ANGUS            Who was the thane lives yet,

But under heavy judgement bears that life

Which he deserves to lose. Whether he was combined

With those of Norway, or did line the rebel

With hidden help and vantage, or that with both

He laboured in his country’s wreck, I know not;

But treasons capital, confessed and proved,

Have overthrown him.

MACBETH      [aside] Glamis, and Thane of Cawdor!

The greatest is behind. [To Ross and Angus] Thanks for your pains.       (1.3.104-112)

So Angus explains: yes, true, in a sense, who was the thane lives yet, is still alive. But he’s a dead man walking; he’s only alive under heavy judgement, under sentence of death—and rightly so. Presumably Angus emphasises was, making the tense do the work. And he’s also keen to maintain and defend the propriety of Cawdor’s imminent execution, and to demonstrate that he supports it wholeheartedly. There’s been a rebellion, there have been traitors; everyone’s loyalties are questionable and Angus is anxious to prove his own. Cawdor deserves his death. Even though Angus has to concede, in his very next breath, that he’s not entirely sure of the exact reason for it? It might have been that Cawdor combined with those of Norway, allied himself with a foreign power, fought on the enemy side? Or perhaps he lined the rebel with hidden help and vantage? He supported Macdonald, the rebel leader, with secret money, intelligence, weapons, men? Maybe it was both of these, by which he laboured in his country’s wreck, sought to undermine his nation and his king? Whatever—and Angus returns to an assertive, legalistic tone—treasons capital, confessed and proved, have overthrown him. It’s totally legit. He’s a dead man. You’re Thane of Cawdor, fair and square. Angus’s speech can easily be dismissed as a straightforward relaying of the facts (and after all, we’ve heard all this before, being reported to the King). But even here, there’s a slightly uneasy, queasy mixture: hearsay and rumour, anxiety about rebellion, loyalty, treason, and more or less summary execution. (There’s no indication that there’s been any kind of legal process in relation to Cawdor, although Angus’s language suggests it. Confessed and proved? Really?) (Whispers quietly: Gunpowder Plot.)

Here, there are the first editorial stage directions (shown by their square brackets), to try to indicate which of Macbeth’s lines are spoken to Banquo or Ross and Angus, or [aside] to himself (or the audience). Glamis, and Thane of Cawdor: both of those have come true, he wonders. Yet the greatest is behind, that is (confusingly) still to come, following on. (King hereafter; it whispers in the background, in his brain.) It’s a momentary switch: thanks for your pains, your trouble and your courtesy in coming to let me know. Still, more or less, in control.