Enter Macbeth
MACDUFF Is thy master stirring?
Our knocking has awaked him; here he comes.
[Exit Porter]
LENNOX Good morrow, noble sir.
MACBETH Good morrow, both.
MACDUFF Is the King stirring, worthy thane?
MACBETH Not yet.
MACDUFF He did command me to call timely on him.
I have almost slipped the hour.
MACBETH I’ll bring you to him.
MACDUFF I know this is a joyful trouble to you,
But yet ’tis one.
MACBETH The labour we delight in physics pain.
This is the door.
MACDUFF I’ll make so bold to call,
For ’tis my limited service.
Exit Macduff (2.3.33-43)
Macbeth’s apparently briefly unnoticed as he enters, although the position of stage directions in the Folio isn’t necessarily entirely reliable. But it’s a useful note: Macbeth appears, then stops, perhaps, as he realises who’s here, and therefore starts to think how he’s going to have to play this. The stakes are immediately sky high. Macduff’s going to send the Porter to fetch Macbeth (or probably to get another servant to fetch him) but then sees him: Our knocking has awaked him (you have no idea, Macduff…); here he comes. Exit Porter, probably, job done, back to bed with a look of contempt at the gentry? Why did you even bother waking me, posh bastards? Pleasantries, formalities: good morrow, noble sir, and the entirely conventional address must ring hollow. Macbeth is brief, even taciturn to start off with, perhaps not trusting his voice: good morrow, both. (And so in fact Macduff hasn’t yet been named; the audience might not identify him.) Is the King stirring, worthy thane? That’s going to cut even more deeply than noble sir. Not yet, the worthy thane replies, gruffly; he’s being honest, as it happens: Duncan hasn’t woken up yet, and neither is he still stirring, as not yet can mean, well, not any longer. He did command me to call timely on him. I have almost slipped the hour. Macduff might be conciliatory, rueful, a bit embarrassed, man to man (has Duncan been known for things like this?): the King asked me to come early, and to be punctual, and I’m running late. Do Macbeth’s eyes widen, momentarily, in horror: what if Macduff had been exactly on time, or even early? He realises that this is how it’s going to be, just how carefully he’s going to have to keep himself under control. I’ll bring you to him. No word wasted, but full of dread. Macduff courteous, apologetic, perhaps slightly puzzled at the taciturnity, or is Macbeth just like that all the time? I know this is a joyful trouble to you, but yet ’tis one. I know you’re happy to do things like this, to be of service, entirely great guy that you are, but still, it’s a bit of a hassle, when it was clearly a late night and you’ve got a house full. Macbeth takes refuge in pomposity: the labour we delight in physics pain. No problem at all, delighted to help, glad to be of service, more than compensation for any inconvenience. This is the door. Presumably they haven’t moved (in a film they might have walked and talked)—but on stage the effect can be as another jump cut, as the door, one of the rear entrances of the stage at the Globe, for instance, is suddenly right there, with—what?—on the other side. Not upstairs, not in another wing of the castle (which has been quite suggestively mapped out as a large and complex building) but right there, just through that door. Slightly odd that Macbeth doesn’t offer to escort Macduff in? there might be the beat of a pause before Macduff responds, I’ll make so bold to call, for ’tis my limited service. I’d better go on through and keep my appointment, says Macduff, and off he goes. Macbeth—stares after him? takes a deep breath? And then prepares for more small talk with Lennox as with the audience he watches the door, waiting for Macduff to return, and counts down, in heartbeats, to the inevitable.
