- Source
- Macbeth
- Date
- c. 1606
- Local voice
- Fictional character · Lady Macbeth
Meaning of “What’s done cannot be undone.”
Some consequences cannot be reversed, so the practical question becomes how to respond now rather than how to erase the past.
Where does it come from?
Macbeth, Act V, Scene I, reviewed against the scan-backed 1918 Yale text. Lady Macbeth says 'What's done cannot be undone' during the sleepwalking scene; the dramatic context is guilt and psychological disintegration, not generic advice that consequences should simply be accepted.
Why the local voice matters
Lady Macbeth speaks during the sleepwalking scene, Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 1.
