SCENE IV. A Hall in the palace. A banquet prepared. Enter Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Ross, Lennox, Lords,and Attendants. The Thanes arrive at the party and are welcomed by Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. You know your own degrees; sit down. At first and last the hearty welcome. You know which of you is the most important. Sit down according to your rank. You are all most welcome. Thanks to your Majesty. LORDS. Thank you, 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. We will mix with our guests and be good hosts. Pronounce it for me, sir, to all our friends, For my heart speaks they are welcome. Tell all our friends that I welcome them from my heart. The guests take their seats. Meanwhile, one of the murderers comes in and Macbeth goes to talk to him in private. See, they encounter thee with their hearts' thanks. Both sides are even; here I'll sit i' the midst. Be large in mirth; anon we'll drink a measure The table round. Both sides of the table are even. I will sit with you. Soon we will start the drinking. The murderer tells Macbeth that he has killed Banquo and Macbeth praises him for his work. There's blood upon thy face. You ve got blood on your face. 'Tis Banquo's then. MURDERER It s Banquo s. 'Tis better thee without than he within. Is he dispatch'd? It s better outside you than inside him. Have you got rid of him? My lord, his throat is cut; that I did for him. MURDERER Yes, my lord. I cut his throat. However, the murderer admits that Fleance escaped. Macbeth is angry. He was feeling Thou art the best o' the cut-throats! Yet he's good That did the like for Fleance. If thou didst it, Thou art the nonpareil. You are the best cut-throat. If you did the same to Fleance you are better than all the rest. Most royal sir, Fleance is 'scaped. MURDERER. Sir, Fleance got away. [Aside.] Then comes my fit again. I had else been perfect, Then I must still worry. I was feeling as solid Whole as the marble, founded as the rock, as a rock and as free as air but now I feel As broad and general as the casing air; trapped by my fears. But you have got rid of But now I am cabin'd, cribb'd, confin'd, bound in Banquo. To saucy doubts and fears -But Banquo's safe? Page 1 of 6
confident but now he feels trapped again. He feels a little better when he realises that Fleance is not a threat to him until he is old enough to have children. The Murderer leaves 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. 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! MURDERER Oh yes. He s safe in a ditch with twenty deep cuts on his head. Any one of them would have killed him. Thanks for that. The father has been killed but the child has got away. At least he is still too young to have children. I don t need to worry about him too much just yet. We ll talk about this again. My royal lord, you do not give the toast. What good is a party if there is no host? Macbeth returns to the party and Lennox asks him to sit down. The Ghost of Banquo enters and sits in Macbeth's place. May't please your Highness sit. LENNOX. Come and sit down, Sir. Macbeth says he is sorry that Banquo is not at the party and hopes that nothing bad has happened to him. The Lords again ask Macbeth to join them but he says there are no places free at the table. Macbeth sees Banquo s ghost and becomes very stressed. Here had we now our country's honour roof'd, Were the graced person of our Banquo present, Who may I rather challenge for unkindness Than pity for mischance! His absence, sir, Lays blame upon his promise. Please't your Highness To grace us with your royal company? Don t worry about indigestion. Eat and drink all you want. Here are all our noble men under one roof. What a pity that Banquo couldn t be here with us. I hope that it s just bad manners keeping him away and that nothing bad has happened to him. He should not have broken his promise to you. Sit down, your Highness. Page 2 of 6 ROSS The table's full. There is no room. Here is a place reserved, sir. LENNOX There s a place here, sir. Where? Where? Here, my good lord. What is't that moves your Highness? LENNOX. Here, my good lord. What s the matter? Which of you have done this? Who has done this? What, my good lord? LORDS. What my good Lord? Thou canst not say I did it; never shake You can t put the blame on me. Don t shake your Thy gory locks at me. bloody hair at me!
Ross suggests that they should all leave. Lady Macbeth tries to cover up the situation. She is angry with her husband and tells him he is not a man. Gentlemen, rise; his Highness is not well. ROSS Gentlemen, let s go. His Highness is not well. 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-are you a man? Ay, and a bold one, that dare look on that Which might appal the devil. Sit down. He is often like this and has been since he was a child. He will be better in a minute. Eat up and try to ignore him or you ll just make him worse. Are you a man? Yes, and a brave one that can look at things that might shock the devil. She reminds him that he has imagined things before, like the dagger that he thought he saw before he killed Duncan. Macbeth cannot understand why no one else can see the ghost. The ghost disappears. Macbeth is still very upset but eventually Lady Macbeth persuades him to return to their guests. 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, Authorized by her grandam. Shame itself! Why do you make such faces? When all's done, You look but on a stool. 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. What, quite unmann'd in folly? Oh for heavens sake! This is just your imagination again. It s like the time you thought you saw a dagger leading you to Duncan s room before you killed him. You re like a silly woman telling stories to her grandmother. Why are you pulling faces? After all, you re only looking at a stool! Look! Can t you see it? If graves are going to start sending back the people we have buried in them then they will be like birds that throw up what they have swallowed. You are being stupid. Behave like a man. If I stand here, I saw him. I saw him as clearly as I am standing here. Fie, for shame! Shame on you! Blood hath been shed ere now, i' the olden time, There have always been murders. There was a Ere human statute purged the gentle weal; time when once a man was dead he would stay Ay, and since too, murders have been perform'd dead. That was the end of it. Now they come Too terrible for the ear. The time has been, back and push us out of our seats. This is That, when the brains were out, the man would die, And stranger than any murder. Page 3 of 6
Macbeth joins his guests and again tells them how much he misses his good friend Banquo. Banquo s ghost returns Lady Macbeth tries to calm Macbeth down but this time he is even more upset by the presence of the ghost. He cannot understand why everyone else is calm. The Lords realise that there is something seriously wrong. Lady Macbeth is worried that their questions will make Macbeth admit to what they have done. there an end; but now they 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. 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' the whole table, And to our dear friend Banquo, whom we miss. Would he were here! To all and him we thirst, And all to all. My lord, your friends are missing you. I m sorry. Pay no attention to me. I have a strange illness which is nothing to people who know me well. I ll sit with you and we ll drink a toast to everyone here, and to Banquo whom we miss and wish was here. Our duties and the pledge. LORDS. Cheers! Avaunt, and quit my sight! Let the earth hide thee! Go! Get out of my sight! Get back in the earth Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold; where you belong. You are dead. You can see Thou hast no speculation in those eyes nothing with your staring eyes. Which thou dost glare with. Think of this, good peers, But as a thing of custom. 'Tis no other, Only it spoils the pleasure of the time. 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! Why, so, being gone, I am a man again. Pray you sit still. Think of this as a habit. It is not serious but it spoils the party. I am as brave as any man. You could appear in any other shape and you wouldn t scare me. If you came back to life and I trembled you could call me a silly girl s baby. You are just in my imagination. Get away from me! Page 4 of 6
The ghost goes but Macbeth has ruined the party. Lady Macbeth tells the guests to leave. The guests leave and Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are left alone. Macbeth starts to question Macduff s loyalty to him. You have displaced the mirth, broke the good meeting, With most admired disorder. 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. You have ruined the party. How can it be that these things can happen? I don t understand myself. How can you see things like this and stay calm when they make me turn pale? What sights, my lord? ROSS. What can you see, my lord? 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. Good night, and better health Attend his Majesty! A kind good night to all! It will have blood; they say blood will have blood. Stones have been known to move and trees to speak; Augures and understood relations have By maggot pies and choughs and rooks brought forth The secret'st man of blood. What is the night? Almost at odds with morning, which is which. How say'st thou, that Macduff denies his person At our great bidding? LENNOX. Please don t talk to him, he is getting worse and worse. Asking him questions will just make him angry. Leave now. Good night. We hope his Majesty will be better soon. Good night. It says in the bible that blood will be paid for in blood. Stones move and trees speak and we can see into the future. What time is it? It is very late, or very early. Who can say which. What do you think about Macduff not turning up tonight? Page 5 of 6
He is having people watched in case they plot against him. He is feeling very insecure. He decides to go and see the witches again and ask their advice. 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 feed. 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. You lack the season of all natures, sleep. Did you send for him? I keep a spy in all the Thanes houses. Tomorrow I will go and see the witches again because I need to find out the worst and what I must do. I have done so many terrible things and I am so covered in blood that it is as easy to carry on as it is to go back. There are strange things in my head that I must sort out. Lady Macbeth tells him he needs to sleep. Macbeth suggests that they have only just started on their reign of terror. You need to 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. Yes, we ll sleep now. I feel afraid because all this is new to me. But we have only just started. Page 6 of 6