Act III: Scene 1
Summary
Banquo
suspects Macbeth but gains comfort from the second part of the Witches'
prediction — that his own children will be kings. Having announced his
intention to go riding with Fleance, Banquo is persuaded by the Macbeths to return
later that evening to their new palace at Forres for a special feast. However,
Macbeth realizes that the Witches' prophecy regarding Banquo represents a
threat to his own position. Unable to endure the thought of Banquo's
descendants claiming his position, Macbeth summons two hired murderers and
confirms with them prior arrangements for the killing of Banquo and Fleance.
Analysis
Banquo's
short soliloquy has two purposes: It reminds the audience of the details of the
Witches' prophecy in Act I, and it reveals his own suspicion that Macbeth is
Duncan's murderer. Ironically, his tone also recalls the ambitious tone of
Macbeth in earlier scenes.
Macbeth and
his wife make arrangements for the feast with all the confidence of their new
rank. Note particularly Macbeth's adoption of the royal "we," The use
of the plural in place of the singular pronoun is a traditional figure of
speech by which the monarch expresses not only unity with his people but also
his absolute authority over them. Banquo, once equal in status with Macbeth,
acknowledges Macbeth's new position by addressing him throughout the scene as
"my lord."
Other aspects
of language confirm Macbeth's new status: strong verse rhythms, for example,
appear in lines such as "Here's our chief guest" and "Fail not
our feast." Macbeth's apparent disregard for time — of which he now has
plenty — is clear in expressions such as "but we'll take tomorrow"
and "But of that tomorrow." The word "tomorrow," like
"hereafter," is full of irony in Macbeth. Tomorrow should be full of
hope for the future, but the word comes back to haunt him later in the play.
His use of the word here foreshadows the famous "Tomorrow and
tomorrow" speech in Act V.
Even with his
new title and robes of office, Macbeth does not feel entirely at ease: The
security of his kingship rests partly on his own children's succession to the
crown of Scotland. However, because he has no children of his own, his
treacherous act of regicide — the murder of a king — appears pointless and has
been committed on behalf of Banquo's promised successors. The soliloquy that
Macbeth delivers is filled with the language of contrast. His split with Banquo
is emphasized by opposing pronouns: "They hailed him father to a line of
kings: / Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown, / And put a barren sceptre
in my grip . . . " (60-62).
The line
"To make them kings, the seed of Banquo kings!" (70) is almost
incredulous, as if Macbeth is trying to convince himself that the Witches could
not possibly have spoken the truth. Whereas Banquo still trusts in the fateful
prophecy, Macbeth is all too ready to dismiss it. In Act I, Scene 2, the
wounded captain reported that Macbeth the warrior-hero was prepared to disdain
Fortune. Now Macbeth the murderer goes one step further by literally
challenging Fate itself to a tournament (or "list"): "Rather
than so, come, fate, into the list / And champion me to the utterance"
(71-72). Note that the verb "to champion" here has its original
meaning: to fight against, not for.
The entry of the
hired murderers is a crucial element in the development of Macbeth's character.
His use of others to do his dirty work presents him as politically powerful but
morally weak. Long gone are the days when Macbeth would meet his enemy
"front to front." Now he must commit murder with the seeming
protection of distance — "something [distant] from the palace" (133).
Shakespeare also contrasts ironically the murderers' pragmatic reaction to the
idea of murder with Macbeth's conscience-stricken one.
The dialogue
of the first part of the scene reveals that Macbeth has met the murderers
before. Both then and now, he must convince them to work on his behalf. Whether
true or not (we have no evidence), he kindles, or re-kindles, in them, a hatred
of Banquo: "Know that it was he . . . ," "This I made good to
you in our last conference," "Do you find your patience so
predominant in your nature that you can let this go?" The tone of these
quotations is more than simply interrogative; Macbeth must ensure that the men
are not persuaded by the slightest moral scruple, the slightest sympathy for
Banquo, to betray the plan. Such a reaction would be entirely natural and
human, but that humanity is precisely what Macbeth cannot now allow. Therefore,
when the First Murderer replies, "We are men, my liege," Macbeth cuts
off his speech and, in a sequence of powerful metaphors, reduces the humanity
of these murderers to the level of beasts: "Ay, in the catalogue ye go for
men, / As hounds and greyhounds, mongrels, spaniels, curs / . . . and
demi-wolves are clept [called] / All by the name of dogs" (93-96).
Although
Macbeth flatters the Murderers by suggesting that the business of Banquo's
murder will elevate them above the common rank, his ironic tone reveals that he
thinks of them as little more than beasts. Doubly ironic, then, is that this
entire speech is admission to himself of his own inhumanity and imperfection:
Macbeth himself is acting like a "demi-wolf." The lines are triply
ironic when we see that indeed the murderers are, themselves, imperfect in
carrying out his instructions for the "perfect" crime.
This notion
of perfection is one that now comes to dominate Macbeth's thoughts. Banquo's
death would make Macbeth's "health . . . perfect"; and the crime must
be committed at "the perfect'st spy of the time" (the exact hour).
Both of these quotations foreshadow Macbeth's line in Act III, Scene 4, when,
hearing of the botched attempt to kill Fleance, he remarks "I had else
been perfect." The tragic assumption that one can commit a perfect crime
and escape the consequences is about to be tested.
As if to
impress us with the connection between the killing of the king (the blame for
which could, after all, be laid at the door of Fate) and the killing of Banquo
(blame for which most definitely cannot), the final couplet ("It is
concluded: Banquo, they soul's flight, / If it find heaven, must find it out
tonight") ironically recalls the words spoken by Macbeth immediately prior
to his killing of King Duncan: "Hear it not Duncan, for it is a bell /
That summons thee to Heaven, or to Hell."
Glossary
verities (8)
true predictions
parricide
(31) murder of a parent
rebuked (55)
mocked
fil'd my mind
(64) defiled my guiltless conscience
rancours (66)
bitterness
eternal jewel
(67) immortal soul
Enemy of Man
(68) the Devil
list (70)
tournament
utterance
(71) utmost
probation
(79) approval
borne in hand
. . . cross'd (79) deceived, double-crossed
half a soul
(82) a half-wit
shoughs,
water-rugs (93) rough-coated dogs
particular
addition (99) a specific title
avouch (119)
justify
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