Macbeth Act 3 Scene 1 | Line-by-line Explanation in English | ISC

Class 12 #englishwithsudhirsir
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Hello, Namaskar, Vanakkam. Macbeth Act 3, Scene 1, which is the first scene as far as your class
12 syllabus for ISE is concerned. So, that is what we are going to study.

We have already seen the murder of King Duncan in the first two acts, in Act 2 in particular. And
now we see the consequences of that particular regicide, what really happens, especially to the
characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Aravind Gillama, let us start.

Shall we start? So, this is the PDF. I hope you can see it on your screen. Now, this particular
scene takes place at Fawse.

It is pronounced as F-A-W-Z. This is the palace and Banquo enters. Now, Banquo is obviously
one of the important characters because he is presented throughout the play as a foil to
Macbeth till his murder takes place.

And we have seen that Banquo is the only other person who knows what the three beard
sisters predicted for Macbeth and also to an extent for Banquo. Banquo says, thou hast it now
king. Cawdor, glance all, as the beard women promised.

And I fear thou pleadest most foully for it. Now, this is the particular scene in which Macbeth
orders the killing of Banquo and his son Fleance. The killing of son Fleance that he orders is
extremely important because the witches had predicted that the descendants of Banquo will be
the ones who would become kings in the future.

So, he wants to prevent that line of succession from taking place because he sees them as a
potential threat based on the prophecy made by the witches. Now, Banquo says, thou hast it
now. What is he referring to? He is referring to the different titles.

He says, you have it now. You referring to, thou referring to Macbeth. He says, you are now the
king.

You are also the thane of Cawdor, the thane of glance, the titles that he occupied before this, all
of them. And just like the beard women, that is the witches, predicted, promised means
predicted. And I fear, but I suspect, here he is talking about that he is doubting.

He suspects that you, that is Macbeth, used foul play, plates most foully, that he used some
amount of foul play in order to attain these titles. For it means, in order to achieve these titles,
especially that of the king of Scotland, you did something which was not moral, which was not
the ethical thing to do. Yet, it was said, it should not stand in thy posterity.

But the witches also said that the titles will not remain with your descendants. Posterity means,
after you. It should not stand means, it is not something which will be there for it, for which you
did something extremely dishonest.

So, he says, it will not be for your descendants. Posterity means something which comes after.
But that myself should be the root and father of many kings.

But that I, myself, that he is referring to Banquo himself, will be the root. That is, it is from me
that the next line of kings will actually come as far as Scotland is concerned. So, the sons and
grandsons, that is my root.

And I will be the father of many kings. That is, from me is where the line of descendants will
come for Scotland's royalty. If there come truth from them, as upon the Macbeth, their
speeches shine.

So, he says, if the witches, if there come truth from them, them is referring to the witches. If
they indeed spoke the truth, if they indeed spoke the truth, them referring to the witches and
what they told about you were brilliantly fulfilled. Speeches shine means their speeches shown
that whatever they said in that interaction with the witches, they actually came true very
brilliantly.

Shine means they really came across very brilliantly because that is precisely what happened.
While by the verities of thee made good, may they not be my oracles as well and set me up in
hope but hush no more. So, he is saying then maybe.

So, you see, Banquo is also hoping that maybe since their predictions about you came true, it is
quite possible that their predictions about me, that is my descendants will become the kings of
Scotland, that may also come true as well. And that gives me hope. Set me up in hope means
that provides him hope, that gives Banquo hope.

But now I will shut up. Hush means I will not speak anymore because he has heard the sound
of the arrival of Macbeth along with Lady Macbeth, Lennox, Rox and other ladies and
gentlemen and lords. So, oracles is an important word here because oracles essentially were
used as sources of truth.

It is used by Banquo for the witches. He is referring to the witches as the oracles as well
because oracles were known as sources of some kind of knowledge, prophetic knowledge
about your own fate and destiny. And by calling them oracles, and this is an important point, by
calling the witches as oracles, otherwise he refers to them as weird sisters, but by calling them
as oracles, he is kind of giving their predictions, their pronouncements a lot of importance
because he has seen at least some of them coming true.

As far as Macbeth is concerned, all their predictions have actually come true. Now, the last part,
and this is important, please make a note of it. The last part where he is kind of hoping that why
cannot they be my oracles as well and that gives me hope.
It shows that Banquo is also harbouring some kind of ambitions as far as his next generations
are concerned. So, since the witches were right about Macbeth, he starts to entertain the idea
that what they may have prophesied about Banquo that might come true as well. So, he is
trying to think about his own place in the larger context because Macbeth has become king as
per the prophecy by the witches.

He has seen Macbeth's rise to ultimate power. So, there is this internal kind of struggle
between his loyalty to King Macbeth and his own ambition which seems to be budding and that
is kind of sets up some kind of a clash. So, this is an important point.

So, if you get something with reference to Banquo's ambition, you need to mention this.
Macbeth says, here is our chief guest referring to Banquo. So, Lady Macbeth says, if he had
been forgotten, if we had forgotten him, it would have been seen as a gap in our grand feast
and all things unbecoming.

That if we had forgotten it, our big celebration would have been incomplete. A gap in our big
feast means our feast would have been incomplete if we had forgotten about Banquo and that
would have been quiet. All things means that would have been quiet, unbecoming means
inappropriate and to forget about Banquo would have not only led to a gap in our lacuna, a
drawback in our grand feast but it also would have been rather inappropriate.

Macbeth says, tonight we hold a solemn supper, so we are having a ceremonial, this is referring
to ceremonial supper, supper as in dinner or a feast and I request your presence. Please note
this word request that I request that you should also attend it. Let your highness command
upon me.

Now, look at why did I say request because he uses the word command. Banquo responds with
the command to Macbeth's use of the word request. So, he says whatever your highness orders
me to do, commands me to do, to the which my duties are a most indissoluble tie forever knit.

So, he says, Banquo says that whatever your highness, that is your, I mean the king Macbeth
commands me to do, it is my duty to obey it. Now, let me just explain to you this particular
phrase. Now, indissoluble means something which cannot be broken or undone.

Tie means some kind of a bond, you know that, I mean he has good ties with him which means
that there is a good relationship between A and B. So, indissoluble tie is essentially talking
about an bond which is unbreakable bond. So, Banquo is using this particular phrase
indissoluble tie to express his sense of loyalty, sense of duty towards the king of Scotland that is
Macbeth. So, he is basically saying that his loyalty and obligation to follow the king's commands
are so strong that they cannot be broken in any way.

Then I also told you that he uses the word request but he replies by using the word command.
Now, why is Banquo's use of the word phrase indissoluble tie significant? Because he is
unaware of the fact, though he suspects that Macbeth has done something wrong, dishonest,
but he is unaware of the fact that he is the one who actually went ahead and killed King
Duncan. So, he is kind of expressing loyalty to a man who has actually committed the ultimate
crime of regicide.

So, this kind of creates a dramatic irony that no, this man who knew everything about Macbeth
including the predictions made by the three beard sisters, but he did not know that he killed
King Duncan and now he is actually expressing great loyalty to this particular king. But at the
same time, we also know that Banquo has a strong sense of duty and that kind of leads him on
to question Macbeth's legitimacy as the king of Scotland. And we also know that the moral
compass of Banquo is much superior to that of Macbeth.

So, he is loyal but he will not follow him blindly. So, these are the different aspects of Banquo
that I am telling you about which you should be aware of so that you can use it in your answers.
Macbeth says, are you going riding this afternoon? That is, you are going on horse riding.

Banquo says, yes, my good lord. We should have else desired your good advice which still had
been both great and prosperous in this day's council, but we will take tomorrow. Is it far, you
ride? So, Macbeth wants to know the whereabouts of Banquo as to where he is going and
whether he is going very far.

So, he says that we would have liked to hear, desired means we would have liked your good
advice which still has always, still means which always has been very serious, grave means
serious and prosperous means it has been of benefit to Scotland at the council meeting. So, he
is talking about regular work of the entire kingdom governance issues, but we will conduct it
tomorrow. Are you going far? Banquo says, as far my lord as will fill up the time between this
and supper.

So, he is replying to him as to where he is going. Now, the fact that he is referred to his advice
as grave and prosperous, that is serious and beneficial, it shows us that Banquo is considered
to be a sensible kind of an advisor in the kingdom of Scotland and his advisor, his advice is not
just serious, but it also leads to benefits for the kingdom of Scotland and that is something
which Macbeth is acknowledging in public. So, yet another aspect of Banquo is emphasized,
brought out that Banquo is someone who is seen as insightful, someone who is wise, someone
who is intelligent and can give sound and clear advice.

So, in contrast, we will see Macbeth in act three itself, kind of descending into all kinds of
different kinds of paranoia. And there is also irony in this, that while he is praising Banquo,
same time we know in the same scene he will be also plotting to have him killed. So, there is, it
shows that Macbeth is an extremely Machiavellian, scheming kind of character, someone who
cannot be trusted because on the face of it, he is praising Banquo while he will also be at the
back of his mind, he is plotting Banquo's murder.

So, that is something. So, it shows his deep sense of fear and insecurity vis-a-vis Banquo. So,
please, whatever I am telling you about Banquo, keep making notes because these are
important points that you will need as far as your answers are concerned, 5 marks or 10 marks.

Banquo's killing will be an important question for you in the examination. I will teach you
everything in great detail, word by word, line by line. You will not have to look at any book after
this.

If you take down the notes, that will take care of it. Subsequently, our test papers will take care
of the way you need to write the answers, that will be later in the year. As far as my lord, as far
my lord as will fill up the time between this and supper.

So, he says, the distance is far enough that the trip will take me time from now until dinner. So,
that much time it will take for me to go and come back, that it will be between now when I leave
and until dinner time when I come back. Unless my, go not my horse the better, unless my
horse goes faster than I expect.

Unless my horse goes faster than I expect better, that is referring to speed. I must become a
borrower of the night for a dark hour or twain. So, he is saying that I will be riding an hour or
two after it is dark.

After it is dark, I will be riding. So, by the time I come back, it will be dark and it will be almost a
couple of hours when I will actually be riding when it is already dark. Now, borrower of the
night is an interesting phrase that he uses.

Now, it is a metaphor. This one is a metaphor. So, he is, it is not as though he is borrowing
something from the night, but he is saying that he is going to be taking time from the night to
complete his journey.

He is not going to be able to complete his journey in the daytime itself. So, he is saying that I
will have to borrow time from the night in order to complete the journey, which is why he has
used the phrase borrower of the night. Twain is a more old style archaic word for two, for an
hour or two.

So, that is what he is saying for a couple of hours. Now, the other important aspect that you
need to bear in mind, because you see a lot of things happen in the darkness. What did happen
in the darkness? The killing of King Duncan, it happened in the night.

Now, again, he is going to come back in the night when Banquo will also get killed. So,
Banquo's travel in the dark is kind of telling the audience and the reader that something wrong
is going to be happen, is going to happen, because the dark always kind of conveys something
sinister as far as this play is concerned. And it kind of foreshadows the plot that Macbeth has
hatched in order to eliminate him.

And the dramatic irony, which is very, very stark out here is that Banquo is kind of telling in
detail about his travel plans to Macbeth without being aware that Macbeth is going to use all
this information to feed to the murderers in order to kill him. He is unaware of the danger that
actually lies in the darkness for Banquo. Macbeth says, do not miss our feast, fail not our feast,
my lord, I will not miss it.

Macbeth says, we hear our bloody cousins are bestowed in England and in Ireland, not
confessing their cruel parasite, filling their hearers with strange invention, but of that
tomorrow. So, he says that we have heard that our bloody cousins, who is he referring to?
Malcolm and Donald Bane, because he was related to Duncan. Remember, they have taken
refuge in England and in Ireland.

They are not in Scotland. One of them is in England. One of them is in Ireland.

The two have not yet confessed that they were the ones who killed King Duncan. Killing their
father, killing the king is known as regicide. Killing the father is known as parasite.

Filling their hearers and they have been telling strange invention. Strange invention means they
have been telling strange lies or fictitious stories about the murder. They are not confessing to
having killed the father and they have been filling their hearers.

Whoever is listening to them, they are telling them lots of strange, fictitious stories. But we will
discuss that tomorrow, of that tomorrow, when wherewithal, when therewithal, we shall have
cause of state craving us jointly. But we will discuss all that tomorrow, when we will discuss
matters of state that require both your attention and mine.

Craving us jointly means both you and I have to discuss those important matters of state. So,
they crave for us, for our attention. Those matters are craving for our attention.

You need to hide, you two horse, you need to hurry. Goodbye, till you return at night, his flames
going with you. You see, he talks about a lot of things and then he kind of slips in a question
because he needs that information, because he is plotting the murder of both Banco and his
son Flames.

Yes, my good lord, our time does call upon us. It's time we got going. That's he is saying.

It's time we got going. I wish your horses swift and sure of foot. That are, I wish that your
horses are fast and sure-footed that they know how to gallop along.

And with that wish, I send you to your horseback riding. I commend you means I let you go to
ride your horses. Goodbye, Banco exits.

Let every man be master of his time. Now, he says that, let every man, you know, control his
time till seven at night. All of you can do whatever you want to do till seven o'clock at night.

You know, all of you are free to do referring to the, I mean, addressing the other lords and
ladies. And he says, to make society the sweeter welcome, we will keep ourselves till supper
time alone. In order to ensure that your company is more enjoyable for me, I'm going to spend
the time till dinner all alone.
So he says, we'll keep ourselves till supper time alone. So he says that till such time I want to be
alone so that later on when I have your company, I enjoy it that much more until then may God
be with you. And everyone exits except Macbeth and one attendant.

So Macbeth says to the attendant a word with you, attend those men are pleasure. So he says, I
mean, sirrah is a word which is, it means sir, but it's not said with the respect. It's generally
used for someone who is inferior to your rank.

It could be a servant or someone who is below you in terms of rank. Attendant says they are
waiting, referring to the murderers. He says bring them upon me.

So the attendant exits the scene. And this is the beginning of Macbeth's soliloquy, which is
extremely important. So he says, and listen and mark the words carefully.

To be thus, thus is referring to be king. So he says that to be king is worthless. That is, it is
pointless unless I am safe as a king.

If I'm not safe as a king, to be king is worthless. Our fears in Banquo stick deep that I'm deeply
afraid of Banquo. And in his royalty of nature reigns that which would be feared.

And there is a natural nobility, there is in his royalty of nature reigns that. What is reigning in
Banquo? There is a natural nobility which is reigning in Banquo, which is part of Banquo's
character and personality that makes me afraid of him. And then he says, it is much he dares,
which means that he is a risk taker.

Banquo is a risk taker and to that dauntless temper of his mind. And in addition to his rather
fearless spirit, in addition to his rather fearless spirit, he has a wisdom. He is also very wise and
that guides his bravery, his courage.

This is referring to his bravery. So he is wise and that kind of guides his courage to act safely. So
you see, it's very interesting that he's talking about the qualities of Banquo that he actually
admires.

But in the same vein, he says that it is the same qualities that he is also a little scared of. So it is
a little bit of a strange kind of a situation that Mehmed is talking about. So it shows Mehmed's
internal conflict vis-a-vis Banquo that there are three qualities which he admires, but he also
sees them as a threat to his position as the King of Scotland.

So there is a sense of insecurity. And as we know that throughout the play, Mehmed and
Banquo are pitted against each other. Mehmed says, there is none but he who's being I fear,
that there is no one else except Banquo who I actually fear.

And under him, my genius is repute. Now, what is genius? Now, genius essentially means a
guardian spirit. The belief at that time during Shakespeare's time was that every person
possessed a controlling guardian spirit that directed his actions, that kind of directed what each
person will do.

So he says that my guardian spirit is intimidated, feels scared because of Banquo's presence,
just like it was said that Mark Antony's spirit was intimidated because of Caesar's spirit. So he's
making this comparison between himself and Banquo with Mark Antony and Caesar. So making
a historical comparison, it also shows that he's kind of beginning to lose his control over his
mind because he's talking in those kind of rather abstract terms.

So Mark Antony, the story is that Mark Antony had been told by a soothsayer that his spirit was
brave when it was alone. But when there was Caesar's spirit around him, it felt a little scared
and intimidated. So Shakespeare is comparing the two sets, Mehmed and Banquo with that of
Caesar and Mark Antony.

So Mehmed is feeling that his own abilities, his own potential is kind of diminished because of
Banquo's presence. He feels overshadowed, intimidated by Banquo's wisdom. And this is
important.

One, it shows, what does it show? It shows Mehmed's sense of insecurity. It also shows his
mental state, which seems to be deteriorating mental state. And the interesting thing is that he
is not acknowledging the depth in his character.

He is kind of projecting the insecurities onto Banquo that because of him, I am feeling
intimidated. And he is, as I said, talking about the historical event is kind of shows that Mehmed
is beginning to lose touch with reality. He is talking about unrelated stories in order to justify
his actions.

And by talking about Mark Antony and Caesar, he is adding a layer of complexity to his own
actions. So he then says that he scolded the sisters who Banquo chided. He scolded the sisters
when they first said that Mehmed will be king.

And he said and bade them, means that he told them that they should speak to him. And then
like prophets, he says, witches were like prophets because they prophesied. Then prophet like,
they hailed him as the father to a line of kings, saying that the next generations of kings will
come from Banquo.

Banquo will not be king, but after Mehmed, it will be Banquo's children who will be the kings.
And so that means that on my head, they placed a crown which was fruitless. That is, it will not
bear any fruit in terms of the crown that I will not be able to pass on my crown to my children.

So, scepter is the emblem of the symbol of the king's authority. So, he says that the scepter that
I have in my hand is barren, which means that I cannot be passing it on to my children. The
scepter which is there in my grip tends to be wrenched by, with an unlenient hand.

Wrenched means it has to, it will be snatched away. It will be snatched away by a hand which
does not belong to me. It is a non-linear kind of a function.
So, he says that someone from outside my family will take these things from me since no son of
mine will succeed me as the king of Scotland. If it be so for Banquo's issue, have I filed my
mind? That is, I have done all these things, including the murder of gracious Duncan. I did all
this for the sake of Banquo's children.

So, he is feeling rather angry and upset because of this, that for the sake of Banquo's children, I
did something as bad as the murder of gracious Duncan. So, filed means defiled. That is what
defiled means spoiled my mind.

So, he is kind of in a roundabout manner admitting that what he did was not the right thing to
do. But he is at this point in time feeling more agitated about the fact that he did that for the
sake of Banquo's children. That is what is upsetting him more.

So, you see the different contradictions, layers of Macbeth's thinking and mind at this point in
time. So, he says that I put rancours in the vessel of my peace. Now, rancours is something like
obstacles, hurdles.

So, in the vessel is the mind. That is, I spoiled my peace of mind for the sake of Banquo's
children. I destroyed my peace of mind.

So, he says that I have handed over only for them and my eternal jewel given to the common
enemy of man to make them kings, the seed of Banquo kings. So, he says that I have handed
over eternal jewel means my everlasting peace, everlasting soul. You say, no, you sell off the
soul to the devil.

So, I have given away my everlasting soul to the devil. Common enemy of man is who? It is the
devil. They say, no, you sold your soul to the devil, which means that you are doing something
very dark.

That is a phrase. That is an idiom. So, that Banquo's children could become kings, Banquo's
sons becoming the king.

Rather than so, come fate into the list. So, he is kind of challenging fate. This is, he is using, he
is personifying fate.

So, he says that, you know, come fate into the battleground and fight to death. You know, you
can come and champion me to the end. Utterance means you come and fight me to the end.

And then he says, who is there? Because the two murderers have come with the attendant. So,
Banquo's issue refers to Banquo's descendants. Defile my mind means that, you know,
whatever he did, focused his thoughts and actions on fulfilling the prophecy, which

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