MACBETH Ay, in the catalogue ye go for men,
As hounds and greyhounds, mongrels, spaniels, curs,
Shoughs, water-rugs, and demi-wolves are clept
All by the name of dogs. The valued file
Distinguishes the swift, the slow, the subtle,
The housekeeper, the hunter, every one
According to the gift which bounteous nature
Hath in him closed; whereby he does receive
Particular addition from the bill
That writes them all alike. And so of men.(3.1.93-102)
Nasty, calculating, sneering stuff from Macbeth, this man who’s been made to feel small, inadequate, impotent by the woman who knows him better than anyone, knows his weaknesses, his fears—and so he’s bullying in his turn. (This isn’t to say that any of this is Lady Macbeth’s fault, exactly, but at the same time, he’s internalised her mocking, and now adopts her tactics; after all, they work on him. He committed treason and murder, in part, to prove himself a man in her eyes.) You call yourself men, well, that’s really just a technicality, isn’t it? In the catalogue ye go for men, but, are you really? After all, all sorts of dogs, whether they’re noble hounds or greyhounds, mongrels of all kinds, ridiculous lapdogs, even half-wild half-wolves—well, they’re all just dogs, aren’t they? The question is, what sort of a man are you? After all, the valued file, any kind of catalogue or list that’s any use at all, because it gives qualities and values, distinguishes between different species. And so that catalogue of dogs notes the swift, the slow, the subtle, the housekeeper, a trusty guard dog, or the hunter; it records the characteristics of the animals, according to the gift which bounteous nature hath in him closed. That catalogue defines the dogs by their particular qualities; it marks them out, ranks them, differentiates them one from the other, some superior, some inferior, in the list which otherwise writes them all alike, just—dogs. And so of men. Just the same. So, what kind of men are you? Mongrels, curs, fawning spaniels? Or hounds and greyhounds, straining at the leash, anxious to prove your worth and your loyalty, and to hunt down your prey?
