Act III, Scene iv Forres. A room of state in the palace A banquet prepared. Enter and LADY, ROSS, LENNOX, and attendants You know your own degrees. Sit down. At first And last, the hearty welcome. LORDS Thanks to your majesty. Ourself will mingle with society, And play the humble host. Our hostess keeps her state, but in best time We will require her welcome. LADY Pronounce it for me, sir, to all our friends, For my heart speaks they are welcome. "You know your own degrees. Sit down" = Standard formalities at such a gathering would see the guests seated at places appropriate to their "degrees" (their relative status in matters of lineage, authority, and estate holding). And because they "know [their] own degrees," they know where they are to sit. Macbeth's statement and command is ironic, for, although he indicates his knowledge of the social order as it is supposed to be, he is hypocritically one who has violated the order by killing his king, thereby going out of his degree in the worst possible way. "At first / And last, the hearty welcome" = from the greatest in degree ("first") to the lowest ("last"), welcome to all "Ourself will mingle with society, / And play the humble host" = I will act the part of one who is of your degrees and serve as host. In performance, this line is often complemented by showing Macbeth as serving the wine to his guests, which is fitting because it reminds us of his image (in the "if it were done" soliloquy) of serving up a poisoned chalice and his having, in turn, to drink from the same cup. "Our hostess keeps her state, but in best time / We will require her welcome" = my queen remains seated on her throne of state, but at the appropriate moment, I will ask her to express a formal welcome to all FIRST MURDERER appears at the door See, they encounter thee with their hearts' thanks. Both sides are even. Here I'll sit i' th' midst. Be large in mirth. Anon we'll drink a measure The table round. Goes to door There's blood on thy face. "Both sides are even" = the same number of guests is seated on each side of the table (again the even-handedness motif) "Be large in mirth" = enjoy yourselves greatly "Anon we'll drink a measure / The table round" = soon ("anon") everyone will drink from a cup ("a measure") of wine passed around the table. The action is reminiscent of the Christian ritual of Communion, which was instituted in the biblical account of the Last Supper, wherein the traitor Judas leaves the gathering to carry out his betrayal of Jesus. This detail was noted in Act I, Scene vii, in which Duncan could be seen as a Christ figure. The gathering in this scene, then, may be read, in part, as an inversion of that first banquet the target of malice being now not the Christ but the Judas, who is embodied in Macbeth himself. FIRST MURDERER 'Tis Banquo's then. 'Tis better thee without than he within. Is he dispatch'd? "Is he dispatch'd?" = Has he been killed? FIRST MURDERER My lord, his throat is cut. That I did for him. Thou art the best o' th' cutthroats. Yet he's good that did the like for Fleance. If thou didst it, thou art the nonpareil. "did the like" = did the same "nonpareil" = best (without parallel)
"I had else been perfect" = I would otherwise have been completely at ease "As broad and general as the casing air" = as free ("broad") and unrestrained ("general") as the surrounding ("casing") air FIRST MURDERER Most royal sir, Fleance is 'scap'd. Then comes my fit again! I had else been perfect, Whole as the marble, founded as the rock, As broad and general as the casing air. But now I am cabin'd, cribb'd, confin'd, bound in To saucy doubts and fears. But Banquo's safe? FIRST MURDERER Ay, my good lord, safe in a ditch he bides, With twenty trenched gashes on his head, The least a death to nature. Thanks for that. There the grown serpent lies. The worm that's fled Hath nature that in time will venom breed, No teeth for the present. Get thee gone. Tomorrow We'll hear ourselves again. Exit MURDERER "cabin'd, cribb'd, confin'd" = verbs that all speak of being "bound in." Note how the alliteration (in three words, no less) of the harsh k-sound that begins the words emphasizes the anxiety that Macbeth is now feeling. But look, too, at the paradox inherent in the c-word that precedes "cabin'd, cribb'd, confin'd." It is the word "casing" (an abbreviation of encasing), which is used in this context to speak of freedom, the opposite of "cabin'd, cribb'd, confin'd." Freedom is fair, and restriction is foul. And each condition seems somehow to be inherent in the other. Separating the two can be tricky business! "saucy" = rude; violent "safe" = safely taken care of (dead). Consider, though, that the word "safe" also means invulnerable, protected from harm, which is the condition that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have both ascribed to the dead Duncan. There is foreshadowing value in Macbeth's adjective, too, when we consider also that the "safe" person is one who often has a practical and active advantage over the unsafe person when it comes to conflict between the two. "bides" = in this context, lies. In other contexts, however, to bide is to live, which is ironic considering that it is a dead man said to bide. This, then, is a subtle case of a foul biding within a fair or of a fair biding within a foul, depending on one's perspective. "trenched" = long and deep "The least a death to nature" = the smallest of which (among the gashes) would have been enough to kill him "the grown serpent" = Banquo "the worm that's fled" = Fleance "Hath nature that in time will venom breed, / No teeth for the present" = has life in him that will eventually grow enough for him to become dangerous ("venom" will grow potent in him), even though his fangs are not yet developed "hear ourselves" = discuss this matter LADY My royal lord, You do not give the cheer. The feast is sold That is not often vouch'd, while 'tis a-making, 'Tis given with welcome. To feed were best at home. From thence the sauce to meat is ceremony. Meeting were bare without it. Sweet remembrancer! Now, good digestion wait on appetite, And health on both! "give the cheer" = deliver an opening toast "The feast is sold / That is not often vouch'd, while 'tis a-making, / 'Tis given with welcome" = the feast can only be considered as sold, not given freely, when the hosts omit the courtesies that would assure ("vouch" to) their guests that it is given with welcome "To feed were best at home. / From thence the sauce to meat is ceremony. / Meeting were bare without it" = eating is best at home, but away from home ("from thence") a formal occasion ("ceremony") gives the meat an extra sauce, and meeting (a pun on "meat") would be poor without the ceremony LENNOX May't please your highness sit. "remembrancer" = reminder (either the words or the person who speaks the words) "Now, good digestion wait on appetite, / And health on both" = let good digestion follow the appetite, and let good health follow both of them
The GHOST OF BANQUO enters and sits in 's place "The Ghost of Banquo enters and sits in Macbeth's place" = A director needs to determine just how this stage direction is to followed, for he or she must first decide whether this is to be a real ghost (one that Macbeth alone can see) or whether it is to be simply another of Macbeth's hallucinations. In some productions, an actor (of course the one who has been playing the living Banquo) will enter the scene according to the stage direction. In other productions, no entrance will be made by anyone. Here had we now our country's honor roof'd, Were the grac'd person of our Banquo present, Who may I rather challenge for unkindness Than pity for mischance. ROSS His absence, sir, Lays blame upon his promise. Please't your highness To grace us with your royal company. The table's full. LENNOX Where? Here is a place reserv'd, sir. LENNOX Here, my good lord. What is't that moves your highness? "Here had we now our country's honor roof'd / Were the grac'd person of our Banquo present" = This line can be read in two ways: 1) now we would have all of our nation's nobles ("our country's honor" the honorable ones) under one roof if the gracious Banquo were present, or 2) now the building that is made up of our nation's nobles would be complete (would have a roof) if Banquo were present "Whom may I rather challenge for unkindness / Than pity for mischance" = whom I would prefer to scold for his absence than feel sad for his having come to harm (in his attempt to make it here). Macbeth has not yet seen the ghost (whether it is real or imagined). Two kinds of irony are at play here. The first is a verbal irony, given that Macbeth speaks as if he expected Banquo to be here, though he knows that he cannot be here. The second is a situational irony, considering that Banquo (in one form or another) shows up, when he is the only individual who is not expected to show up. It should be noted that there is a similarity in the appearance of Banquo arriving, as it were, on command to the (invisible) appearance of spirits summoned by Lady Macbeth in her speech of invocation ("Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts") in Act I, Scene v. Of course, the spirit of Banquo if this is the spirit of Banquo is no evil minion of the devil, but it is a spirit all the same, and we are told that spiritual entities act in human affairs only on the invitation of humans exercising their free will. In effect, then, Macbeth has invited a spirit in, and the spirit obliges. If the spirit is not a spirit, but only a private manifestation of Macbeth's guilt, then the idea of invitation still holds, for we know that the man of conscience (and Macbeth certainly has a conscience) will unconsciously create for himself the "remembrancer" of his guilt his culpability. True, he may try to ignore the reminder, but he will not succeed. Which of you have done this? "Which of you have done this?" = This line may read as Macbeth roughly asking his guests, Who has put this horrid thing in front of me? Or he may, pretending he is guilty of no crime, be asking, Which of you has killed Banquo? LORDS What, my good lord? Thou canst not say I did it. Never shake Thy gory locks at me! ROSS Gentlemen, rise. His highness is not well.
"Upon a thought" = shortly (in the time it takes to think a thought) "If much you note him" = if you pay too much attention to him or comment too much on him LADY "extend his passion" = prolong his suffering Sit, worthy friends. My lord is often thus, And hath been from his youth. Pray you, keep seat. The fit is momentary. Upon a thought He will again be well. If much you note him, You shall offend him and extend his passion. Feed, and regard him not. [Aside to ] Are you a man? Ay, and a bold one, that dare look on that Which might appall the devil. LADY O proper stuff! This is the very painting of your fear. This is the air-drawn dagger, which, you said, Led you to Duncan. O these flaws and starts, Impostors to true fear, would well become A woman's story at a winter's fire, Authoriz'd by her grandam. Shame itself! Why do you make such faces? When all's done, You look but on a stool. "appall" = disgust "O proper stuff" = This exclamation is spoken sarcastically. From Lady Macbeth's point of view there is certainly nothing "proper" about the "stuff" of her husband's speech, or about the "stuff" he reports seeing. "air-drawn" = drawn on the air or drawn by the air (in either case, imaginary) "flaws" = small gusts of wind "starts" = expressions of being startled "well become / A woman's story at a winter's fire / Authoriz'd by her grandam" = would be suited to ("become") a ghost story (of the kind told for fun around a campfire) told by a woman and having been made up ("authoriz'd") by her grandmother ("grandam") "You look but on a stool" = you're seeing nothing more than an empty seat Prithee, see there! Behold! Look! Lo! How say you? Why, what care I? If thou canst nod, speak too! If charnel-houses and our graves must send Those that we bury back, our monuments Shall be the maws of kites. GHOST OF BANQUO vanishes "Why, what care I?" = Why should I worry? "If charnel-houses and our graves must send / Those that we bury back, our monuments / Shall be the maws of kites" = if tombs ("charnelhouses") and graves allow the dead to return to life, we'll be forced to use as tombs ("monuments") the stomachs ("maws") of birds prey ("kites") "Ghost of Banquo vanishes" = Here again we see that when a human commands it, a spirit must obey. The ghost vanishes when Macbeth challenges it. The situation is similar to that of the witch (if not a spirit, still an agent of the spiritual world) who must depart when a "rump-fed ronyon" commands "Aroint thee, witch!" And if Banquo's ghost is only a hallucination, Macbeth still commands it which is to say that, for the time being, he is in charge of his own mind. "quite unmann'd" = made into something less than a man "folly" = foolishness LADY What, quite unmann'd in folly?
If I stand here, I saw him. LADY Fie, for shame! Blood hath been shed ere now, i' th' olden time, Ere human statute purg'd the gentle weal, Ay, and since too, murders have been perform'd 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. "Blood hath been shed ere now" = blood has been spilled before this time "i' th' olden time / Ere human statute purg'd the gentle weal" = (yes, blood was spilled) in the old days, before human law ("statute") had been established and purified ("purg'd") the community ("weal"), thereby making it peaceful ("gentle") "Ay, and since too, murders have been perform'd" = yes, and even in the days since then (since the creation of laws), people have killed people "The time has been / That when the brains were out the man would die / And there an end" = there was a time (in the good ol' days) when a slain man (with his brains knocked out) would stay slain and that would prove the end of matters "mortal murders" = mortal wounds (wounds severe enough that they will cause death) "crowns" = heads "This is more strange / Than such a murder is" = this (the appearance of a slain man's ghost) is more horrifying than is his murder itself LADY My worthy lord, Your noble friends do lack you. I do forget. Do not muse at me, my most worthy friends. I have a strange infirmity, which is nothing To those that know me. Come, love and health to all! Then I'll sit down. Give me some wine. Fill full. I drink to the general joy o' th' whole table, And to our dear friend Banquo, whom we miss. Would he were here! Re-enter GHOST OF BANQUO And all to all. LORDS To all and him, we thirst, Our duties and the pledge. Avaunt and quit my sight! Let the earth hide thee! Thy bones are marrowless! Thy blood is cold! Thou hast no speculation in those eyes Which thou dost glare with! "muse" = wonder "Would he were here!" = I wish he were here which, once more, amounts to an invitation to the spirit to reappear "all to all" = all good wishes to all people "Avaunt" = be gone "speculation" = intelligence; consciousness
"Think of this, good peers, / But as a thing of custom. 'Tis no other. / Only it spoils the pleasure of the time." = The following commentary is taken from an assignment in which students are asked to select passages from Macbeth and comment on them: LADY Think of this, good peers, But as a thing of custom. 'Tis no other. Only it spoils the pleasure of the time. In this moment Lady Macbeth is working hard to keep up appearances, for her husband s sake and her own. Macbeth is now king; his lady, queen. And they are holding a state banquet for the thanes of Scotland all thanes. But Macduff is not here. How insulting! We learn later that he has deliberately stayed away from this event because he definitely distrusts Macbeth. And Banquo is not here. How sad. Banquo is not here bodily, of course, because he has just been assassinated at Macbeth s order. As it happens, though, he does appear in another way. How so? As an actual spirit whom only Macbeth can see? Or as another false creation of Macbeth s heat-oppressed brain? We are not sure. But that Macbeth sees him sure, and that he is mightily afraid of the sight, there is no doubt. He cries out to the thing, begs it to dare him in the shape of any terrible beast, but not to show itself in the likeness of dead Banquo gashed, bloodyhaired, with glaring eyes. Lady Macbeth tries frantically to cover for Macbeth s raving, explaining to their amazed guests that what they are seeing in the king is a common quirk, a minor and passing ailment, nothing more though it does perhaps diminish the gaiety of the feast. Her rationale for her husband s behavior is nothing if not laughable. Here is the king of Scotland the ruler, the man among men, the one who is meant to be whole as the marble, founded as the rock a weeping, wailing, gibbering mess. What should his kinsmen think but that the king seems less than kingly? And she calls it a thing of custom! Interestingly, her statement has an equivocal smack to it, for she is lying, of course, but at another level she is telling the truth. It has, in truth, become a thing of custom for Macbeth to see terrifying visions. And this, as it turns out, is not the last one he will see. It is also ironic to hear Lady Macbeth regretting that the pleasure of the time is being spoiled; after all, she is the one who first advised her husband to beguile the time by [looking] like the time. Well then, here is some poetic justice for Macbeth looks much like the time he has engendered in the realm: disordered, afraid, and facing death. What man dare, I dare! Approach thou like the rugged Russian bear, The arm'd rhinoceros, or the Hyrcan tiger. Take any shape but that and my firm nerves Shall never tremble. Or be alive again And dare me to the desert with thy sword. If trembling I inhabit then, protest me The baby of a girl. Hence, horrible shadow! Unreal mockery, hence! "Approach thou like" = challenge me in the form of "arm'd" = armored "Hyrcan" = Hyrcania (formerly a region of the Persian empire) "protest me" = accuse me of being "baby of a girl" = a little girl's doll "Hence" = go away. For this scene, it is Macbeth's final mastery of the spirit (or hallucination), as the ghost again vanishes. GHOST OF BANQUO vanishes Why, so being gone, I am a man again. Pray you, sit still. LADY You have displac'd the mirth, broke the good meeting, With most admir'd disorder. "admir'd" = noted; observed
Can such things be, And overcome us like a summer's cloud Without our special wonder? You make me strange Even to the disposition that I owe, When now I think you can behold such sights And keep the natural ruby of your cheeks, When mine is blanch'd with fear. ROSS What sights, my lord? LADY I pray you, speak not. He grows worse and worse. Question enrages him. At once, good night. Stand not upon the order of your going, But go at once. LENNOX Good night, and better health Attend his majesty. "overcome" = pass over "You make me strange / Even to the disposition that I owe / When now I think you can behold such sights / And keep the natural ruby of your cheeks, / While mine is blanch'd with fear" = you make me seem a stranger to my own nature ("the disposition that I owe [own]" being that of bravery), when I see that you can look on sights like this and keep the redness in your cheek, while mine has gone white ("is blanch'd") with terror This speech may be addressed to the guests generally or to Lady Macbeth alone. "Stand not upon the order of your going, / But go at once" = do not observe the usual formalities of exiting. Just go! As formalities based on social degrees would be observed at the beginning of the feast, so they would be observed at the end. But what began with an attempt at order has disintegrated, and order has been forsaken. LADY A kind good night to all. Exeunt all but and LADY 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. "Blood will have blood" = the murderer will be repaid in kind. Here is a simply forceful expression of the even-handed order of the universe, which asserts that what we give to the world for good or ill will be returned to us in equal degree. "Stones have been known to move and trees to speak" = The idea here is that miraculous phenomena will occur to bring about justice to even the "secret'st man of blood." "augurs" = auguries (predictions) "understood relations" = relationships between causes and effects that come to be seen ("understood") "magot-pies" = magpies / "choughs" = of the crow family / "rooks" = crows all serving to convey omens or occulted knowledge (another set of three) "the secret'st man of blood" = the murderer whose crime would otherwise be perfectly concealed "What is the night?" = What is the time? What is the night? LADY Almost at odds with morning, which is which. "Almost at odds with morning" = the night is disputing ("at odds") with the morning. The sense of Lady Macbeth's response is that the hour is nearly midnight the time at which night comes to its turning point and the morning, with the promise of light, begins its approach. Thinking about this turning of the clock in terms of the play's action (more than half of which has now passed), we should not predict that more foul deeds will not occur, but at least we can believe that fair dealing will eventually make its return for "time and the hour runs through the roughest day."
How say'st thou, that Macduff denies his person At our great bidding? LADY Did you send to him, sir? I hear it by the way. But I will send. There's not a one of them but in his house I keep a servant fee'd. I will tomorrow, And betimes I will, to the weird sisters. More shall they speak. For now I am bent to know, By the worst means, the worst. For mine own good, All causes shall give way. I am in blood Stepp'd in so far that, should I wade no more, Returning were as tedious as go o'er. Strange things I have in head that will to hand, Which must be acted ere they may be scann'd. LADY You lack the season of all natures, sleep. Come, we'll to sleep. My strange and self-abuse Is the initiate fear that wants hard use. We are yet but young in deed. Exeunt "How say'st thou, that Macduff denies his person / At our great bidding?" = What do you have to say about Macduff having declined my invitation to the feast? "fee'd" = paid "There's not a one of them but in his house / I keep a servant fee'd" = there isn't a thane in Scotland in whose castle I don't have a servant installed (one who acts as a spy and keeps me informed of affairs in the household) "I will tomorrow, and betimes I will, to the weird sisters" = I will go tomorrow, and go early ("betimes"), to the witches "bent" = inclined; determined "All causes shall give way" = everything else must take second place "should I wade no more, / Returning were as tedious as go o'er" = if I should go no further (into this river or lake of blood), returning to the shore I've come from would be just as much trouble as going onward to the other side. Notice how Macbeth's image of coming to a midway point suits with Lady Macbeth's "almost at odds with morning." "Strange things I have in head that will to hand, / Which must be acted ere they may be scann'd" = I have fearsome impulses in mind that must be realized ("will to hand"), impulses that have to be acted on before they are thought about ("scann'd" examined). In this speech, we see Macbeth coming more to embody the idea of evil as an energy that acts impulsively. Evil acts without a nod to foresight or to compassion or, indeed, to any process that smacks of self-awareness. Evil is a juggernaut, a mindless force that seems not to stop by its own choice (for choice implies mindfulness). Other forces must stop it. "self-abuse" = self-deception. The implication of this self-assessment is that Macbeth sees how he has failed to recognize his potential as an actor of evil. It would appear that he wishes no longer to hold himself back in this regard, by allowing, say, a pesky conscience to stand in his way. "the initiate fear that wants hard use" = the fearful hesitations that a novice (an "initiate") is prone to and that can be overcome only by practice ("use") in cruel ("hard") action. Macbeth has expressed this idea (but more tentatively) at the end of Act III, Scene ii, when he is steeling himself for the murder of Banquo, saying, "Things bad begun make strong themselves by ill."