Lady Macbeth: Chapter 16  Summary & Analysis

That winter, Gruadh continues to soften towards Macbeth. She still feels grief and anger, but also believes one day she might feel forgiveness. Maeve calls this a “mothering instinct,” claiming “women are peace weavers by nature.”

Gruadh knows accepting Macbeth as her husband will make her life, and the lives of those around her easier, but she is not ready yet. She takes the stone Una gave her and turns it into a piece of jewelry for Lulach to wear to protect him.

When the weather begins to warm, Macbeth and his guards begin to travel out into the countryside. Gruadh doesn’t understand why he is going on war patrols, but he understands he is looking after the people in his domain, rescuing children and sharing food from Elgin’s storage with his tenants. He understands that if he helps and gets to know his tenants now, they will fight for him in wartime.

Gruadh begins to feel flashes of desire for Macbeth, who has yet to visit her in her bedroom at night. Maeve, too, now considers Macbeth “a good man,” and reminds Gruadh she will need to have sex with him if she ever wants a royal son.

Gruadh has the urge to leave the fortress. She has Angus, Bethoc, and Séan, one of Macbeth’s warriors, accompany her. They ride towards the ocean where they spot Viking ships. Angus pulls Gruadh into a hiding spot behind a rock. Men from the Viking ships, including one Gruadh recognizes as Thorfin Sigurdsson, meet an envoy of four other men on horseback, one of whom Gruadh recognizes as her husband, Macbeth. Gruadh suspects he is trying to buy Viking loyalty if he ever makes a bid for the crown.

Macbeth and his men give Thorfin and his men a box, but there is some disagreement and Macbeth kills one of the Viking soldiers. Gruadh is horrified, but Angus chastises her and argues if she were “a true warrior, rather than a woman keen to play with swords” she would understand the necessity of bloodshed. He continues that an alliance between Moray and the Orkney will be necessary if Duncan comes to power, because the people do not trust Duncan to be a good, strong king.

Although Angus encourages her to sneak away with him, Gruadh feels her husband has been “secretive and cruel” and wants to confront. She reveals herself to Macbeth and challenges him, wondering why he killed a man and why he paid a bribe. Macbeth tries to get her to return to Elgin, but she will not leave. Finally, he explains he paid the Vikings a bribe, as men have done for years, to keep the shoreline protected. He adds the tribute he paid was once promised by Gilcomgan. Macbeth suggests that as a wife and a lady Gruadh should stay home, but she makes it clear she is uninterested in her traditional womanly role.

As Gruadh returns home she feels “admiration” for Macbeth. She sees that he is capable, uncompromising, and ambitious, with a strong moral code. Additionally, she resolves to keep herself informed of political goings on outside of her household. She considers herself Macbeth’s equal, and is not content to limit her power to the domestic sphere.