MACBETH

ACT III
SCENE BY SCENE SUMMARY
ACT III, SCENE 1
WHERE Macbeth’s palace at Forres
WHO Banquo, Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Servant, Two Murderers
WHAT Banquo tells Macbeth that he and his son Fleance are going riding until
after dark. Macbeth meets with two murderers. He tells them that
Banquo is to blame for their problems. They agree to kill Banquo and
Fleance.
ACT III, SCENE 2
WHERE Macbeth’s palace at Forres
WHO Lady Macbeth, Macbeth
WHAT Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth that something awful will happen to
Banquo and Fleance before nightfall. He doesn’t tell her details.
ACT III, SCENE 3
WHERE A park near the palace.
WHO Banquo and the three murderers
WHAT The murderers kill Banquo, who dies urging his son to flee and to
avenge his death. One of the murderers extinguishes the torch, and in
the darkness Fleance escapes.
ACT III, SCENE 4

WHERE Outside Macbeth’s castle

WHO Ross, Old Man, Macduff
WHAT Macduff thinks that it is suspicious that Malcolm and Donalbain left
so quickly. He tells Ross that Macbeth will be made king.

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ACT III, SCENE 5
WHERE The stormy heath
WHO The three witches, Hecate.
WHAT Hecate scolds the witches for meddling in the business of Macbeth
without consulting her but declares that she will take over as
supervisor of the mischief.
ACT III, SCENE 6
WHERE Somewhere in Scotland
WHO Lennox, Lord
WHAT Lennox walks with another lord, discussing what has happened to the
kingdom. Banquo’s murder has been officially blamed on Fleance, who
has fled. Nevertheless, both men suspect Macbeth, whom they call a
“tyrant,” in the murders of Duncan and Banquo.

DETAILED SCENE BY SCENE SUMMARY

Scene 1
In the royal palace at Forres, Banquo paces and thinks about the coronation
of Macbeth and the prophecies of the weird sisters. The witches foretold that
Macbeth would be king and that Banquo’s line would eventually sit on the throne. If
the first prophecy came true, Banquo thinks, feeling the stirring of ambition, why not
the second? Macbeth enters, attired as king. He is followed by Lady Macbeth, now
his queen, and the court. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth ask Banquo to attend the feast
they will host that night. Banquo accepts their invitation and says that he plans to go
for a ride on his horse for the afternoon. Macbeth mentions that they should discuss
the problem of Malcolm and Donalbain. The brothers have fled from Scotland and
may be plotting against his crown.
Banquo departs, and Macbeth dismisses his court. He is left alone in the hall
with a single servant, to whom he speaks about some men who have come to see
him. Macbeth asks if the men are still waiting and orders that they be fetched. Once
the servant has gone, Macbeth begins a soliloquy. He muses on the subject of
Banquo, reflecting that his old friend is the only man in Scotland whom he fears. He
notes that if the witches’ prophecy is true, he will be a “fruitless crown,” by which he

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means that he will not have an heir (3.1.62). The murder of Duncan, which weighs so
heavily on his conscience, may have simply cleared the way for Banquo’s sons to
overthrow Macbeth’s own family.
The servant reenters with Macbeth’s two visitors. Macbeth reminds the two
men, who are murderers he has hired, of a conversation he had with them the day
before, in which he chronicled the wrongs Banquo had done them in the past. He
asks if they are angry and manly enough to take revenge on Banquo. They reply that
they are, and Macbeth accepts their promise that they will murder his former friend.
Macbeth reminds the murderers that Fleance must be killed along with his father
and tells them to wait within the castle for his command.
Scene 2
Elsewhere in the castle, Lady Macbeth expresses despair and sends a servant
to fetch her husband. Macbeth enters and tells his wife that he too is discontented,
saying that his mind is “full of scorpions” (3.2.37). He feels that the business that
they began by killing Duncan is not yet complete because there are still threats to the
throne that must be eliminated. Macbeth tells his wife that he has planned “a deed
of dreadful note” for Banquo and Fleance and urges her to be jovial and kind to
Banquo during the evening’s feast, in order to lure their next victim into a false sense
of security (3.2.45).
Scene 3
It is dusk, and the two murderers, now joined by a third, linger in a wooded
park outside the palace. Banquo and Fleance approach on their horses and dismount.
They light a torch, and the murderers set upon them. The murderers kill Banquo,
who dies urging his son to flee and to avenge his death. One of the murderers
extinguishes the torch, and in the darkness Fleance escapes. The murderers leave
with Banquo’s body to find Macbeth and tell him what has happened.
Scene 4
At the banquet, a murderer arrives and reports to Macbeth just as the dinner
guests begin to arrive. He informs Macbeth that Banquo is dead but Fleance has
escaped. Shaken, Macbeth thanks him for what he has done and arranges another
meeting on the following day. The murderer leaves and Macbeth returns to the
feast.
Looking over the table, Macbeth declares that the banquet would be perfect if
only Banquo were present. At this point Banquo's ghost appears unobserved and
takes Macbeth's seat. The guests urge Macbeth to sit and eat with them but
Macbeth says that the table is full. When Lennox points to Macbeth's empty seat,
Macbeth is shocked to see Banquo’s ghost. He addresses the ghost, saying, "Thou
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canst not say I did it. Never shake / Thy gory locks at me" (49-50). The guests,
confused by his behavior, think that he is ill. Lady Macbeth reassures them, however,
by saying that he has had similar fits since youth and that he will soon be well. She
draws Macbeth aside and attempts to calm him by asserting that the vision is merely
a “painting of [his] fear”—just like the dagger he saw earlier (60). Ignoring her,
Macbeth charges the ghost to speak but it disappears. After Lady Macbeth scolds
him for being "unmanned in folly" (73), Macbeth returns to his guests and claims that
he has "a strange infirmity," which they should ignore (85).
Just as the party resumes and Macbeth is offering a toast to Banquo, the ghost
reappears. As Macbeth once again bursts out in a speech directed at the ghost, Lady
Macbeth tries to smooth things over with the guests. In response to Macbeth’s
exclamation that he sees sights that make his cheeks “blanched with fear,” Ross asks
what sights Macbeth means (114). Lady Macbeth asks the guests to leave, since
Macbeth's "illness" seems to be deteriorating. Alone with Lady Macbeth, Macbeth
expresses his deep anxieties and vows to return to the Weird Sisters.

Scene 5
On the heath, the witches meet Hecate, queen of witches, who chastises them
for meddling in Macbeth's affairs without involving her or showing him any fancy
magic spectacles. She tells them that Macbeth will visit them tomorrow and that
they must put on a more dramatic show for him.

Scene 6
Lennox and another lord discuss politics. Lennox comments sarcastically on
the recent deaths of Duncan and Banquo. He suggests that it seems implausible for
Malcolm and Donalbain to be inhuman enough to kill their father. Moreover,
Macbeth's slaying of the bodyguards seemed very convenient, since they probably
would have denied killing Duncan. Lennox proposes that if Malcolm, Donalbain, and
Fleance were in Macbeth's prison, they would also probably be dead now. He also
reveals that since Macduff did not attend Macbeth's feast, he has been denounced.
The lord with whom Lennox speaks comments that Macduff has joined Malcolm at
the English court. The two men have apparently asked Siward to lead an army
against Macbeth. Lennox and the lord send their prayers to Macduff and Malcolm.

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ANALYSIS
Scenes 1–3
After his first confrontation with the witches, Macbeth worried that he would
have to commit a murder to gain the Scottish crown. He seems to have gotten used
to the idea, as by this point the body count has risen to alarming levels. Now that the
first part of the witches’ prophecy has come true, Macbeth feels that he must kill his
friend Banquo and the young Fleance in order to prevent the second part from
becoming realized. But, as Fleance’s survival suggests, there can be no escape from
the witches’ prophecies.
Macbeth and his wife seem to have traded roles. As he talks to the murderers,
Macbeth adopts the same rhetoric that Lady Macbeth used to convince him to
murder in Act 1, scene 7. He questions their manhood in order to make them angry,
and their desire to murder Banquo and Fleance grows out of their desire to prove
themselves to be men. In the scene with Lady Macbeth that follows, Macbeth again
echoes her previous comments. She told him earlier that he must “look like the
innocent flower, / But be the serpent under’t” (1.5.63–64). Now he is the one
reminding her to mask her unease, as he says that they must “make [their] faces
visors to [their] hearts, / Disguising what they are” (3.2.35–36). Yet, despite his
displays of fearlessness, Macbeth is undeniably beset with guilt and doubt, which he
expresses in his reference to the “scorpions” in his mind and in his declaration that in
killing Banquo they “have scorched the snake, not killed it” (3.2.15).
While her husband grows bolder, Lady Macbeth begins to despair—“Naught’s
had; all’s spent,” she says (3.2.6). It is difficult to believe that the woman who now
attempts to talk her husband out of committing more murders is the same Lady
Macbeth who earlier spurred her husband on to slaughter. Just as he begins to echo
her earlier statements, she references his. “What’s done is done” (3.2.14), she says
wishfully, echoing her husband’s use of “done” in Act 1, scene 7, where he said: “If it
were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well / It were done quickly” (1.7.1–2). But as
husband and wife begin to realize, nothing is “done” whatsoever; their sense of
closure is an illusion.
Both characters seem shocked and dismayed that possessing the crown has
not rid them of trouble or brought them happiness. The language that they use is
fraught with imagery suggestive of suspicion, paranoia, and inner turmoil, like
Macbeth’s evocative “full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife” (3.2.37). Each murder
Macbeth commits or commissions is intended to bring him security and
contentment, but the deeper his arms sink in blood, the more violent and horrified
he becomes.

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 By the start of Act 3, the play’s main theme—the repercussions of acting on
ambition without moral constraint—has been articulated and explored. The play now
builds inexorably toward its end. Unlike Hamlet, in which the plot seems open to
multiple possibilities up to the final scene, Macbeth’s action seems to develop
inevitably. We know that there is nothing to stop Macbeth’s murder spree except his
own death, and it is for that death that the audience now waits. Only with Macbeth’s
demise, we realize, can any kind of moral order be restored to Scotland.
Scenes 4-6
In scene 4, with the departure of the guests, Macbeth appears to regain some
of his earlier self-confidence. He announces his decision to visit the Weird Sisters
once more, this time of his own accord. His language in this coda to the banquet
scene is mysterious and prophetic: The short scene is dominated by the repeated
word "blood" and by the idea that a tide of murder has now been initiated which
Macbeth is powerless to stop.
Hecate's supernatural spite in scene 5 is intended to echo that of the human
dimension. She is a vindictive female spirit, whose forceful instructions to the
Witches reflect the language of Lady Macbeth to her husband. Although unnecessary
dramatically, the scene reinforces the philosophical question: Is Macbeth entirely to
blame for his own downfall? In Hecate's opinion, he is. She tells the Witches that
Macbeth "loves for his own ends" and prophesies that Macbeth "shall spurn Fate,"
recalling the words "disdaining Fortune" from Act I. Without this line of argument, it
would be easier to suggest that Macbeth is powerless to control his own destiny.
Some of the language of scene 6 is difficult. Its lines are full of pauses, half-
spoken thoughts, and fragments of reported speech. Its function is twofold: first to
convince the audience of Lennox's real thoughts about Macbeth. Even though
Lennox appears loyal to Macbeth at the end of Act IV, Scene 1, here he divulges his
concerns in lines such as "Men must not walk too late" and, more directly, the
phrase "the tyrant's feast."
The primary function of the other lord is to confirm the news of Macduff's
flight to England and to introduce the names of other rebel leaders, Northumberland
and Siward, who will combine against Macbeth in the final act. But his words "That . .
. we may again / Give to our tables meat, sleep to our nights" (32-34) also recall,
ironically, the words of Macbeth to his wife in Act III, Scene 2: "But let the frame of
things disjoint . . . / Ere we will eat our meal in fear, and sleep / In the affliction of
these terrible dreams."

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INTEXT QUESTIONS

1. Mark passages in lines 47–71 that reveal Macbeth’s thoughts about what he
has done and how he feels about Banquo.
For Banquo’s issue have I filed my mind; For them the gracious Duncan have I
murdered, To make them kings,
2. What has Macbeth realized? How will he solve this problem?
Macbeth realizes that he has killed Duncan for the ultimate benefit of
Banquo’s heirs, who—if the witches are correct—will inherit the throne. He
sees Banquo as being nobler and more rewarded by the witches. He decides
to end Banquo’s line, by killing Banquo, rather than allow that to happen.
3. Mark words that reflect happiness and love in lines 87–92
"love and health to all, to our dear friend, joy"

4. What is ironic about these expressions, given what Macbeth has done and
what he is seeing?
It is ironic that Macbeth is wishing all his worthy friends love, joy, and health
because he is hallucinating that his good friend, who he has just had
murdered, is haunting and accusing him. His words are in stark contrast with
what he has done and now is experiencing.
5. Reread lines 134–144 and mark words that indicate Macbeth has gone too
far in his quest for power.

“For mine own good, All causes shall give way. I am in blood Stepped in so far
that, should I wade no more, Returning were as tedious as go o’er."

6. What theme is being developed in this scene?

Ambition has driven Macbeth to the point of no return.

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ANALYZE THE TEXT

1. Infer: Reread lines 47–56 in Scene 1. Why does Macbeth fear Banquo and
feel threatened by his “being”? What is suggested about Macbeth’s
character through his action of hiring murderers to carry out his plan?
Macbeth feels threatened because the prophecy states that Banquo’s sons
will be kings. His hiring of the murderers may reflect his aversion to murdering
his allies, or it may simply reflect his heightened status.

2. Analyze: Review Scene 2. How has Duncan’s murder affected the

relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth? Cite evidence from the
text to support your ideas.
Lady Macbeth wants to get on with their lives as king and queen, but Macbeth
is filled with regret. A lack of trust seems to have entered the relationship:
Macbeth will not tell Lady Macbeth that he plans to have Banquo and Fleance
killed, but he expects her to be pleased once it is done.

3. Draw Conclusions: What does Fleance’s escape suggest about the witches’
prophecy?
The witches’ prophecy may indeed come true. Fleance survives and is
available to succeed Macbeth as King of Scotland.
4. Analyze: What does Banquo’s ghost in Scene 4 represent? Explain how the
presence of the ghost affects Lady Macbeth’s behavior even though she
cannot see it.
Banquo’s ghost represents Macbeth’s guilt and fear. Lady Macbeth remains
calm but is becoming angry with Macbeth; she publicly supports her husband
but privately bullies and cajoles him to be strong.
5. Compare Review lines 135–140 in Scene 4. What does Macbeth realize, and
in what way does this speech reveal a change in Macbeth’s attitude from
how he has felt in the past about his deeds?
Macbeth realizes that he has done horrible things and feels trapped because
he is in too deep to turn back now. His earlier actions were driven by
ambition. Now, they seem driven by self-preservation.

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Important Quotes: Modern Text
1. Banquo:
Thou hast it now: king, Cawdor, Glamis, all,
As the weird women promised, and I fear
Thou played’st most foully for ’t. Yet it was said
It should not stand in thy posterity,
But that myself should be the root and father
Of many kings. If there come truth from them—
As upon thee, Macbeth, their speeches shine—
Why, by the verities on thee made good,
May they not be my oracles as well,
And set me up in hope? But hush, no more.

Now you have it all: you’re the king, the thane of Cawdor, and the thane of
Glamis, just like the weird women promised you. And I suspect you cheated to win
these titles. But it was also prophesied that the crown would not go to your
descendants, and that my sons and grandsons would be kings instead. If the
witches tell the truth—which they did about you—maybe what they said about me
will come true too. But shhh! I’ll shut up now.

2. Macbeth:
To be thus is nothing,
But to be safely thus. Our fears in Banquo
Stick deep, and in his royalty of nature
Reigns that which would be feared. 'Tis much he
dares,
And to that dauntless temper of his mind
He hath a wisdom that doth guide his valor
To act in safety. There is none but he
Whose being I do fear, and under him
My genius is rebuked, as it is said
Mark Antony’s was by Caesar. He chid the sisters
When first they put the name of king upon me
And bade them speak to him. Then, prophetlike,
They hailed him father to a line of kings.
Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown
And put a barren scepter in my grip,
Thence to be wrenched with an unlineal hand,
No son of mine succeeding. If ’t be so,
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 For Banquo’s issue have I filed my mind;
For them the gracious Duncan have I murdered;
Put rancors in the vessel of my peace
Only for them; and mine eternal jewel
Given to the common enemy of man,
To make them kings, the seed of Banquo kings!
Rather than so, come fate into the list,
And champion me to th' utterance. Who’s there?

To be the king is nothing if I’m not safe as the king. I’m very afraid of
Banquo. There’s something noble about him that makes me fear him. He’s willing
to take risks, and his mind never stops working. He has the wisdom to act bravely
but also safely. I’m not afraid of anyone but him. Around him, my guardian angel is
frightened, just as Mark Antony’s angel supposedly feared Octavius Caesar. Banquo
chided the witches when they first called me king, asking them to tell him his own
future. Then, like prophets, they named him the father to a line of kings. They gave
me a crown and a scepter that I can’t pass on. Someone outside my family will take
these things away from me, since no son of mine will take my place as king. If this
is true, then I’ve tortured my conscience and murdered the gracious Duncan for
Banquo’s sons. I’ve ruined my own peace for their benefit. I’ve handed over my
everlasting soul to the devil so that they could be kings. Banquo’s sons, kings!
Instead of watching that happen, I will challenge fate to battle and fight to the
death. Who’s there!

3. MACBETH:
So is he mine; and in such bloody distance
That every minute of his being thrusts
Against my near’st of life. And though I could
With barefaced power sweep him from my sight
And bid my will avouch it, yet I must not,
For certain friends that are both his and mine,
Whose loves I may not drop, but wail his fall
Who I myself struck down. And thence it is,
That I to your assistance do make love,
Masking the business from the common eye
For sundry weighty reasons.

He’s my enemy too, and I hate him so much that every minute he’s alive it eats
away at my heart. Since I’m king, I could simply use my power to get rid of him. But
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 I can’t do that, because he and I have friends in common whom I need, so I have to
be able to moan and cry over his death in public even though I’ll be the one who
had him killed. That’s why I need your help right now. I have to hide my real plans
from the public eye for many important reasons.

4. MACBETH
We have scorched the snake, not killed it.
She’ll close and be herself whilst our poor malice
Remains in danger of her former tooth.
But let the frame of things disjoint, both the worlds
suffer,
Ere we will eat our meal in fear, and sleep
In the affliction of these terrible dreams
That shake us nightly. Better be with the dead,
Whom we, to gain our peace, have sent to peace,
Than on the torture of the mind to lie
In restless ecstasy. Duncan is in his grave.
After life’s fitful fever he sleeps well.
Treason has done his worst; nor steel nor poison,
Malice domestic, foreign levy, nothing
Can touch him further.

We have slashed the snake but not killed it. It will heal and be as good as new,
and we’ll be threatened by its fangs once again. But the universe can fall apart, and
heaven and earth crumble, before I’ll eat my meals in fear and spend my nights
tossing and turning with these nightmares I’ve been having. I’d rather be dead than
endure this endless mental torture and harrowing sleep deprivation. We killed those
men and sent them to rest in peace so that we could gain our own peace. Duncan lies
in his grave, through with life’s troubles, and he’s sleeping well. We have already
done the worst we can do to him with our treason. After that, nothing can hurt him
further—not weapons, poison, rebellion, invasion, or anything else.

5. MACBETH
Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck,
Till thou applaud the deed. Come, seeling night,
Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day
And with thy bloody and invisible hand
Cancel and tear to pieces that great bond
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 Which keeps me pale. Light thickens, and the crow
Makes wing to th' rooky wood.
Good things of day begin to droop and drowse;
Whiles night’s black agents to their preys do rouse.
Thou marvel’st at my words: but hold thee still.
Things bad begun make strong themselves by ill.
So, prithee, go with me.

It’s better you don’t know about it until after it’s done, when you can applaud
it. (to the night)Come, night, and blindfold the kindhearted day. Use your bloody and
invisible hand to tear up Banquo’s lease on life, which keeps me in fear.(to himself)
The sky’s getting dark, and the crow is returning home to the woods. The gentle
creatures of the day are falling asleep, while night’s predators are waking up to look
for their prey. (to LADY MACBETH) You seem surprised at my words, but don’t
question me yet. Bad deeds force you to commit more bad deeds. So please, come
with me.

6. LADY MACBETH
O proper stuff!
This is the very painting of your fear.
This is the air-drawn dagger which you said
Led you to Duncan. Oh, these flaws and starts,
Impostors to true fear, would well become
A woman’s story at a winter’s fire,
Authorized by her grandam. Shame itself!
Why do you make such faces? When all’s done,
You look but on a stool.

Oh, that’s nonsense! This is just another one of the hallucinations you
always get when you’re afraid. This is like that floating dagger you said was leading
you toward Duncan. These outbursts of yours don’t even look like real fear. They’re
more like how you would act if you were a woman telling a scary story by the fireside
in front of her grandmother. Shame on you! Why are you making these faces? When
the vision passes, you’ll see that you’re just looking at a stool.

7. MACBETH
Blood hath been shed ere now, i' th' olden time,
Ere humane statute purged the gentle weal;
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 Ay, and since too, murders have been performed
Too terrible for the ear. The time has been
That, when the brains were out, the man would die,
And there an end. But now they rise again
With twenty mortal murders on their crowns
And push us from our stools. This is more strange
Than such a murder is.

In ancient times, before there were laws to make the land safe and peaceful, a lot of
blood was spilled. Yes, and since then murders have been committed that are too awful
to talk about. It used to be that when you knocked a man’s brains out he would just die,
and that would be it. But now they rise from the dead with twenty fatal head wounds
and push us off our stools. This haunting business is even stranger than murder.

8. MACBETH
It will have blood, they say. Blood will have blood.
Stones have been known to move, and trees to
speak.
Augurs and understood relations have
By magot pies and choughs and rooks brought forth
The secret’st man of blood.—What is the night?

There’s an old saying: the dead will have their revenge. Gravestones have been
known to move, and trees to speak, to bring guilty men to justice. The craftiest
murderers have been exposed by the mystical signs made by crows and magpies. How
late at night is it?

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