Lady Macbeth Scene Macbeth’s Act The  Passage King

Act 1, Scene 5 of 

 is set in Macbeth’s castle in Inverness. It forms part of the audience’s first encountering of Lady Macbeth.

Lady Macbeth has just read Macbeth’s letter, which outlines the 

’ prophecies. She proceeds to express to herself her concern that Macbeth does not possess the steeliness or desire to use underhand means to acquire the glittering titles the  have said lay before him.

The passage we’re interested in here follows this directly. It opens with a messenger interrupting Lady Macbeth’s meditations on the letter. The attendant informs Lady Macbeth of her husband and King Duncan’s impending arrival (‘The king comes here to-night’ (1.5.30)). The passage moves on to Lady Macbeth resuming her interrupted soliloquy, now in chillingly resolute mood as she readies herself for the imminent killing of Duncan. Then Macbeth arrives and she instructs him to leave the planning and execution of their bloody plan in her hands.