Enter a Messenger LADY MACBETH What is your tidings? Messenger The king comes here to-night. LADY MACBETH Thou'rt mad to say it: Is not thy master with him? who, were't so, Would have inform'd for preparation. Messenger So please you, it is true: our thane is coming: One of my fellows had the speed of him, Who, almost dead for breath, had scarcely more Than would make up his message. LADY MACBETH Give him tending; He brings great news. Exit Messenger
Lady Macbeth's soliloquy is interrupted by the arrival of the messenger, who brings news of Duncan's imminent visit. The interaction serves to increase the momentum of the play, hastening the unfolding of the action. The king is due to arrive "tonight", adding urgency and speed to Lady Macbeth's thoughts (an urgency furthered in the messenger's hyperbole in "dead for breath" and "scarcely more"). The Arden edition suggests that Lady Macbeth's shocked response of "thou'rt mad" is because she thinks of her husband when the messenger tells her "the king comes here tonight", though the visit of the monarch would be in itself enough to provoke response. Her confusion is that her husband "would have inform'd for preparation", the expectation of shared news showing the closeness of their relationship. It also establishes Lady Macbeth's role in managing the household, a power afforded to the normally-subservient woman in her husband's absence. Her concern is the time "for preparation" - for hospitality for the royal visit, but also (we suspect) for the murder she is beginning to plan. - Toby and Desmond
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