Disguised as Cesario, Viola speaks to her secret love Orsino, and in hidden language, reveals her feelings for him. She speaks of the constancy of a woman's love and references her own love as an example:
She sat like patience on a monument,
Smiling at grief. Was not this love indeed?
(Viola, 2.5.113-4)
I always loved that: "patience on a monument." It's a beautiful and sad thought. And as I read "Macbeth" again -- though the two plays are completely different in subject and tone -- I found myself thinking of this particular line. As I accompanied Macbeth on his journey of ambition, I couldn't help but think of Viola and how she waited for her love to come to her, and rather than act on her feelings, chose to live in silence and in grief, for the sake of all parties involved. Such thoughtfulness is part of what makes Viola such an amazing heroine. Indeed, though her silence caused her pain, she dared not speak of it directly for risk of hurting and confusing others.
All of which brings me back to Macbeth and his raging ambition. Though spurred on by Lady Macbeth, Macbeth must be held accountable for his own actions, especially once murder becomes his answer to any and all problems. When we first meet him, he and Banquo encounter the Weird Sisters, who for some reason, prophesy the future of both men. For Macbeth, we learn that he will first become Thane of Glamis, then Thane of Cawdor, and lastly, "king hereafter" (1.3.46-8). Thus, unlike Viola, Macbeth knows what his future will hold: he is to rise in rank until he becomes king. However, like Viola and what she chooses to do, it is how Macbeth goes about fulfilling the prophesy which reveals his true character.
At first, we find that he is conflicted. Though thrilled that the first two prophesies (Glamis and Cawdor) have come true, Macbeth is not so eager to achieve the third through murder. Lady Macbeth encourages him (and dares him) to take his future into his own hands, but he is not so willing:
We will proceed no further in this business.
He hath honored me of late, and I have bought
Golden opinions from all sorts of people,
Which would be worn now in their newest gloss,
Not cast aside so soon.
(Macbeth, 1.7.31-4)
