what do lines 8-23 mean in act 1 sc. 2 of macbeth?

Question

its so difficult to understand

Answer 1

It is quite simple to understand. The Captain explains that Macdonwald, who he damns as a traitor and scallywag, brought his army of Irish mercenaries to make war on the King. Macdonwald had early success, but Macbeth, at the head of the loyal Scottish column, faced the traitor. The two of them fought, and Macbeth scored the killing blow, disembowling Macdonwald and bringing back the traitor's head as a trophy.

Shakespeare can be difficult to read if you don't have experience with his kind of heightened language. But if you take your time, think it through, and check your dictionary if you don't know what a word means, Shakespeare is actually stunning in his clarity. Stick with it, because once you have a feel for how English works in Shakespeare, you'll find it some of the most rewarding reading you could do.

Answer 2

Well i want to be an actress 8-23 lines are in the scrip you read line 8 all the way to 23 like in a movie act 1 of the first thing they do sc.2 is like chapter 2

Answer 3

The language is a bit complex, but it's a beautiful speech.

> Doubtful it stood;
> As two spent swimmers, that do cling together
> And choke their art.

They've been fighting for a while, and everybody's tired. Imagine two people swimming and they're trying to use each other to hold themselves up, but that just makes swimming impossible. Nobody knows who's going to win.

> The merciless Macdonwald--
> Worthy to be a rebel, for to that
> The multiplying villanies of nature
> Do swarm upon him--

Macdonwald is the bad guy in this little story. We don't like him.

> from the western isles
> Of kerns and gallowglasses is supplied;

He's got Irish mercenaries.

> And fortune, on his damned quarrel smiling,
> Show'd like a rebel's whore: but all's too weak:

Luck seems to be on Macdonwald's side.

> For brave Macbeth--well he deserves that name--

Macbeth is literally "son of the light", which is why it's written with a lower case "b" rather than as MacBeth (as it would be if he were the son of a guy named Beth).

> Disdaining fortune, with his brandish'd steel,
> Which smoked with bloody execution,
> Like valour's minion carved out his passage

Macbeth hacked his way through the battle with his sword.

> Till he faced the slave;
> Which ne'er shook hands, nor bade farewell to him,
> Till he unseam'd him from the nave to the chaps,

As soon as he saw Macdonwald, he killed him. Bloodily: he chopped upwards, coming in at his navel and exiting at his mouth. It's quite the feat.

> And fix'd his head upon our battlements.

He cut off Macdonwald's head.
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This is called a "gloss" a kind of summary of what happens in the speech. But it's not a substitute. Shakespeare's language is incomparably better. I played the Captain once, and it's a magnificent speech. He's wounded, but he's got an amazing story to tell before he dies.

Now that you know what each line means, imagine a dying soldier who just has to tell that story. Imagine that every eye on the room is riveted to him, to find out how the battle went; the fate of a country depends on it. This is a man who's seen the true horrors of war, a man split in half with a sword.

It's full of evocative expressions: "rebel's whore", "valor's minion". Really, a great speech. Say it out loud; it's the only way to understand Shakespeare. Knowing the story is less than half of it. It's all about the beauty and power of the language.