Summary: Treason and Ruination In The Porter’s Scene Of Macbeth

Friedrich Nietzsche once declared in his book Beyond Good and Evil that “he who fights with monsters should be careful lest he thereby become a monster. And if thou gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will also gaze into thee”. Nietzsche warns that anyone who opposes tyrants will end up understanding their justifications for their actions and become corrupted by the “abyss” of power. A prominent philosopher, Nietzsche explored existentialism and perspectivism, believing that humans are capable of their own free will and that reason can change from person to person.

Therefore, anyone who has the motives for an action can justify it in their mind, even though most people would see it as morally appalling. William Shakespeare, the most notable writer in the English language, explores similar themes in his play Macbeth, in which The Three Witches convince Macbeth to betray his king and commit regicide. By drawing comparisons to hell, lechery, and treason throughout the famous Porter’s scene of Macbeth, Shakespeare conveys that the allure of power can cause corruption and downfall of an otherwise upstanding man and suffering to others around him.

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Shakespeare conveys that the allure of power can cause a man’s downfall through the Porter’s examples of hell. After Macduff knocks on the gate, the Porter proclaims that “if a man were a porter of a hell gate, he should have old turning the key”. The Porter, who should presumably have no knowledge of the murder Macbeth just committed, compares himself to a guard of hell who lets many people in.

Based on the Thane of Cawdor and Macbeth’s abhorrent actions, this monologue fits the situation at Macbeth’s castle and implies the new king will go straight to hell upon death. Before Macbeth murders Duncan, he hears a bell and says, “I go, and it is done. The bell invites me. Hear it not, Duncan, for it is a knell that summons thee to heaven or to hell”. By timing the murder with the strike of a bell, Macbeth makes it seem as if fate, and not himself, is the true force behind the murder. However, Macbeth committed the murder out of his own independent rationale, believing he had to fulfill this prophecy. If Macbeth did not have anything to gain from the murder, however, he likely would not have done it for the sake of fulfilling The Witches’ prophecy. Thus, the allure of power manipulates Macbeth and causes his downfall. After the Porter delivers his first monologue, he declares, “I pray you, remember the porter”. The Porter not only directs this line towards Macduff, but also towards the audience, which evokes the Porter’s previous line that said he would have to let many people into hell. Thus, this line is a warning to any in the audience facing a similar situation to reconsider the consequences and evade the allure of power. Whether it be the crown or the chair of the local homeowner’s association, Shakespeare’s message is the same: the desire for power can cause one to commit repulsive actions. Similarly, analyzing this scene Professor Frederic B. Tromly writes that “the danger which the author faces are not that spectators will sentimentally excuse Macbeth, but rather that they will self-indulgently brand him as a villain different from themselves… The imaginary traffic through Hell gate suggests the commonness, the frequency, of human criminality”. Tromly explains that through the addition of this scene, Shakespeare solidifies Macbeth as a complex character and not a black-and-white villain.

Just as the Porter shows how the desire for power can ruin a man with examples of hell, he also shows this with comparisons to lechery and drinking. The drunk Porter tells Macduff that “Lechery… provokes and unprovokes. It provokes the desire, but it takes away the performance. Therefore much drink may be said to be an equivocator with lechery”. The Porter implicitly makes the comparison between drinking and the prophecy Macbeth fell to, with lechery comparable with the desire to murder and lie to gain power. Drinking takes away the performance of the sexual act in a similar manner to how Macbeth’s obsession with the prophecy led him to become scared at the act of placing the knife back onto Duncan’s body. Thus, just as how drinking corrupts sex, the prophecy corrupts Macbeth through the quest for power. The negative connotations that surround “lechery” imply the implications of this corruption. According to the porter, drink “equivocates [one] in a sleep and, giving him the lie, leaves him”. Drink not only “gives one the lie” in the sense that it makes one pass out, it “lies” to them as well, making one believe they have more “performance” than they really have. In a similar manner, prophecy “lies” to Macbeth as well- it causes him to commit murder without him fully considering his actions. Even though the prophecy states that Banquo’s children would be king someday, Macbeth willfully ignores this and focuses on the fact that he would get to be king. Before the murder, Lady Macbeth states, “That which hath made them drunk hath made me bold. What hath quenched them hath given me fire”. The drink that intoxicated Lady Macbeth made her “bolder” and gave her “fire,” which leads her to convince Macbeth to murder Duncan. The “fire” inside Lady Macbeth connects with the Porter’s declaration that many people in the castle belong in hell, a place people traditionally think of as being on fire. Similarly, connecting the comparisons between drink and the prophecy, The Witches’ prediction corrupts Lady Macbeth and causes suffering.

Just as the Porter shows how the allure of power can corrupt a man through comparisons to drinking, he also shows this corruption through the act of treason. The Porter believes that Macbeth’s castle “is too cold for hell”. This is an allusion to Dante Alighieri’s work The Divine Comedy, in which he depicts the worst and final circle of hell as being a freezing river, reserved for men who committed treason in their lives. Thus, the porter asserts that such regicide and treason is the ultimate sin. The Porter then gives one example of a man he supposedly admitted to hell, “an equivocator that could swear in both sides of the scale, who committed treason enough for God’s sake yet could not equivocate to heaven”. This example of an equivocator reflects Macbeth’s vague statements after Banquo and Macduff learn about the murder. While Macbeth deceives them into not believing he is the murderer, according to the Porter he cannot deceive God. Thus, he suggests that the draw of power that leads to Macbeth’s equivocations ensures his damnation and suffering. After Macbeth realizes his true fate upon learning that Macduff was born from a cesarean section and thus can harm him, he proclaims, “And be these juggling fiends no more believed, That palter with us in a double sense, That keep the word of promise to our ear, And break it to our hope”. The Witches, then, also equivocate to Macbeth, as they are vague enough to make Macbeth believe he can keep his reign. Again, this equivocation draws Macbeth in and leads to his misery and eventual downfall, as he ignores the imminent threat that the army poses and merely hides behind the defense of the prophecy. Tromly also states that “The Porter’s comic evasion of his duty embodies the same violation of hierarchy as Macbeth’s treason against his master”. Because the Porter ignores Macduff as he keeps knocking, he abandons his duty. Similarly, Macbeth’s job called for him to protect the king, but he is the one who ends up committing murder.

William Shakespeare proves in the Porter’s scene of Macbeth that the draw power can lead astray and bring suffering upon an upstanding person by drawing comparisons to hell, lechery, and treason. This Porter’s scene, intended to bring comedy to an otherwise dark tragedy and frequently dismissed by critics as too “low brow” for Shakespeare, might highlight to the audience the absurdity of Macbeth. However, how many people would keep quiet if, for instance, they learned of sexual harassment in their workplace if it meant a higher chance of a raise? As everyday people, not aspiring kings, sacrifice their dignity for more authority, they must remember the Porter.

WORKS CITED

1. Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm, 1844-1900. Beyond Good and Evil : Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future. London, England ; New York, New York, USA :Penguin Books, 1990.
2. Tromly, Frederic B. “Macbeth and His Porter.” Shakespeare Quarterly, vol. 26, no. 2, 1975, pp. 151–156. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2869244. Accessed 11 Feb. 2020.
3. Shakespeare, William,, Mowat, Barbara A.Werstine, Paul. The Tragedy Of Macbeth. New York : Washington Square Press, 2004, c1992. Print.