ABSTRACT

Macbeth makes on his wife’s behalf and his own this most poignant demand on the doctor, who replies: ‘Therein the patient/Must minister to himself’ (46). ‘More needs she the divine than the physician’ (5.1.70), because her illness arises out of mortal sin. This advice, although approved by Jaspers, 1 offers too little. Macbeth rejects any sweet antidote: ‘Throw physic to the dogs! I’ll none of it’ (5.3.47), and for both the move to a tragic end is relentless.