[Stage Direction]:LADY MACBETH enters, reading a letter.
[LADY MACBETH — reading]:"The witches met me on my day of victory, and I have since learned for certain that they have supernatural knowledge. When I tried frantically to question them further, they vanished into the air. While I stood amazed at the strangeness of all of this, messengers from the king arrived and greeted me as 'Thane of Cawdor,' which is exactly what the weird sisters had called me before then hailing me as 'the future king!' My dearest partner in greatness, I wanted to tell you this news, so that you would not be ignorant of the greatness promised to us and therefore be unable to celebrate. Keep it close to your heart, and farewell."
[LADY MACBETH]:You are Thane of Glamis and Cawdor, and you will be the king just as you were promised. Yet I worry about your character. You are too full of the milk of human kindness to take the quickest route to power. You want greatness, and you do have ambition—but not the ruthlessness needed to gain it. You want to win fairly, without cheating, yet you still want what you want. Great Glamis, you want to have something, but you're afraid to do what's necessary. Hurry home, so I can pour my thoughts into your ear and push you to abandon anything that stands between you and the crown—since fate and supernatural forces seem determined to crown you.
[Stage Direction]:A SERVANT enters.
[LADY MACBETH]:What's your news?
[SERVANT]:The king is coming here tonight.
[LADY MACBETH]:That can't be right. Isn't Macbeth with him? If the king really were coming, Macbeth would have sent a message so I could prepare.
[SERVANT]:I'm sorry, but it's true. Our lord is coming. Another servant raced ahead of him and was so out of breath he could barely deliver the message.
[LADY MACBETH]:Take care of him. He brings great news.
[Stage Direction]:The SERVANT exits.
[LADY MACBETH]:The messenger sounds like a raven croaking the arrival of Duncan—an arrival that will be fatal to him—under my castle's roof. Come, spirits that encourage murderous thoughts, remove my womanhood and fill me from head to toe with the darkest cruelty. Thicken my blood so I can feel no remorse. Block off every path to pity so that no natural feelings can shake my grim intentions or stop what I plan to do. Come, you murderous spirits, and turn my mother's milk into poison. Come, thick night, and wrap yourself in the blackest smoke of hell so that my knife doesn't see the wound it makes, and heaven can't see through the darkness to cry, "Stop!"
[Stage Direction]:MACBETH enters.
[LADY MACBETH]:Great Thane of Glamis, noble Thane of Cawdor—and soon to be greater still once you become king. Your letter has lifted me beyond the present moment, and now I feel the future happening already.
[MACBETH]:My dearest love, Duncan will be here tonight.
[LADY MACBETH]:And when does he leave?
[MACBETH]:Tomorrow, according to his plans.
[LADY MACBETH]:He'll never see tomorrow's sun. My thane, your face shows your troubled thoughts like a book others can read. To deceive them, you must look exactly as they expect. When you greet the king, do so warmly with your eyes, hands, and words. Look like an innocent flower—but be the serpent underneath it. The king must be taken care of. Let me handle tonight's business, because what happens tonight will give us absolute power for the rest of our lives.
[MACBETH]:We'll talk more about this.
[LADY MACBETH]:Just stay calm and keep your expression steady. Changing your expression will make others suspicious. Leave the rest to me.
[Stage Direction]:They exit.