directory
home contact

Macbeth Glossary

And the very ports...shipman's card (1.3.17-9)

ports they blow ] - Here the First Witch brags that she controls the winds in all directions (quarters) known to the shipman's compass (card).

Editor John Dover Wilson, in the Cambridge edition, points out that: "'Ports' is the subject. Having all winds at command, 1 Witch will cause a contrary wind to blow from every port the ship should touch at on its voyage home from Aleppo, and thus not only tempest-toss it, but keep it at sea without water or victuals for nine weary weeks." (Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. John Dover Wilson, ed. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1968, [p.p. 100])

Back to Macbeth (1.3)

How to cite this article:
Mabillard, Amanda. Macbeth Glossary. Shakespeare Online. 20 Aug. 2000. (date when you accessed the information) < http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/macbeth/macbethglossary/macbeth1_1/macbethglos_ports.html >.
______

Related Articles

 Macbeth: The Complete Play with Annotations and Commentary
 James I and Shakespeare's Sources for Macbeth
 Contemporary References to King James I in Macbeth (1605-06)
 The Metre of Macbeth: Blank Verse and Rhymed Lines

 Macbeth Character Introduction
 Metaphors in Macbeth (Biblical)

 Soliloquy Analysis: If it were done when 'tis done (1.7.1-29)
 Soliloquy Analysis: Is this a dagger (2.1.33-61)
 Soliloquy Analysis: To be thus is nothing (3.1.47-71)
 Soliloquy Analysis: She should have died hereafter (5.5.17-28)

 Explanatory Notes for Lady Macbeth's Soliloquy (1.5)
 The Psychoanalysis of Lady Macbeth (Sleepwalking Scene)
 Lady Macbeth's Suicide
 Is Lady Macbeth's Swoon Real?

 Explanatory Notes for the Witches' Chants (4.1)
 Macbeth Plot Summary (Acts 1 and 2)
 Macbeth Plot Summary (Acts 3, 4 and 5)

 A Comparison of Macbeth and Hamlet
 The Effect of Lady Macbeth's Death on Macbeth
 The Curse of Macbeth

 Macbeth Q & A
 Aesthetic Examination Questions on Macbeth
 What is Tragic Irony?

 Macbeth Study Quiz (with detailed answers)
 Quotations from Macbeth (Full)
 Top 10 Quotations from Macbeth

 Characteristics of Elizabethan Tragedy
 Shakespeare's Workmanship: Crafting a Sympathetic Macbeth
 Temptation, Sin, Retribution: Lecture Notes on Macbeth
 Untie the winds: Exploring the Witches' Control Over Nature in Macbeth

 Why Shakespeare is so Important
 Shakespeare's Language
 Shakespeare's Influence on Other Writers