The Only Use of
impediment
in
Macbeth
- Your wives, your daughters,
Your matrons, and your maids, could not fill up
The cistern of my lust, and my desire
All continent impediments would o'erbear,
That did oppose my will.p. 143.7impediments = obstacles (things that interfere with actions)editor's notes: Malcolm is testing Macduff's character by pretending to be of bad character himself. These lines could be paraphrased as: "Even if I had all your wives, daughters, married women, and young girls, they wouldn’t be enough to satisfy my lust, and I would overcome any restraint or obstacle that stood in the way of my desires."
Definition:
something that interferes with action or progress