Re: "well, well, well" in MacBeth
- From: "Mike Lyle" <mike_lyle_uk@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: 3 Sep 2006 05:35:09 -0700
FCS wrote:
[...]
One of these appears to be in David Crystal's[...]
"The Stories of English" (Penguin, London,
2004), from "Interlude 8 - Well well".
'And in "Macbeth" (V.i.51) the Doctor uses
a triple "well", at a loss to know how to react
on hearing the profound sigh from the sleep-
walking Lady Macbeth:'
Gent: I would not have such a heart in my
bosom, for the dignity of the whole body.
Doct: Well, well, well.
Gent: Pray God it be, sir.
Now, according to Crystal:
'What is interesting about the Gentlewoman's
response, of course (sic), is her taking the
Doctor's words literally. This must (sic) be the
first recorded instance in written English of
someone failing to understand a discourse
function of "well".'
Interesting. I see no reason for that interpretation: the gentlewoman
seems to me simply to be making a sad play on words. Perhaps there's
even a slight rebuke implied: she's disappointed that the doctor can do
nothing for her mistress and finds the comment rather irritating. But
of course Crystal is quite capable of making a joke: I haven't read his
context.
[...]
Now, not wishing to end on a critical note, I
do find it interesting that with the politics of
The Tudor and Stuart periods, and particularly,
given the Northern setting for the play, the
Bard brings in a character "Siward", not, for
us reading on paper, anything but an odd name
that's no longer popular but in the noise and
bustle of the Elizabethan stage just another
name that could be misheard as "Stuart" who,
in all fairness, had reigned over Scotland in
the form of James IV and V prior to assuming
the reins of England too in the form of James VI
aka James I.
But of course, if it ever came to a court of law,
he could refer to the text as it is printed, saying
"any resemblance is purely coincidental, look it
clearly says here 'Siward' NOT 'Stewart' or even
'Stuart' Your Honour and Me Learned Gentlemen."
Siward was real: the Danish-descended Earl of Northumberland (see
Holinshed and DNB). Though it may not be the same name, "Seward" and
"Seaward" were and are familiar enough -- totalling eight entries in
my smallish-town telephone book.
The office of High Steward wasn't, AFAIK, instituted until a century
after Macbeth's reign. The first Stewart king was two centuries after
that.
--
Mike.
.
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