. Word meanings His majesty: Macbeth. Field: military activity or campaign. Closet: private chamber or cupboard. Forth: out. Upon ’t: on it. Fast sleep: deep sleep. Explanation Each action resembles a deliberate waking task. The letter is not read aloud, so its contents must not be invented. Her orderly movements contrast with her disturbed consciousness. |
Doctor [Lines 8–12] A great perturbation in nature, to receive at once the benefit of sleep and do the effects of watching! In this slumbery agitation, besides her walking and other actual performances, what, at any time, have you heard her say? | What a serious disturbance of normal nature—to have the benefit of sleep while performing waking actions! During this restless sleep, apart from her walking and other activities, what have you heard her say? Word meanings Perturbation: disturbance. At once: simultaneously. Watching: being awake. Slumbery agitation: restless activity during sleep. Actual performances: actions carried out. Explanation Sleep should restore a person, but hers involves troubled activity. The doctor now moves from bodily actions to speech because her words may reveal the cause. His language presents the condition as deeply unnatural. |
Gentlewoman [Line 13] That, sir, which I will not report after her. | Sir, she has said things that I will not repeat. Word meanings Report after her: repeat what she has said. Explanation Her refusal creates suspense. The audience anticipates dangerous revelations. Her caution is understandable in a court ruled by fear. |
Doctor [Line 14] You may to me, and ’tis most meet you should. | You may tell me, and it is entirely proper that you should. Word meanings ’Tis: it is. Meet: suitable or proper. Explanation He invites disclosure in his professional capacity. The word meet concerns appropriateness, not a meeting. |
Gentlewoman [Line 15] Neither to you nor any one, having no witness to confirm my speech. | I will tell neither you nor anyone else, because I have no witness to support what I say. Word meanings Confirm: corroborate or support. Speech: statement. Explanation She fears making an accusation without evidence. Her silence is prudent rather than proof that she does not understand the seriousness of the words. |
Stage direction [Before 16] [Enter LADY MACBETH, with a taper] | Lady Macbeth enters carrying a small candle. Word meanings Taper: a slender candle. Explanation The light makes the sleepwalker visible. It also gives a stage symbol for her need for reassurance against darkness. |
Gentlewoman [Lines 16–17] Lo you! here she comes. This is her very guise; and, upon my life, fast asleep. Observe her; stand close. | Look! Here she comes. This is exactly how she usually behaves, and I swear she is deeply asleep. Watch her; remain hidden. Word meanings Lo: look. Guise: manner or customary appearance. Upon my life: an emphatic assurance. Stand close: keep concealed. Explanation The witnesses now observe the behaviour directly. Stand close means remain out of sight, rather than simply stand nearby. |
Doctor [Line 18] How came she by that light? | How did she get that candle? Word meanings Came she by: obtained or acquired. Explanation He checks a practical detail. The answer reveals that the light is part of her nightly routine. |
Gentlewoman [Lines 19–20] Why, it stood by her: she has light by her continually; ’tis her command. | It was beside her. She insists that a light remain beside her all the time. Word meanings Continually: constantly. Command: order. Explanation Her demand for light suggests fear and insecurity. This reverses her earlier wish for darkness to conceal the intended crime. |
Doctor [Line 21] You see, her eyes are open. | Notice that her eyes are open. Word meanings You see: observe. Explanation Open eyes could suggest wakefulness, but the next reply distinguishes physical appearance from awareness. |
Gentlewoman [Line 22] Ay, but their sense is shut. | Yes, but she does not consciously see or understand what is before her. Word meanings Ay: yes. Sense: conscious perception. Shut: closed or inactive. Explanation Her eyes are open while her conscious awareness remains asleep. The contrast dramatises the separation between bodily movement and conscious control. |
Doctor [Lines 23–24] What is it she does now? Look, how she rubs her hands. | What is she doing now? Look at the way she rubs her hands. Word meanings Rubs: repeatedly moves her hands against each other. Explanation The doctor directs attention to the scene’s central gesture. This visible action prepares for her imagined bloodstain. |
Gentlewoman [Lines 24–26] It is an accustomed action with her, to seem thus washing her hands. I have known her to continue in this a quarter of an hour. | This is a habitual action: she behaves as if she is washing her hands. I have seen her keep doing it for fifteen minutes. Word meanings Accustomed: habitual. Seem thus: appear in this way. Quarter of an hour: fifteen minutes. Explanation She is miming washing, not necessarily using real water. Repetition shows that the imagined stain cannot be removed and that her distress persists. |
Lady Macbeth [Line 27] Yet here’s a spot. | There is still a stain here. Word meanings Yet: still. Spot: an imagined bloodstain. Explanation The stain exists in her troubled perception. Blood becomes a symbol of guilt, so physical cleaning cannot solve the problem. |
Doctor [Lines 28–29] Hark! she speaks. I will set down what comes from her, to satisfy my remembrance the more strongly. | Listen! She is speaking. I will write down her words so that I can remember them more accurately. Word meanings Hark: listen. Set down: record in writing. Remembrance: memory. Explanation Recording her speech reinforces the doctor’s careful observation. Her private distress now becomes witnessed evidence, although he does not fully explain every remembered event. |
Lady Macbeth [Lines 30–31] Out, damned spot! out, I say! One; two: why, then ’tis time to do ’t. Hell is murky! | Away, cursed stain! Away, I tell you! One, two—then it is time to do it. Hell is dark! Word meanings Damned: cursed or condemned. Do ’t: do it. Murky: dark and gloomy. Explanation The commands show desperation rather than control. Counting may recall the time or signal for Duncan’s murder; its exact meaning is uncertain. Hell suggests fear of punishment. Her speech jumps between memories rather than forming a calm account. |
Lady Macbeth [Lines 31–34] Fie, my Lord, fie! a soldier, and afeard? What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to account? | Shame on you, my lord! A soldier, yet afraid? Why should we fear anyone knowing, when nobody can make us answer for our actions? Word meanings Fie: shame on you. My Lord: Macbeth. Afeard: afraid. Call to account: demand an explanation or impose responsibility. Explanation She imagines addressing Macbeth and repeats her old attacks on his courage. Her claim that royal power prevents punishment is bitterly ironic: authority cannot protect her from conscience. |
Lady Macbeth [Lines 34–35] Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him? | But who could have imagined that the old man had so much blood in him? Word meanings Old man: Duncan. Yet: but or nevertheless. Explanation The physical horror of Duncan’s murder breaks through her attempt at reassurance. The question conveys shock and shows that the murder remains vivid in her memory. |
Doctor [Line 36] Do you mark that? | Did you notice what she just said? Word meanings Mark: notice carefully. Explanation He recognises that the reference to blood is alarming. The question is also an expression of shock. |
Lady Macbeth [Lines 37–38] The Thane of Fife had a wife: where is she now? What! will these hands ne’er be clean? | Macduff had a wife. Where is she now? What! Will my hands never become clean? Word meanings Thane: Scottish nobleman. Thane of Fife: Macduff. Ne’er: never. Explanation The question recalls Lady Macduff’s death. It does not establish that Lady Macbeth planned that murder. Her distress connects her with the broader bloodshed under Macbeth’s rule. The return to her hands links remembered deaths with guilt. |
Lady Macbeth [Lines 38–39] No more o’ that, my Lord, no more o’ that: you mar all with this starting. | Stop that, my lord, stop it! You spoil everything with these frightened reactions. Word meanings O’ that: of that. Mar all: spoil everything. Starting: sudden movements or reactions of alarm. Explanation She again imagines restraining Macbeth. The words recall his alarming public behaviour, especially at the banquet. Different moments overlap in her sleepwalking speech. |
Doctor [Lines 39–40] Go to, go to; you have known what you should not. | Oh, this is terrible! You have been involved in knowledge that you should never have had. Word meanings Go to: an exclamation of shocked disapproval here. Known: possessed knowledge of. Explanation The doctor reacts to disturbing revelations. Known may imply dangerous involvement, but he stops short of giving a precise public accusation. |
Gentlewoman [Lines 41–42] She has spoke what she should not, I am sure of that: Heaven knows what she has known. | She has said things that she should not have said; I am certain of that. Only Heaven knows the full extent of what she knows. Word meanings Spoke: spoken. Heaven: God or divine knowledge. Explanation The gentlewoman distinguishes what she has actually heard from what she cannot prove. The appeal to Heaven emphasises human uncertainty and a higher moral judgement. |
Lady Macbeth [Lines 43–44] Here’s the smell of the blood still: all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. Oh! oh! oh! | I can still smell blood here. Not even all the perfumes of Arabia could make this little hand smell sweet. Oh! Oh! Oh! Word meanings Perfumes of Arabia: fragrances associated with Arabia. Sweeten: make pleasantly scented. Little hand: her own hand. Explanation Her imagined stain now includes smell, creating powerful sensory imagery. All the perfumes is hyperbole: even an immense quantity cannot erase guilt. The small hand contrasts with the overwhelming burden. Her groans express suffering beyond orderly speech. |
Doctor [Lines 44–45] What a sigh is there! The heart is sorely charged. | What a deep sigh! Her heart is heavily burdened. Word meanings Sorely: severely. Charged: loaded or burdened. Explanation Heart represents her inner feelings and conscience. The doctor responds with compassion as well as alarm. |
Gentlewoman [Lines 46–47] I would not have such a heart in my bosom for the dignity of the whole body. | I would not accept a heart so troubled, even in exchange for all the rank and honour that her position brings. Word meanings Bosom: breast or chest. Dignity: status and honour. Whole body: the outward person and her rank. Explanation The attendant values peace of conscience above royal status. The contrast exposes the failure of ambition to provide happiness. |
Doctor [Line 48] Well, well, well. | Well… well… well. Word meanings Well: a hesitant response here. Explanation His repetition suggests uncertainty and concern. It need not mean that he thinks Lady Macbeth is well. |
Gentlewoman [Line 49] Pray God it be, sir. | May God grant that things really will be well, sir. Word meanings Pray God: may God grant. Explanation She takes up the doctor’s word well as a hope for recovery. Her reply turns hesitation into a prayer. |
Doctor [Lines 50–52] This disease is beyond my practice: yet I have known those which have walked in their sleep who have died holily in their beds. | This illness is beyond my medical ability. Still, I have known sleepwalkers who lived to die peacefully and in a state of holiness in their beds. Word meanings Practice: professional skill or experience. Holily: in a spiritually good or devout state. Explanation He admits the limits of his treatment. He also avoids assuming that sleepwalking alone proves moral guilt. It is Lady Macbeth’s revealing words, not merely her condition, that trouble him. |
Lady Macbeth [Lines 53–55] Wash your hands, put on your night-gown; look not so pale. I tell you yet again, Banquo’s buried; he cannot come out on’s grave. | Wash your hands and put on your nightgown. Do not look so pale. I am telling you again: Banquo is buried; he cannot come out of his grave. Word meanings Pale: white with fear. On’s: of his. Night-gown: loose clothing worn at night. Explanation The washing and nightgown recall the aftermath of Duncan’s murder; Banquo’s grave recalls the banquet and Macbeth’s terror. Her mind combines separate events. Macbeth arranged Banquo’s murder; the words do not prove that she planned it. |
Doctor [Line 56] Even so? | Is that really so? Word meanings Even so: is that the case? Explanation His brief reaction expresses growing astonishment at what sounds like an involuntary disclosure of terrible knowledge. |
Lady Macbeth [Line 57] To bed, to bed: there’s knocking at the gate. | Go to bed, go to bed! Someone is knocking at the gate. Word meanings Knocking: remembered sound at the castle entrance. Explanation She recalls the knocking after Duncan’s murder. The sound represents the outside world pressing in upon the crime and the fear of discovery. |
Lady Macbeth [Line 58] Come, come, come, come, give me your hand. | Come with me, come, come, come! Give me your hand. Word meanings Come: repeated urgent invitation or command. Explanation She imagines leading Macbeth away. Repetition conveys agitation. The gesture also reveals dependence and a desire for companionship. |
Lady Macbeth [Line 59] What’s done cannot be undone. To bed, to bed, to bed. | What has happened cannot be reversed. Go to bed, go to bed, go to bed. Word meanings Undone: reversed or cancelled. Explanation The murder and its consequences cannot be erased. Her earlier practical confidence has become helpless recognition. Repeated commands offer no real escape from guilt. |
Stage direction [After 59] [Exit] | Lady Macbeth leaves the room. Word meanings Exit: one character leaves. Explanation She departs without consciously acknowledging the observers. The scene leaves the audience with the witnesses’ response. |
Doctor [Line 60] Will she go now to bed? | Will she go to bed now? Word meanings Will: asks about her next action. Explanation The practical question brings attention back to the immediate care of the sleepwalker. |
Gentlewoman [Line 61] Directly. | Immediately. Word meanings Directly: at once. Explanation The attendant knows her habitual movements. The short answer confirms the routine ending of the episode. |
Doctor [Lines 62–63] Foul whisperings are abroad. Unnatural deedsDo breed unnatural troubles; infected minds | Terrible rumours are circulating. Actions that violate moral order produce disturbing consequences. Minds poisoned by guilt… Word meanings Foul: evil or disturbing. Abroad: circulating. Breed: produce. Infected minds: consciences corrupted or troubled by wrongdoing. Explanation The doctor links moral disorder with mental distress. The shift into verse gives his conclusion weight. The imagery of infection describes guilt metaphorically rather than providing a modern medical diagnosis. |
Doctor [Line 64] To their deaf pillows will discharge their secrets; | …will pour out their secrets to pillows that cannot hear them. Word meanings Deaf pillows: unhearing pillows. Discharge: release or pour out. Explanation Personification gives pillows the imagined role of listeners. The irony is that a secret apparently told to an unhearing object can be overheard by real people. |
Doctor [Line 65] More needs she the divine than the physician. | She needs a spiritual adviser more than a medical doctor. Word meanings Divine: a clergyman or spiritual adviser, used as a noun. Physician: medical doctor. Explanation He sees a burden of conscience beyond his professional remedies. This is the doctor’s judgement within the play, not a general rule about treating mental illness. |
Doctor [Line 66] God, God forgive us all! Look after her; | God, forgive all of us! Take care of her. Word meanings Look after: care for and protect. Explanation The repeated appeal to God shows humility and moral fear. His response includes compassion rather than punishment. |
Doctor [Line 67] Remove from her the means of all annoyance, | Keep anything with which she could injure herself away from her. Word meanings Means: instruments or opportunities. Annoyance: harm or injury here. Explanation He orders precautions against self-injury. Annoyance has a stronger meaning here than everyday irritation. The instruction anticipates danger without establishing how she later dies. |
Doctor [Line 68] And still keep eyes upon her. So, good-night: | Watch her continually. And now, good night. Word meanings Still: always or continually. Keep eyes upon: keep under observation. Explanation He recommends constant supervision. His concern becomes a practical plan for her safety. |
Doctor [Line 69] My mind she has mated, and amaz’d my sight. | She has overwhelmed my understanding and astonished me with what I have seen. Word meanings Mated: baffled or overcome. Amaz’d: astonished or bewildered. Explanation The careful observer admits that the spectacle has defeated his confidence. Mated suggests being put in a position like checkmate. |
Doctor [Line 70] I think, but dare not speak. | I have my suspicions, but I do not dare express them. Word meanings Dare not: do not feel safe or bold enough to. Explanation Fear limits public speech under Macbeth’s rule. His silence also preserves the difference between suspicion and a fully stated accusation. |
Gentlewoman [Line 71] Good-night, good Doctor. [Exeunt] | Good night, kind doctor. Both leave. Word meanings Exeunt: more than one character leaves. Explanation The quiet ending leaves the guilt unresolved. No cure is offered, and the audience understands the urgency of the collapse it has witnessed. |
Explore Macbeth Act IV, Scene III: Summary, Line-by-Line Explanation and Word Meanings
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