Saturday, March 1, 2014

In Macbeth's aside on lines 48-53, what does he mean by saying he must "leap over" this step?

Macbeth means that he must leap over Duncan’s son Malcolm to become the next king.


This happens in Act 1, Scene 4. When the stage directions say "aside," that means the character is talking to himself and that other people in the scene probably aren't hearing him. Here's what he says:



(aside) The prince of Cumberland! That is a step
On which I must fall down, or else o'erleap,
For in my way it lies.



He means that the person in his way is Malcolm, the son of the king who, of course, has been named the next king. We know that Macbeth really wants to be the king, even though there's no logical reason he should be! But the witches have promised him that he will be the king, so he thinks that Malcolm's claim to the throne is just a step that's in his way.


Now we know that Macbeth will try to find a way to get Malcolm out of the picture.


This scene, and particularly the aside that you quoted, help us understand how Macbeth has become unnaturally focused on his goal of being king. He doesn't realize that it's normal for a king to pass on his crown to his own son, and because of this, we wonder if Macbeth is a little crazy. His greed and ambition are getting out of hand, but this is just the beginning.

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