Catch Me If You Can: Agency in The Tragedy of Macbeth

“THERE IS ENCHANTMENT in a uniform.” In these words, convicted felon and

fraudster Frank. W. Abagnale. Jr. presents the idea that a facade gives a person influence. He

discovers such an idea as a nineteen-year-old in the latter half of the twentieth century while

impersonating an airline pilot. Living four centuries before Abagnale, Shakespeare expresses a

strikingly similar idea in The Tragedy of Macbeth. In his tragedy, Macbeth, a Scottish noble,

murders King Duncan of Scotland with the help of his wife, Lady Macbeth, when three witches

tell him of his prophesied kingship. After becoming king, he develops paranoia about his

prophesied downfall and seeks to secure his kingship–an act he fails to do when Malcolm,

Duncan’s eldest son, becomes king with the help of another Scottish noble, Macduff. Throughout

the tragedy, agency presents itself as a pressing issue. Although methods to achieve this agency

differ subtly, all characters who gain agency use a specific duality: the duality between a

fabricated exterior and an authentic interior. Shakespeare highlights that agency originates from

the duality between a fabricated exterior that installs trust and an authentic interior, meaning one

must achieve agency by using a facade. Because of this nature, Shakespeare expresses that

agency is in constant motion with the motif of fluidity. To avoid the loss of agency, one must

keep the interior's authenticity and the exterior's fabrication in a delicate balance so that the

fabrication sufficiently masks the authentic interior from others and does not control the identity

of something or someone. Despite his emphasis on balance in the context of agency, Shakespeare

firmly warns against the assistance of the opposite sex in gaining this duality between exterior

and interior, as their presence disrupts the natural order, leading to uncontrollable disorder and,

eventually, short-lived agency. Instead of working with the opposite sex or by oneself to achieve

duality-derived agency, he advises collaborating with the same sex.

First, Shakespeare expresses that agency originates from the duality between a fabricated

exterior, which establishes trust, and an authentic interior, causing agency to be in constant

motion–the latter he conveys with the motif of fluidity. He explains that the fabricated exterior

maintains the trust of others, so the opportunity to grasp agency becomes available. Within the

tragedy, the duality between a fabricated exterior and an authentic interior exists in various

forms. The forms examined here are equivocation and masking one’s actual self with the self one

projects to others. The former represents a form of this duality as the language of equivocation

expresses goodwill through truth when it actually misleads. Shakespeare writes of the witches

using equivocation to exert influence on Macbeth. When Macbeth desires to secure his authority

from potential opponents, he seeks knowledge of the future from the three witches who have

correctly prophesied his fate. The witches show Macbeth three apparitions that offer prophecies

and advice. The second apparition expresses that Macbeth will not lose his authority to one born

from a woman–an idea Macbeth finds truthful based on the experiences that precede theirstatement. Thus, hearing the reports about the English and Scottish forces who gather against

him, he recalls the witches’ message and commands, “fly, false / thanes” (5.3.7-8). Here,

Macbeth expresses absolute confidence in his survival because of the witches’ confirmation that

he will not lose his agency. Driven by this confidence, he tells others to “fly,” showing how he

perceives others as small animals, inferior to himself. The witches’ truthful language causes

Macbeth to believe in their ideas with devotion. However, the ambiguity in their language causes

Macbeth to believe in a misinterpreted idea: he is invincible against everyone because everyone

is born of a woman. He is oblivious to how a person ripped out of a woman’s body, like Macduff,

can murder him. He does not take the necessary precautions that would prevent his death. The

exterior of truth in the witch’s language maintains Macbeth’s trust, allowing the witches to

remove Macbeth from power by misleading him to fulfill the proper course of history. In

addition to conveying that this duality necessary for agency can originate from linguistic means,

Shakespeare expresses that it can occur in one’s actual self versus one’s projection of self– an

idea he expresses through Lady Macbeth’s comments of Macbeth. In a letter to Lady Macbeth,

Macbeth discusses his encounter with the witches and how part of their prophecy becomes true.

He implies that he will eventually become king. Upon receiving this letter, Lady Macbeth

expresses concern about his ability to be efficient in becoming king because he is “too full o’ th’

milk of human kindness” (1.5.17) and lacks the “illness” (1.5.20) that comes with ambition.

Here, Lady Macbeth discusses how Macbeth only has benevolence. In her metaphor “milk of

human kindness,” “milk” conveys that he has the characteristics of a mother. She portrays him as

nurturing, compassionate, and able to bear life. She recognizes that these traits–especially being

able to bear life– starkly contrast those needed to usurp power by murder. She conveys that he

must possess wicked qualities from the “illness” of ambition, which compels malevolent acts.

Because an “illness” resides on the body’s inside, she implies that Macbeth’s interior needs to

change to become wicked. She does not wish to change Macbeth’s projected benevolence, which

originally attracts Duncan to give Macbeth a powerful title out of trust. Therefore, she implies

that a fabricated exterior is important to maintain trust. To be a villain with agency by regicide,

Lady Macbeth communicates that Macbeth must hold a duality between a benevolent projection

of himself that maintains trust and a wicked authentic self that commits evil acts. Shakespeare

adds the notion that agency shifts among people and groups to the idea that agency requires the

duality between a fabricated exterior and an authentic interior when he uses a motif of fluidity to

discuss the elements composing this duality. With “milk,” Shakespeare attaches a liquid’s

characteristic of being able to flow to Macbeth’s benevolence. Likewise, because “illnesses”

often spread through populations, Shakespeare expresses that the evil part of Macbeth is mobile.

Since Shakespeare expresses the exterior and interior parts of Macbeth’s duality as being able to

move around, he establishes that duality, and therefore agency, can also move around.

Shakespeare also expresses this concept of fluidity with a statement by Lady Macbeth in which

she expresses her will to give Macbeth her wickedness with spirits: “Pour my spirits in thine

ear”(1.5.29). In her desire to give him wickedness to form duality with his benevolence, she uses

the verb “pour.” The verb “pour” commonly describes the movement of substances in a steadystream. Thus, wickedness, which would eventually be a part of Macbeth’s duality, is associated

with liquid substances. Shakespeare reinforces the fluid property of duality that translates into a

moving agency. Equivocation and masking one’s true character with a projection of self

–separate instances in which the duality between a fabricated exterior and an authentic interior

appears– point to the same unifying idea that the duality between a fabricated exterior, which

installs trust in others, and an authentic interior is necessary to achieve agency. While expressing

such an idea, Shakespeare scatters the motif of fluidity within his diction, establishing duality’s

shifting nature and, therefore, agency’s constant movement.

In addition, to avoid the loss of agency, one must maintain the interior's authenticity and

the exterior's fabrication in a delicate balance so that the fabrication sufficiently masks the

authentic interior from others and does not control the identity of something or someone. Early in

the text, Shakespeare writes of a witch who violates this balance by allowing the authentic

interior of her equivocation to appear through the fabricated exterior. This witch, who often

employs the duality between a fabricated exterior and an authentic interior through equivocation,

seeks revenge against a woman who refuses to give her chestnuts. Because vengeance gives her

tunnel vision, her language's fabricated exterior cannot cover her authentic ill-intentness from the

woman. The first witch tries to punish the woman through her husband and states, "Like a rat

without a tail, / I’ll do, I’ll do, and I’ll do” (1.3.10-11). A “tail” is an anatomical feature that

balances movements in rats. In the witch’s simile, by comparing herself to a “rat without a tail,”

she portrays her language as lacking a balance between a fabricated exterior and an authentic

interior. The authentic, ill-natured intent shows through the fabricated, good-willed intent in her

equivocation. The chestnut woman no longer has trust for the witch’s language, which has given

the witch agency elsewhere. Nevertheless, the witch still has a strong will to punish the woman.

The persisting rhythm of “I’ll do, I’ll do, and I’ll do” establishes the witch as having an

unwavering determination. Despite her determination, with authentic ill intent appearing through

her fabrication of goodwill, she discovers that “Though his bark cannot be lost, / Yet it shall be

tempest-tossed” (1.3.25-6). She recognizes her inability to inflict any notable consequence on the

chestnut woman’s husband that translates to any punishment on the woman; she can only toss his

ship in a storm, providing her husband with minor injuries. In the case where she lacks balance

in this duality of language, no matter how much willpower she has, she also lacks agency. With

the character of Macbeth, Shakespeare emphasizes the necessity for balance when he describes

how one’s agency becomes threatened when the self one projects to others is more prominent

than one’s actual self. Before Macbeth’s murder of Duncan, he debates the ethical arguments

against murder when he conveys that because he is Duncan’s relative and host, Duncan is here in

“double trust: /” (1.7.12). For Shakespeare to place a line break between Macbeth’s further

exploration of double trust, Shakespeare implies that Macbeth finds the responsibility to uphold

Duncan’s trust meaningful and worthy of contemplation. Macbeth’s consideration of the ethical

arguments illustrates that, despite Lady Macbeth’s efforts to create a wicked character in

Macbeth, he still has some benevolence within his interior. A more substantial presence of

fabricated benevolence, which should be restricted to the projection of himself, controls hisidentity in a way that harms his agency. His imbalance causes him to develop an inability to

execute the murder plot correctly, as his guilt compels him to bring the weapons of murder back

with him. The fabricated benevolence that controls his identity threatens the opportunity to

become king. Shakespeare further supports the importance of this balance in the relationship

between Macduff and Malcolm. When Malcolm projects himself as full of avarice and without

grace to Macduff, Macduff dismisses his negative portrayal. Macduff assures himself these vices

are acceptable if Malcolm has underlying benevolent characteristics. Malcolm’s denial of having

underlying benevolent characteristics prompts Macduff to cry,

“ Scotland.–O my breast, / Thy

hope ends here!” (4.3.131-2). Macduff’s choice to address Scotland with the organ of a mother

expresses his emotional sentiment. Combined with the dash and line break, which establish a

shocked tone, this emotional sentiment stresses the hopelessness in his claim. Macduff’s

hopelessness reflects his belief that Malcolm is not fit to be king. Because of Malcolm’s apparent

absolute wickedness, Malcolm loses the necessary support that would help him gain agency. In

both forms of this deceptive duality, the balance of the exterior’s fabrication and the interior’s

authenticity ensures that agency remains intact. If one violates this balance, the authenticity

revealing itself through the exterior or the fabrication controlling an identity causes agency to be

lost.

Despite his emphasis on balance in the context of agency, Shakespeare firmly warns

against the assistance of the opposite sex in gaining this duality between exterior and interior, as

their presence in this context disrupts the natural order, leading to uncontrollable disorder and,

eventually, short-lived agency. Instead of working with the opposite sex or by oneself, he advises

collaborating with the same sex to achieve this duality-derived agency. Shakespeare expresses

the former idea with the character of Lady Macbeth. Shortly after a messenger brings Lady

Macbeth news of King Duncan’s coming, Lady Macbeth expresses her desire for unnatural

cruelty for the following acts she may need to complete. She states, “Come to my woman’s

breasts / And take my milk for gall, you murd’ring ministers” (1.5.54-5). Here, Lady Macbeth

wants to rid herself of an important part that makes her a woman: her milk. By removing her

milk, she discards her motherhood and nurturing nature, a characteristic of a natural woman. She

hopes to fill herself with the bitter liquid “gall,” a substance associated with anger and an angry

temperament. She wants to project an image of innocence and goodness with her woman

appearance. However, on the inside, she wants to be wicked, as “gall” suggests. She wants to

gain this duality between a facade of goodness and a true interior of cruelty with the assistance of

murdering agents. The addition of “woman” in the phrase “Come to my woman’s breasts”

implies that these agents lack familiarity with the organs of the female sex and, therefore, are

male. While helping Lady Macbeth achieve duality, these agents of the opposite sex disrupt

natural order by moving bodily fluids away from their natural places in the human body.

Although Lady Macbeth eventually does become a queen through her deceptive character, she

soon finds her agency to be lost when she cannot settle natural disorder: “Out, damned spot, out,

I say!” (5.1.37). Because of the association of witchcraft with being “damned” in Shakespeare’s

setting of eleventh-century Scotland, Shakespeare conveys that Lady Macbeth does not have justan ordinary wart but a witch’s wart and, therefore, is a witch. Lady Macbeth’s identity changes

from a human to a witch, representing the natural disorder. Lady Macbeth's inability to control

this disorder can be seen through her repetition of “out” following her initial “out,” implying that

her first command was unsuccessful. The disorder that ensues from the assistance of the male

agents causes her to lack the ability to exert influence, thereby quickly ending her agency after

she gains it. Shakespeare’s idea that women and men should not work together to achieve agency

seems paradoxical, considering how Shakespeare emphasizes balance in the context of agency.

Shakespeare's absence of a direct or implicit explanation of this paradox conveys that he does not

have an answer to this contradiction. However, despite not having an answer, Shakespeare does

express what one should do instead of working with the different sexes: People should

collaborate with those of the same sex to achieve agency. He opposes the lone wolf attitude to

achieve duality-derived agency. Through the example of Banquo’s murder, he expresses that a

lone wolf is frail and vulnerable compared to same-sex collaboration. After Macbeth becomes

king, Banquo suspects that Macbeth has committed regicide but puts on a front of being

ignorant, having a duality between his true self and the self he projects to others. Macbeth, on the

other hand, becomes worried about Banquo’s threat to his kingship and plots to murder Banquo.

He plans to do so by luring Banquo to a banquet and using two men's assistance. Macbeth also

employs the duality between a fabricated exterior and an authentic interior because underneath

his invitation of seemingly benevolent intent lies a murder plot. Before Banquo’s murder in the

woods, Macbeth’s two men notice the “light” (3.3.20) from Banquo’s torch, and Banquo, not

seeing two men, exclaims that “it will rain tonight” (3.3.23). Here, Shakespeare foreshadows the

death of Banquo by the metaphor of the rain extinguishing Banquo’s fire–a symbol of life. He

portrays Macbeth and the murderers with “rain” while he portrays Banquo as a “light,” or a tiny

fire. In Shakespeare’s metaphor, the quantity of water greatly exceeding the quantity of fire

conveys that Macbeth and his murderer’s capacity to murder Banquo relies on the number of

people involved. Macbeth’s collaboration with two other people of the same sex allows his

duality to gain more agency than Banquo’s duality. Not only does Shakespeare convey that one

must not receive the assistance of the opposite sex to gain duality and agency, but he also argues

that one should collaborate with the same sex to gain this duality-derived agency.

Shakespeare conveys that agency relies on the duality between a fabricated exterior,

which maintains others’ trust, and an authentic interior, allowing agency to shift among people

and groups, which he expresses through a motif of fluidity. To avoid the loss of agency, one

must maintain authenticity and fabrication in a delicate balance so that the fabrication covers the

authentic interior from the view of others and does not define the entire identity of someone or

something. Even though he stresses balance in the context of agency, Shakespeare advises

against using the opposite sex for assistance in gaining this duality between exterior and interior,

as their presence disrupts natural order, leading to uncontrollable disorder and a short period of

agency. To acquire this duality-derived agency, instead of working with the opposite sex or as a

lone wolf, Shakespeare states that one should collaborate with the same sex. Although he

expresses the duality between a fabricated exterior and an authentic interior through twoforms–equivocation and masking one’s true character with a facade–his ideas about this duality

are consistent. Shakespeare’s ideas about agency may ignite strong societal disapproval as they

promote behaviors that breach ethical norms. Nevertheless, they are an essential reminder to the

present and future that society must scrutinize those in power. Those in power portrayed as

benevolent may have severe character flaws threatening the world’s well-being. Though an ugly

prospect, beloved world leaders, singers, and airline pilots may be misleading the masses and

wearing “uniforms” over their true, wicked selves.

Works Cited

Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Macbeth. Edited by Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine,

New Folger Library ed., Simon and Schuster Paperbacks, 2013.