Macbeth Act 3 Scene 4

The same. A Room of state in the Palace. A banquet

prepared. Enter Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Ross, Lennox, 1. Annotate the line that shows that in Macbeth’s time, lords sat in a particular
Lords, and Attendants order to show their status – the closer you sat to the king the more
MACBETH. important you were.
You know your own degrees: sit down. At first
And last the hearty welcome.

LORDS. 2. Where does Macbeth choose to sit?

Thanks to your majesty.

MACBETH. ......................................................................................................................................................
Ourself will mingle with society,
And play the humble host.
Our hostess keeps her state; but, in best time,
We will require her welcome. 3. What does it suggest about Macbeth that he risks speaking to the murderer
LADY MACBETH. in the middle of this banquet?
Pronounce it for me, sir, to all our friends;
For my heart speaks they are welcome.
......................................................................................................................................................
MACBETH.
See, they encounter thee with their hearts’ thanks.—
Both sides are even: here I’ll sit i’ the midst:
......................................................................................................................................................

[Enter first Murderer to the door.]

Be large in mirth; anon we’ll drink a measure 4. What does Macbeth mean when he says “ ’Tis better thee without than he
The table round.—There’s blood upon thy face. within.”
MURDERER.
’Tis Banquo’s then. ......................................................................................................................................................
MACBETH.
’Tis better thee without than he within. ......................................................................................................................................................
Is he despatch’d?

MURDERER.
My lord, his throat is cut; that I did for him.

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 Macbeth Act 3 Scene 4
MACBETH.
Thou art the best o’ the cut-throats; yet he’s good
That did the like for Fleance: if thou didst it, 5. How does Macbeth take the news that Fleance has escaped?
Thou art the nonpareil.

MURDERER. ......................................................................................................................................................
Most royal sir, Fleance is ’scap’d.

MACBETH. ......................................................................................................................................................
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 6. Annotate an example of alliteration.
To saucy doubts and fears. But Banquo’s safe?

MURDERER.
Ay, my good lord: safe in a ditch he bides,
With twenty trenched gashes on his head; 7. What does Macbeth mean when he calls Banquo “safe”?
The least a death to nature.

MACBETH. ......................................................................................................................................................
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; to-morrow
We’ll hear, ourselves, again.

[Exit Murderer.] 8. Where else has Macbeth talked about a snake?

LADY MACBETH.
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.

MACBETH.
Sweet remembrancer!—
Now, good digestion wait on appetite,
And health on both!

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 Macbeth Act 3 Scene 4
LENNOX.
May’t please your highness sit. 9. Annotate where Macbeth says:
[The Ghost of Banquo rises, and sits in Macbeth’s place.] ƒ I wish the most important guest was here
MACBETH. ƒ I’d rather scold him for being rudely late than worry about something
Here had we now our country’s honour roof’d,
bad happening to him
Were the grac’d person of our Banquo present;
Who may I rather challenge for unkindness
Than pity for mischance! 10. Why does Macbeth think that there is not a place for him to sit at the
ROSS. table?
His absence, sir,
Lays blame upon his promise. Please’t your highness
To grace us with your royal company? .....................................................................................................................................................

MACBETH.
The table’s full. .....................................................................................................................................................

LENNOX.
Here is a place reserv’d, sir.
11. What line is it that shows Macbeth is suddenly shocked?

MACBETH.
.....................................................................................................................................................
Where?

LENNOX. 12. Explain how Lady Macbeth keeps the guests calm and why she wants them
Here, my good lord. What is’t that moves your highness?
to remain.
MACBETH.
Which of you have done this?
.....................................................................................................................................................
LORDS.
What, my good lord?
.....................................................................................................................................................
MACBETH.
Thou canst not say I did it: never shake
Thy gory locks at me.
.....................................................................................................................................................

ROSS.
Gentlemen, rise; his highness is not well.

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 Macbeth Act 3 Scene 4
LADY MACBETH.
Sit, worthy friends:—my lord is often thus, 13. Annotate where Lady Macbeth says:
And hath been from his youth: pray you, keep seat;
The fit is momentary; upon a thought ƒ There is nothing there
He will again be well: if much you note him,
You shall offend him, and extend his passion: ƒ It’s just like the dagger you said led you to Duncan
Feed, and regard him not.—Are you a man?
ƒ These visions are pathetic, scary stories told by grandmothers are scarier
MACBETH. ƒ You should be ashamed of your silly behaviour
Ay, and a bold one, that dare look on that
Which might appal the devil.
14. What is the effect of Macbeth’s short sentences, punctuated with
LADY MACBETH.
O proper stuff! exclamation marks?
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.
15. What does Lady Macbeth say to mock Macbeth’s masculinity?
MACBETH.
Pr’ythee, 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 16. Where else in the play has she done this?
Shall be the maws of kites.

[Ghost disappears.] .......................................................................................................................................................

LADY MACBETH.
What, quite unmann’d in folly? .......................................................................................................................................................
MACBETH.
If I stand here, I saw him.

LADY MACBETH.
Fie, for shame!

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 Macbeth Act 3 Scene 4
MACBETH.
Blood hath been shed ere now, i’ the olden time,
Ere humane statute purg’d the gentle weal;
17. What does Macbeth say about the strange happenings?
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.
....................................................................................................................................................
LADY MACBETH.
My worthy lord,
Your noble friends do lack you.

MACBETH. 18. Where is there an example of dramatic irony?

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: 19. What is the effect of this?
Would he were here! to all, and him, we thirst,
And all to all.
....................................................................................................................................................
LORDS.
Our duties, and the pledge.
....................................................................................................................................................
[Ghost rises again.]

MACBETH.
Avaunt! and quit my sight! let the earth hide thee! 20. Where does Macbeth say:
Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold;
Thou hast no speculation in those eyes ƒ He wishes Banquo were there with them
Which thou dost glare with!
ƒ He tells the ghost to go away
LADY MACBETH.
Think of this, good peers,
But as a thing of custom: ’tis no other,
Only it spoils the pleasure of the time.

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 Macbeth Act 3 Scene 4
MACBETH.
What man dare, I dare: 21. Where does Macbeth say:
Approach thou like the rugged Russian bear,
The arm’d rhinoceros, or the Hyrcan tiger; ƒ The ghost should take any scary shape except that of Banquo
Take any shape but that, and my firm nerves
Shall never tremble: or be alive again, ƒ He wouldn’t be afraid of anything except Banquo’s ghost
And dare me to the desert with thy sword;
If trembling I inhabit then, protest me
The baby of a girl. Hence, horrible shadow! 22. Explain the following:
Unreal mockery, hence!
ƒ “You have displaced the mirth”
[Ghost disappears.]
Why, so;—being gone,
I am a man again.—Pray you, sit still.
.....................................................................................................................................................

LADY MACBETH. ƒ “Can such things be, And overcome us like a summer’s cloud”
You have displaced the mirth, broke the good meeting,
With most admir’d disorder.
.....................................................................................................................................................
MACBETH.
Can such things be,
And overcome us like a summer’s cloud, ƒ “you can behold such sights, And keep the natural ruby of your cheeks,
Without our special wonder? You make me strange
When mine are blanch’d with fear.”
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 are blanch’d with fear.

ROSS. .....................................................................................................................................................
What sights, my lord?

LADY MACBETH. 23. How does Lady Macbeth cover up for Macbeth’s fear to the lords?
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!

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 Macbeth Act 3 Scene 4
LADY MACBETH.
A kind good-night to all! 24. Explain what Macbeth means when he says “blood will have blood”.
[Exeunt all Lords and Attendants.]
......................................................................................................................................................
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 25. This event happens when the night is “almost at odds with morning.”
The secret’st man of blood.—What is the night?
How does this connect it to other terrible events in the play?
LADY MACBETH.
Almost at odds with morning, which is which.
......................................................................................................................................................
MACBETH.
How say’st thou, that Macduff denies his person
At our great bidding? ......................................................................................................................................................
LADY MACBETH.
Did you send to him, sir?
26. Annotate where Macbeth says:

MACBETH. ƒ That he pays one of Macduff’s servants to spy on him

I hear it by the way; but I will send: ƒ That the next day he will return to see the witches
There’s not a one of them but in his house ƒ That he has committed so many terrible deeds he might as well keep going
I keep a servant fee’d. I will to-morrow,
(And betimes I will) to the weird sisters: ƒ Considering what sort of things are going to happen, what they’ve done so
More shall they speak; for now I am bent to know, far is nothing at all
By the worst means, the worst. For mine own good,
All causes shall give way: I am in blood
Step’t in so far that, should I wade no more, 27. List the major differences between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in this scene:
Returning were as tedious as go o’er:
Strange things I have in head, that will to hand; Macbeth Lady Macbeth
Which must be acted ere they may be scann’d.
LADY MACBETH.
You lack the season of all natures, sleep.
MACBETH.
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.]

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