Tuesday, March 25, 2014
The deed is done
In Act 2, Scene 2, having just killed the king offstage, Macbeth comes back onstage and reports to his wife, "I have done the deed" (2.2.19). I always joke with my students that this is "wiretap talk" that criminals will use when they are afraid of being taped or overheard. We see this vagueness frequently in Macbeth such as when he is contemplating killing Duncan and says, "If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well / It were done quickly" (1.7.1-2). His vagueness in both cases is not due to a fear of being wiretapped, obviously, but rather his inability to take ownership of his actions and the terrible deed.
On my way to work this morning, coincidentally the very same day I was to teach Act 2 Scene 2, I heard a report on NPR about drug gangs along the US/Mexico border, where the hitmen are using similarly vague language. Here's the relevant part of the transcript:
URIBE: You're listening to radio chatter between one of those assassination teams. This recording was obtained by U.S. authorities. The hit squad was responsible for the murder of an American couple driving home from a birthday party in Juarez. The wife works for the U.S. consulate. Her husband was a jail guard in El Paso. In the recording we can hear the hit men give confirmation that the deed is done.
(SOUNDBITE OF RECORDING)
URIBE: Using coded language, the speaker says they killed two people in front of city hall. The sole survivor of the attack was the couple's infant daughter, who was found wailing in the back seat. News of the murders reached President Obama, who denounced the crime. Later, U.S. authorities determined the couple was targeted by mistake.
First of all, this supports my idea that Macbeth is talking like a criminal. Secondly, I wonder if criminals use this "coded language" not only out of fear of wiretaps, but also out of some guilt, like Macbeth. It is easier to report "The deed is done" than to say "I just killed a husband and wife and left their newly orphaned infant wailing in the back seat."
On my way to work this morning, coincidentally the very same day I was to teach Act 2 Scene 2, I heard a report on NPR about drug gangs along the US/Mexico border, where the hitmen are using similarly vague language. Here's the relevant part of the transcript:
URIBE: You're listening to radio chatter between one of those assassination teams. This recording was obtained by U.S. authorities. The hit squad was responsible for the murder of an American couple driving home from a birthday party in Juarez. The wife works for the U.S. consulate. Her husband was a jail guard in El Paso. In the recording we can hear the hit men give confirmation that the deed is done.
(SOUNDBITE OF RECORDING)
URIBE: Using coded language, the speaker says they killed two people in front of city hall. The sole survivor of the attack was the couple's infant daughter, who was found wailing in the back seat. News of the murders reached President Obama, who denounced the crime. Later, U.S. authorities determined the couple was targeted by mistake.
First of all, this supports my idea that Macbeth is talking like a criminal. Secondly, I wonder if criminals use this "coded language" not only out of fear of wiretaps, but also out of some guilt, like Macbeth. It is easier to report "The deed is done" than to say "I just killed a husband and wife and left their newly orphaned infant wailing in the back seat."
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