In Act Two, scene three, of Shakespeare's
Macbeth, Macduff arrives early at Inverness to collect the King and
go on their way. When they go to waken Duncan, his murder is discovered, along with two
bloodied guards who have no idea what is going on, as their drinks had been drugged the
night before.
Macbeth murders the guards to keep them
quiet, excusing his actions as those of one overcome by the death of his dear King—in
that moment, he went crazy.
While all of this is going on,
Lady Macbeth pretends to faint. There is no question that she is trying to divert
attention away from her husband. First, when they are inside, covered with blood and
hear the knocking on the castle gate, it is Lady Macbeth who has the presence of mind to
tell Macbeth to clean up and get into his bed clothes, as they
should be asleep. She tells him to pull himself together.
Certainly, she must be worried about how her husband will react when the murder is
discovered; so fainting also gives Macbeth a little more time to pull herself together.
This is ironic because fainting would be sometime a squeamish woman would experience:
however, Macbeth is the squeamish one, and Lady Macbeth has complete control. She is
guaranteeing that everything goes smoothly by calling attention to herself and her
"vapors." She is much more sneaky and manipulative—even murderous—than one might
expect.
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