Page:On Shakespeare, or, What You Will, Furness, 1908.djvu/6

4 so far from being increased, be relaxed? Let the fumes of wine and wassail mount to the brain,—the King was absolutely safe; there could be none to harm him; by this conviction all fears were quenched and the sleep of every head in the castle might, for that night at least, be sound and deep. This then it was, as I think, this assurance of absolute security, this utter absence of suspicion, that beguiled the chamberlains into a relaxation of watchfulness and into sleep. And it was the knowledge of the existence of this assurance, and of the absence of this suspicion, that made Lady Macbeth bold. In the full conviction of an all-pervading sense of security, she could count on the success of the murder, and be fired with zeal to aid it. What had quenched all guards, had given her fire. I know it may be objected that she afterward says (afterward, pray observe) that she had drugged the grooms’ possets. Had this fact caused her boldness, she would, I think, have mentioned it at first. But if it be still maintained that she refers to the drug, it must then be also admitted that she had herself partaken of it. Why then was not she drugged too? If the drug had quenched the grooms, why was not she too quenched? Drugs do not in general produce dissimilar effects—deaden the pulse in one person and quicken it in another. I do not forget that in planning the murder, Lady Macbeth had told her husband that she would convince the chamberlains with wine; but this refers to the possets, and does not countervail, I think, what I have just said, as to the interpretation of her first words.

As I have tried to save Lady Macbeth from the scandal of drunkenness, let me try to shield the poor, martyred Ophelia from the disgrace of telling a lie. This alleged lie is where she tells Hamlet that her father is at home, when her father is not at home. I must read the passage, and I think that in merely hearing it you will absolve the poor child of any intentional falsehood. Please bear in mind that Ophelia was still heartbroken over her last interview with Hamlet, and, in the fragment I am about to