Lady Macbeth

by

Susan King

Lady Sybilla Character Analysis

Duncan’s wife, mother of Malcolm mac Duncan and Donald Bán. Although their husbands become enemies, Lady Sybilla and Gruadh are close friends. Lady Sybilla asks Gruadh to promise to care for her children if anything happens to her. Lady Sybilla dies in childbirth not long before Macbeth kills Duncan, orphaning their two sons. Gruadh never mentions her promise to her husband, but after Duncan dies Gruadh passionately defends his and Lady Sybilla’s children, and convinces Macbeth to let them live.

Lady Sybilla Quotes in Lady Macbeth

The Lady Macbeth quotes below are all either spoken by Lady Sybilla or refer to Lady Sybilla . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
History, Memory, and Storytelling  Theme Icon
).
Chapter 9  Quotes

At one point, King Malcolm himself carried his great-grandson and held him out to King Cnut. The prince, at two years old a sturdy handful, set up a lusty caterwauling, so that both men looked annoyed. Still, the message was clear: young Malcolm mac Duncan of Scotland had made a symbolic homage to the ruler of England.

And it was clear to those watching that in making his great-grandson pledge to England, old Malcolm was declaring that his line, grandson to son, would be kings hereafter. […]

The child’s mother, Lady Sybilla, stepped forward to take her boy from her father-by-law. I was among the retinue of women who walked with her, and she turned to give the squalling child to me. He struggled to get down, and I set him on his feet, taking his hand. He pulled me along rather like a ram dragging its shepherd. Others were amused, but I felt a strange sense, like a weight on my shoulders, on my soul.

And then, with a shudder, I knew it for an omen of the future—myself, and all of us gathered that day were linked to this moment as if by the tug of a heavy chain.

Related Characters: Gruadh / Rue / Lady Macbeth (speaker), Macbeth, Bodhe , Duncan mac Crinan, Malcolm mac Duncan, King Malcolm, Crinan, Lady Sybilla , Donald Bán , King Cnut
Page Number: 79
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 31 Quotes

Watching the prow of the boat surge through lapping waves, I knew that I had protected Malcolm from retaliation. By honoring my promise to his mother and following my own heart as a mother, I had prevented his murder as a boy. And he had returned, just as the mormaers had warned. I had brought this tragedy about.

But if that chance came again, I could not order the deaths of children. A devil’s bargain, that, to choose sin or grief. Closing my eyes, I rested my face in my hands and struggled, overcame a weeping urge. What I had done had been most rightful, though it came with a hard price. It was the way of things.

Related Characters: Gruadh / Rue / Lady Macbeth (speaker), Macbeth, Duncan mac Crinan, Malcolm mac Duncan, Thorfin Sigurdsson, Lady Sybilla , Donald Bán , Una
Page Number: 324
Explanation and Analysis:
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Lady Macbeth PDF

Lady Sybilla Quotes in Lady Macbeth

The Lady Macbeth quotes below are all either spoken by Lady Sybilla or refer to Lady Sybilla . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
History, Memory, and Storytelling  Theme Icon
).
Chapter 9  Quotes

At one point, King Malcolm himself carried his great-grandson and held him out to King Cnut. The prince, at two years old a sturdy handful, set up a lusty caterwauling, so that both men looked annoyed. Still, the message was clear: young Malcolm mac Duncan of Scotland had made a symbolic homage to the ruler of England.

And it was clear to those watching that in making his great-grandson pledge to England, old Malcolm was declaring that his line, grandson to son, would be kings hereafter. […]

The child’s mother, Lady Sybilla, stepped forward to take her boy from her father-by-law. I was among the retinue of women who walked with her, and she turned to give the squalling child to me. He struggled to get down, and I set him on his feet, taking his hand. He pulled me along rather like a ram dragging its shepherd. Others were amused, but I felt a strange sense, like a weight on my shoulders, on my soul.

And then, with a shudder, I knew it for an omen of the future—myself, and all of us gathered that day were linked to this moment as if by the tug of a heavy chain.

Related Characters: Gruadh / Rue / Lady Macbeth (speaker), Macbeth, Bodhe , Duncan mac Crinan, Malcolm mac Duncan, King Malcolm, Crinan, Lady Sybilla , Donald Bán , King Cnut
Page Number: 79
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 31 Quotes

Watching the prow of the boat surge through lapping waves, I knew that I had protected Malcolm from retaliation. By honoring my promise to his mother and following my own heart as a mother, I had prevented his murder as a boy. And he had returned, just as the mormaers had warned. I had brought this tragedy about.

But if that chance came again, I could not order the deaths of children. A devil’s bargain, that, to choose sin or grief. Closing my eyes, I rested my face in my hands and struggled, overcame a weeping urge. What I had done had been most rightful, though it came with a hard price. It was the way of things.

Related Characters: Gruadh / Rue / Lady Macbeth (speaker), Macbeth, Duncan mac Crinan, Malcolm mac Duncan, Thorfin Sigurdsson, Lady Sybilla , Donald Bán , Una
Page Number: 324
Explanation and Analysis: