Beginning of Essay
William Empson disagreed with many of J. M. Robertson, Literary Detection (1931), about certain points surrounding MacBeth. "The eye wink at the hand, yet let that be which the eye fear, when tis done, to see." is a line from MacBeth which to Robertson "appeared ....

Middle of Essay
.... described as essential, were disregarded by Robertson as having "no sense". This paragraph shows an example of what Robertson disregarded: "But cruel are the times, when we are traitors And do not know ourselves, when we hold rumour From what we fear, yet know not what we fear, Each way and move." Robertson, after contemplating this passage, remarked that this is "certainly not Shakespeare's" because of the earlier point based above. Empson believe's that Robertson's flaw comes within his translation of the lines, "hold rumour could be like 'hold parley with'" and goes through a retranslation of this short passage. "No one who had e ....