MACBETH page 5
Act III scene ii ff
This scene displays the states of mind of both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, the changed relationship between them and the processes resulting from their original evil act. Lady Macbeth's first words to the servant show that she senses that something is afoot but does not know what it is, whereas, with the murder of Duncan, she and her husband were so united in thought and intention that they could communicate in coded euphemisms. Her brief soliloquy shows her dissatisfaction and malaise as she does not feel "content" in their new position: in her momentary weakness of spirit she envies the dead Duncan and regrets their own "doubtful joy." Since this is similar to Macbeth's inner feelings, we wait to see if either admits these emotions to the other but soon see that she can regain momentum and rebuke him for his depressive solitude and the "sorriest fancies" which should have died with the victim. This shows that she no longer fully understands him as his mind is dwelling on future plots rather than ruminating on the past and so her aphorism: "What's done is done" not only reminds us of his earlier soliloquy with its repetition of the word "done" but fails in its effects. It is also ironic since she herself cannot avoid thinking of "Things without all [any] remedy": she cannot take her own advice. Using the image of a snake, reminiscent of a lost Eden, Macbeth feels that the creature is merely gashed and wounded, not killed and that it can still attack them. He is desperate to make their position secure and will "let the frame of things disjoint" [the structure of the universe fall to pieces] and risk life in both this world and the next in order to feel safe in mind. His description of meals eaten in fear and sleep affected by nightmares may awaken pity in us but the horror of his plot is predominant. Now he says almost exactly what she has said: "Better be with the dead" than live with a tortured mind. There is irony in the idea that they have allowed Duncan peace in order to attain peace for themselves, but find there is none. "Restless ecstasy" indicates alienation and there is an envious tone to his imagery when he imagines Duncan in the grave whilst they still endure "life's fitful fever", these words being difficult to speak with their alliteration and suggestive of a troubled soul. Undisturbed sleep is a leitmotif throughout representing a quiet conscience. We now understand what Macbeth fears in life, he who was intrepid on the battlefield: "nor steel, nor poison/Malice domestic, foreign levy [an enforced army from abroad]" is a problem to Duncan now and he accepts that he has performed treason only to bring these anxieties upon himself.
Lady Macbeth completes his half-line but there is still a missing foot suggestive of an action between them. Their relationship can be played on stage as deeply sexual and some caress could take place here as she exhorts him once again to cover up the disquiet shown by his "rugged looks" and be "bright and jovial" at the banquet. The irony persists when he has to cover up his plot not only from others not also from her perceptiveness and persuade her to attend to Banquo, whom he has planned to murder before the ceremonious meal. She must "Present him eminence" [set him in highest rank] by the way she looks at him and speaks to him. Their position is unsafe and so they must keep their honour clean by flattery and disguise their hatred. When she encourages him to cease such thoughts he admits that his mind is full of scorpions, a disturbing and potent metaphor and he hints to her that the cause is the existence of Banquo and Fleance. In the part of the letter from him that she read aloud, there was no mention of the prophecy concerning Banquo's children becoming kings but she seems to pick up his allusion and replies that they do not have an eternal tenure on life.
Another example of the changed meaning of words occurs when Macbeth refers to the possible deaths of Banquo and Fleance as "comfort" and the result a cause to be "jocund". A reference to flying creatures adds to the lexis of birds throughout the play with the mention of a bat and beetle ("shard-born" means either bred in the dung or carried on scaly wings) and Hecate suggests darkness and evil. Alliteration in "done/A deed of dreadful note" emphasises the sense of night as an accomplice to crime and we realise how few scenes have taken place in daylight and that even those have been undermined by a feeling of foreboding. Her simple query shows she has no definite knowledge of his plot and he confirms this in affectionate terms, calling her "dearest chuck", a familiar endearment, and wishing her to remain "innocent." He calls upon Night, personifying it as someone who could seel or stitch Day like the eyes of a falcon so that no force for good can see the act he has organised. Eyes represent watchfulness and conscience whereas hands stand for wicked deeds. The lines connect blood, night and the murder which will rip up the "great bond" by which Banquo and Fleance hold their life in agreement with nature and which keeps him pale with fear. "Bond" is a powerful word and its cancellation implies undermining the whole structure of life, both socially and with respect to the universe. The memorable phrase, "Light thickens", evokes the onset of night concealing evil and the mention of the crow recalls that of the raven before the murder of Duncan. Macbeth is more imaginative than his wife who is bemused by what he says ("Thou marvell'st) as he portrays the imminent sleep of all good and the awakening of evil with potent words as he claims that: "Things bad begun make strong themselves by ill [evil]" failing to realise that the chain of wrong-doing will not become stronger by further murders but will eventually lead to the inevitable intervention of the agents of virtue. Both of them want peace but, ironically, are ensuring that they will have nothing but disquiet and turmoil.
This has been a scene of conversation revealing states of mind but Act III scene iii is one of action. A third murderer has arrived and is questioned by the other two before the first assassin speaks of the last "streaks of day" and evokes ordinary life with the mention of the traveller finding an inn, making us realise by contrast how abnormal the lives of Macbeth and his wife have become. Noises are heard and they attack Banquo, who is also making phatic conversation about the weather. Mistakenly, they strike out the light. Despite his wounds, he realises what is happening and, successfully, orders his son to flee, his first thought being that the boy can revenge his death. We may notice the play on the sound of his name, flee/Fleance. Fate has intervened as the murderers have botched their commission: the witches' prophecy, that Banquo's children can become kings, can be fulfilled. This is a worse flaw than the failures in the total cover-up of the murder of Duncan and it shows that Macbeth cannot control Fate, will not obtain peace of mind and is now in danger of suspicion himself.
Act III scene iv (The Banquet Scene) is a major dramatic episode: a banquet represents law and order but this celebrates a coronation obtained by breaking bonds and is soon interrupted by the murderer. It starts with Macbeth's stressing the civilised hierarchy, asking them to sit down according to their "degrees" [social rank.] A short line reveals Macbeth's nervousness at playing "the humble host" as Lady Macbeth sites in the chair of state, ready to welcome them. Once again they are playing a false role of host and hostess, which should encompass strong bonds of duty. The guests show gratitude to Lady Macbeth as Macbeth sees that the table is symmetrically occupied and sits amongst them, encouraging liberality of enjoyment as he passes the cup around. Another short line occurs as Macbeth goes to the door to greet the murderer who, implausibly, is said to have blood still on his face. Macbeth says it is better on the outside skin of the murderer than inside Banquo and praises him as "the best o'th'cut-throats" but is shaken to hear that Fleance escaped.
He calls the anxious emotion and sudden attack of doubt it causes in him a "fit" and it is clear he has felt it previously. The next statement indicates lack of self-knowledge as he claims he would have "been perfect" had the boy been murdered: he fails to accept that he will never be content now that the process of evil-doing has commenced. No further act will ensure security. The sense of being "Whole as the marble, founded as the rock" with its imagery of stability will elude him for ever. He may wish he could feel "broad and general [free and unrestrained] as the casing [surrounding] air" but he cannot and the irony is that he brought this situation upon himself by being unwilling to leave matters to Fate. Now he describes with potent lexis a sensation of claustrophobia, accentuated by alliteration: "cabin'd, cribb'd, confin'd", of being preyed upon and bound in by fear. Another reversal of meaning occurs when "safe" indicates "dead" and the murderer emphasises this by mentioning the "twenty trenched gashes on his [Banquo's] head" any one of which would have killed him. This bloodthirsty picture prepares us for what will soon happen. Macbeth uses the same image of the snake which, although the grown-up one is finished with, in the person of Fleance, will live to attack him venomously. His hoped-for Eden will still be threatened but the use is ironic as the serpent here is the force of good: he has inverted good and evil.
His withdrawal from the festivity has been noted and Lady Macbeth rebukes him for not giving the "cheer" saying that a feast is "sold [lost]" if it is not frequently pronounced as merry during the eating when it should be attended by courtesies which are like a sauce to the food: if not it is "bare". She has the presence of mind to pun on the word "meat/meeting" and is covering up her own stresses. He accepts her criticism politely and affectionately: "Sweet remembrancer [person reminding]" and it seems that all may now proceed smoothly as he addresses the guests but forgets to sit amongst them and has to be called to do so by Lennox. He risks revealing his own emotions by stating that all the honoured people in the country would be present if only Banquo were with them, an unnecessary extra ceremonious wish and one which brings on disaster for him by seemingly calling in the ghost of Banquo. He goes further and claims that Banquo could be accused of "unkindness", a strong word with connotations of denying bonds and even says that he does not fear "mischance." It is as though he cannot resist mentioning what he has done, however unwise that is. Lennox agrees with him that Banquo is at fault and again asks him to sit down.
Yet Banquo's ghost has placed itself in his empty seat although no-one else can see it. Macbeth thinks it is real as he merely sees a full table. When he asks,"Which of you have done this?" he could be referring to the murder of Banquo or a possible trick by one of them in bringing forth the dead man. It is most probably the former as he proceeds to equivocate by claiming: "Thou can'st not say I did it" as he distances himself from an act which he ordered to be done but did not actually perform himself. It is a quibble. Clearly the ghost is shaking its blood-stained hair but it also represents Macbeth's externalised guilt and fear and he can no longer keep up the pretence of innocent unawareness. Rosse thinks Macbeth's mood is an illness and Lady Macbeth uses this idea, taking it further by stating that Macbeth is frequently indisposed in this way and has always been so. This may have a chance of closing suspicion for the moment but it is not a wise thing to invent about a monarch who should be stable at all times. She has made a mistake and tries to redeem it by saying that the "fit" is temporary, using the same word as he previously used about his sudden attacks of misgiving. With more astuteness, she advises them not to stare at him to avoid making him worse and for longer, which does distract attention but a king needs to be regarded with admiration.
With the same rebuke as earlier she accuses him in an aside that he is not truly a man, an unjust and immoral claim since he is brave in a just cause. He is distraught and unable to cover up but she calls his fears "proper stuff" [rubbish] and relates the incident to the visionary dagger revealing to us that he must have told her about this. His "flaws and starts" are not true terrors because they do not have significant causes but are merely like a frightening story first told by a grandmother. His face is distorted but she cannot see anything on the seat: the ghost is present only to the guilty person. At this point we must wonder (and a director must decide) what the guests are doing as Macbeth addresses the apparition and recklessly bids it speak; he previously felt safe in that dead people stayed in their graves as Duncan seemed to do but now one returns to haunt him. The only thing the survivor or murderer could do to prevent this would be feed the body to kites (another use of the leitmotif of birds.)
Lady Macbeth has no new tactic to call upon and continues to try to shame him as the situation is desperate. Macbeth seems to long for the days when murders could be performed before good laws were passed, showing he still has some residual sense of virtue. In those days the victims of dreadful and unspeakable killings stayed dead but now the corpses rise and show their wounds whilst usurping someone's seat. Now that the ghost has been gone a while he can control himself and repeats his wife's explanation that this is a trivial illness. He gives a toast and appears jovial but makes the mistake of speaking the name of Banquo and therefore summoning the ghost again, its reappearance seeming to be a rebuke to his hypocrisy.
There is horror in his description of the apparition with its empty bones, cold blood and vacant, staring eyes and he is consumed by terror whilst Lady Macbeth resorts to the same excuse of illness. He seems to recall her rebuke of lack of manliness and claims he could do anything truly virile, facing savage animals, or anything other than this ghost. If Banquo were alive, he would fight him courageously with a sword or be considered no better than a doll. His wife's rebuke is now more direct as she, too, loses control of them both and cannot resolve the situation. He regains courage as the ghost leaves but not before the orderly feast has turned into "most admir'd [wondered at] disorder", a pattern and symbol of what happens when evil disrupts the structure of good. The incident has been to him like a summer cloud (possibly an inapproriately peaceful image intended to make the matter seem more normal) and has made him wonder if he is the person he believes he is, braver than the rest, when he thinks they can look upon the ghost without going pale as he has. The apparition is so real to him that he assumes they all must see it. Lady Macbeth's one thought now is to dismiss the guests and requests that they do not wait to depart in their ranks at a command but leave straightaway, another emblem of the destruction of order in society. This they do but the Macbeth's must now be under deep suspicion as his speeches have indicated bloodshed and terrified guilt. Even if they accepted the explanation of illness, he has proved himself an unfit monarch.
He is now tormented by the thought that murder will make itself known and obtain revenge: all kinds of signs from stones, trees, auguries or birds (note the leitmotif) will reveal the culprit. Yet he is clearly planning another killing as he is angry that Macduff has not attended the banquet and confesses to having paid spies planted in all the noblemen's houses: his obsessions and mistrust are those of a tyrant and only a vicious ruler would need such methods. He wants to meet the witches again and, this time, he is the initiator. He recognises their evil but wants to know the worst by the worst means and will do anything to promote himself. The next chilling lines remain in our minds throughout:
I am in blood
Stepp'd in so far, that, should I wade no more,
Returning were as tedious as go o'er [going on].
There is no choice but to commit further murders: that is the nature of evil which he has failed to understand and which is now taking him over. The unnerved mood he experiences is, to him, merely lack of practice in evil, "the initiate fear." He merely hints to her that he has strange plans and she, ironically, recommends restorative sleep, which is the privilege solely of the innocent. This is the last appearance of a sane Lady Macbeth; she too needs sleep but cannot achieve it. He believes he merely lacks practice in evil and there is a terrible pun in the last line, "young in deed" could mean "truly young" or "young in murderous actions" or both together.
Shakespeare has altered his source, the chronicler Holinshed, in three main ways: by inventing this memorable and revelatory scene, by making Banquo (an ancestor of James I) wholly good whereas he was an accomplice in the murder of Duncan and by omitting several years of good rule by Macbeth, thereby making him more villainous. The effect is to provide a strong and thematic contrast between Banquo and Macbeth as polar opposites of good and evil.
The next scene (Act III v) is probably not by Shakespeare but by an anonymous author responding to public interest in witches: the Arden edition discusses this in the introduction. The rhythm is joggingly regular and the sentiments trite; the only lines which have any Shakespearian quality are those about the drop hanging from the moon. Hecate does say that Macbeth is selfish and not truly evil, simply ambitious, and that he is reckless in pursuit of his own ends, which is not contradictory to the rest of the play although the atmpsphere of mystery is lacking.
In scene vi we see factions coming together as Lennox reveals to a Lord his supicions of Macbeth in sarcastic hints and innuendos: he may be afraid to speak more directly in case there are spies but he may also be assessing the loyalties of the Lord. He observes that "things have been strangely borne [carried on]" and that two men close to Macbeth's interests have been killed. Duncan is described as "gracious" and Banquo as "right-valiant" and the suggestion that it is now perilous to be out late is a comment on the lack of law in society under Macbeth's rule but also a side hit at Macbeth as suspect, rather than Fleance and, in the other case, Duncan's sons. The lexis is inverted as "monstrous" and "damned" are used of the innocent Malcolm and Donalbain and Macbeth's exaggerated hypocrisy has been noted as "pious rage" when he killed the "delinquents", the harmless guards. With heavy and bitter irony he calls this an act "nobly" done but also "wisely" in that the dead men could give no evidence against Macbeth. Lennox becomes more overt as he continues, claiming that, if Macbeth could imprison Malcolm, Donalbain and Fleance, they too would be murdered. Macduff is also an enemy of Macbeth for failing to attend the banquet and is therefore in danger.
The scene takes on a more political tone as we learn that Malcolm, the heir, and Macduff are in England at the court of Edward where the help of Northumberland and Siward may be at hand. The forces of good are uniting "with Him above to ratify the work". Symbols of good and social order are food, sleep, feasts and banquets and the giving of "faithful homage" and the receiving of "free honours," not the present "bloody knives", sham and corruption. Macbeth is preparing for war and has sent a messenger to Macduff who refused the King's request, whereupon the "cloudy [sullen]" servant turned away as if to say that someone would regret this answer (Macduff or the servant himself). A holy Angel is called upon to warn Macduff and Lennox hopes for a "swift blessing" for the "suffering country." Macbeth is proving to be a cruel tyrant as well as a discontented man and his wish for the throne was out of pure personal ambition for power and position, not to rule well. All that can stop the inexorable progress of evil is a victory for the uniting agents of good but we suspect that more crimes and sins will be committed before that happens.
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Act III scene ii ff
This scene displays the states of mind of both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, the changed relationship between them and the processes resulting from their original evil act. Lady Macbeth's first words to the servant show that she senses that something is afoot but does not know what it is, whereas, with the murder of Duncan, she and her husband were so united in thought and intention that they could communicate in coded euphemisms. Her brief soliloquy shows her dissatisfaction and malaise as she does not feel "content" in their new position: in her momentary weakness of spirit she envies the dead Duncan and regrets their own "doubtful joy." Since this is similar to Macbeth's inner feelings, we wait to see if either admits these emotions to the other but soon see that she can regain momentum and rebuke him for his depressive solitude and the "sorriest fancies" which should have died with the victim. This shows that she no longer fully understands him as his mind is dwelling on future plots rather than ruminating on the past and so her aphorism: "What's done is done" not only reminds us of his earlier soliloquy with its repetition of the word "done" but fails in its effects. It is also ironic since she herself cannot avoid thinking of "Things without all [any] remedy": she cannot take her own advice. Using the image of a snake, reminiscent of a lost Eden, Macbeth feels that the creature is merely gashed and wounded, not killed and that it can still attack them. He is desperate to make their position secure and will "let the frame of things disjoint" [the structure of the universe fall to pieces] and risk life in both this world and the next in order to feel safe in mind. His description of meals eaten in fear and sleep affected by nightmares may awaken pity in us but the horror of his plot is predominant. Now he says almost exactly what she has said: "Better be with the dead" than live with a tortured mind. There is irony in the idea that they have allowed Duncan peace in order to attain peace for themselves, but find there is none. "Restless ecstasy" indicates alienation and there is an envious tone to his imagery when he imagines Duncan in the grave whilst they still endure "life's fitful fever", these words being difficult to speak with their alliteration and suggestive of a troubled soul. Undisturbed sleep is a leitmotif throughout representing a quiet conscience. We now understand what Macbeth fears in life, he who was intrepid on the battlefield: "nor steel, nor poison/Malice domestic, foreign levy [an enforced army from abroad]" is a problem to Duncan now and he accepts that he has performed treason only to bring these anxieties upon himself.
Lady Macbeth completes his half-line but there is still a missing foot suggestive of an action between them. Their relationship can be played on stage as deeply sexual and some caress could take place here as she exhorts him once again to cover up the disquiet shown by his "rugged looks" and be "bright and jovial" at the banquet. The irony persists when he has to cover up his plot not only from others not also from her perceptiveness and persuade her to attend to Banquo, whom he has planned to murder before the ceremonious meal. She must "Present him eminence" [set him in highest rank] by the way she looks at him and speaks to him. Their position is unsafe and so they must keep their honour clean by flattery and disguise their hatred. When she encourages him to cease such thoughts he admits that his mind is full of scorpions, a disturbing and potent metaphor and he hints to her that the cause is the existence of Banquo and Fleance. In the part of the letter from him that she read aloud, there was no mention of the prophecy concerning Banquo's children becoming kings but she seems to pick up his allusion and replies that they do not have an eternal tenure on life.
Another example of the changed meaning of words occurs when Macbeth refers to the possible deaths of Banquo and Fleance as "comfort" and the result a cause to be "jocund". A reference to flying creatures adds to the lexis of birds throughout the play with the mention of a bat and beetle ("shard-born" means either bred in the dung or carried on scaly wings) and Hecate suggests darkness and evil. Alliteration in "done/A deed of dreadful note" emphasises the sense of night as an accomplice to crime and we realise how few scenes have taken place in daylight and that even those have been undermined by a feeling of foreboding. Her simple query shows she has no definite knowledge of his plot and he confirms this in affectionate terms, calling her "dearest chuck", a familiar endearment, and wishing her to remain "innocent." He calls upon Night, personifying it as someone who could seel or stitch Day like the eyes of a falcon so that no force for good can see the act he has organised. Eyes represent watchfulness and conscience whereas hands stand for wicked deeds. The lines connect blood, night and the murder which will rip up the "great bond" by which Banquo and Fleance hold their life in agreement with nature and which keeps him pale with fear. "Bond" is a powerful word and its cancellation implies undermining the whole structure of life, both socially and with respect to the universe. The memorable phrase, "Light thickens", evokes the onset of night concealing evil and the mention of the crow recalls that of the raven before the murder of Duncan. Macbeth is more imaginative than his wife who is bemused by what he says ("Thou marvell'st) as he portrays the imminent sleep of all good and the awakening of evil with potent words as he claims that: "Things bad begun make strong themselves by ill [evil]" failing to realise that the chain of wrong-doing will not become stronger by further murders but will eventually lead to the inevitable intervention of the agents of virtue. Both of them want peace but, ironically, are ensuring that they will have nothing but disquiet and turmoil.
This has been a scene of conversation revealing states of mind but Act III scene iii is one of action. A third murderer has arrived and is questioned by the other two before the first assassin speaks of the last "streaks of day" and evokes ordinary life with the mention of the traveller finding an inn, making us realise by contrast how abnormal the lives of Macbeth and his wife have become. Noises are heard and they attack Banquo, who is also making phatic conversation about the weather. Mistakenly, they strike out the light. Despite his wounds, he realises what is happening and, successfully, orders his son to flee, his first thought being that the boy can revenge his death. We may notice the play on the sound of his name, flee/Fleance. Fate has intervened as the murderers have botched their commission: the witches' prophecy, that Banquo's children can become kings, can be fulfilled. This is a worse flaw than the failures in the total cover-up of the murder of Duncan and it shows that Macbeth cannot control Fate, will not obtain peace of mind and is now in danger of suspicion himself.
Act III scene iv (The Banquet Scene) is a major dramatic episode: a banquet represents law and order but this celebrates a coronation obtained by breaking bonds and is soon interrupted by the murderer. It starts with Macbeth's stressing the civilised hierarchy, asking them to sit down according to their "degrees" [social rank.] A short line reveals Macbeth's nervousness at playing "the humble host" as Lady Macbeth sites in the chair of state, ready to welcome them. Once again they are playing a false role of host and hostess, which should encompass strong bonds of duty. The guests show gratitude to Lady Macbeth as Macbeth sees that the table is symmetrically occupied and sits amongst them, encouraging liberality of enjoyment as he passes the cup around. Another short line occurs as Macbeth goes to the door to greet the murderer who, implausibly, is said to have blood still on his face. Macbeth says it is better on the outside skin of the murderer than inside Banquo and praises him as "the best o'th'cut-throats" but is shaken to hear that Fleance escaped.
He calls the anxious emotion and sudden attack of doubt it causes in him a "fit" and it is clear he has felt it previously. The next statement indicates lack of self-knowledge as he claims he would have "been perfect" had the boy been murdered: he fails to accept that he will never be content now that the process of evil-doing has commenced. No further act will ensure security. The sense of being "Whole as the marble, founded as the rock" with its imagery of stability will elude him for ever. He may wish he could feel "broad and general [free and unrestrained] as the casing [surrounding] air" but he cannot and the irony is that he brought this situation upon himself by being unwilling to leave matters to Fate. Now he describes with potent lexis a sensation of claustrophobia, accentuated by alliteration: "cabin'd, cribb'd, confin'd", of being preyed upon and bound in by fear. Another reversal of meaning occurs when "safe" indicates "dead" and the murderer emphasises this by mentioning the "twenty trenched gashes on his [Banquo's] head" any one of which would have killed him. This bloodthirsty picture prepares us for what will soon happen. Macbeth uses the same image of the snake which, although the grown-up one is finished with, in the person of Fleance, will live to attack him venomously. His hoped-for Eden will still be threatened but the use is ironic as the serpent here is the force of good: he has inverted good and evil.
His withdrawal from the festivity has been noted and Lady Macbeth rebukes him for not giving the "cheer" saying that a feast is "sold [lost]" if it is not frequently pronounced as merry during the eating when it should be attended by courtesies which are like a sauce to the food: if not it is "bare". She has the presence of mind to pun on the word "meat/meeting" and is covering up her own stresses. He accepts her criticism politely and affectionately: "Sweet remembrancer [person reminding]" and it seems that all may now proceed smoothly as he addresses the guests but forgets to sit amongst them and has to be called to do so by Lennox. He risks revealing his own emotions by stating that all the honoured people in the country would be present if only Banquo were with them, an unnecessary extra ceremonious wish and one which brings on disaster for him by seemingly calling in the ghost of Banquo. He goes further and claims that Banquo could be accused of "unkindness", a strong word with connotations of denying bonds and even says that he does not fear "mischance." It is as though he cannot resist mentioning what he has done, however unwise that is. Lennox agrees with him that Banquo is at fault and again asks him to sit down.
Yet Banquo's ghost has placed itself in his empty seat although no-one else can see it. Macbeth thinks it is real as he merely sees a full table. When he asks,"Which of you have done this?" he could be referring to the murder of Banquo or a possible trick by one of them in bringing forth the dead man. It is most probably the former as he proceeds to equivocate by claiming: "Thou can'st not say I did it" as he distances himself from an act which he ordered to be done but did not actually perform himself. It is a quibble. Clearly the ghost is shaking its blood-stained hair but it also represents Macbeth's externalised guilt and fear and he can no longer keep up the pretence of innocent unawareness. Rosse thinks Macbeth's mood is an illness and Lady Macbeth uses this idea, taking it further by stating that Macbeth is frequently indisposed in this way and has always been so. This may have a chance of closing suspicion for the moment but it is not a wise thing to invent about a monarch who should be stable at all times. She has made a mistake and tries to redeem it by saying that the "fit" is temporary, using the same word as he previously used about his sudden attacks of misgiving. With more astuteness, she advises them not to stare at him to avoid making him worse and for longer, which does distract attention but a king needs to be regarded with admiration.
With the same rebuke as earlier she accuses him in an aside that he is not truly a man, an unjust and immoral claim since he is brave in a just cause. He is distraught and unable to cover up but she calls his fears "proper stuff" [rubbish] and relates the incident to the visionary dagger revealing to us that he must have told her about this. His "flaws and starts" are not true terrors because they do not have significant causes but are merely like a frightening story first told by a grandmother. His face is distorted but she cannot see anything on the seat: the ghost is present only to the guilty person. At this point we must wonder (and a director must decide) what the guests are doing as Macbeth addresses the apparition and recklessly bids it speak; he previously felt safe in that dead people stayed in their graves as Duncan seemed to do but now one returns to haunt him. The only thing the survivor or murderer could do to prevent this would be feed the body to kites (another use of the leitmotif of birds.)
Lady Macbeth has no new tactic to call upon and continues to try to shame him as the situation is desperate. Macbeth seems to long for the days when murders could be performed before good laws were passed, showing he still has some residual sense of virtue. In those days the victims of dreadful and unspeakable killings stayed dead but now the corpses rise and show their wounds whilst usurping someone's seat. Now that the ghost has been gone a while he can control himself and repeats his wife's explanation that this is a trivial illness. He gives a toast and appears jovial but makes the mistake of speaking the name of Banquo and therefore summoning the ghost again, its reappearance seeming to be a rebuke to his hypocrisy.
There is horror in his description of the apparition with its empty bones, cold blood and vacant, staring eyes and he is consumed by terror whilst Lady Macbeth resorts to the same excuse of illness. He seems to recall her rebuke of lack of manliness and claims he could do anything truly virile, facing savage animals, or anything other than this ghost. If Banquo were alive, he would fight him courageously with a sword or be considered no better than a doll. His wife's rebuke is now more direct as she, too, loses control of them both and cannot resolve the situation. He regains courage as the ghost leaves but not before the orderly feast has turned into "most admir'd [wondered at] disorder", a pattern and symbol of what happens when evil disrupts the structure of good. The incident has been to him like a summer cloud (possibly an inapproriately peaceful image intended to make the matter seem more normal) and has made him wonder if he is the person he believes he is, braver than the rest, when he thinks they can look upon the ghost without going pale as he has. The apparition is so real to him that he assumes they all must see it. Lady Macbeth's one thought now is to dismiss the guests and requests that they do not wait to depart in their ranks at a command but leave straightaway, another emblem of the destruction of order in society. This they do but the Macbeth's must now be under deep suspicion as his speeches have indicated bloodshed and terrified guilt. Even if they accepted the explanation of illness, he has proved himself an unfit monarch.
He is now tormented by the thought that murder will make itself known and obtain revenge: all kinds of signs from stones, trees, auguries or birds (note the leitmotif) will reveal the culprit. Yet he is clearly planning another killing as he is angry that Macduff has not attended the banquet and confesses to having paid spies planted in all the noblemen's houses: his obsessions and mistrust are those of a tyrant and only a vicious ruler would need such methods. He wants to meet the witches again and, this time, he is the initiator. He recognises their evil but wants to know the worst by the worst means and will do anything to promote himself. The next chilling lines remain in our minds throughout:
I am in blood
Stepp'd in so far, that, should I wade no more,
Returning were as tedious as go o'er [going on].
There is no choice but to commit further murders: that is the nature of evil which he has failed to understand and which is now taking him over. The unnerved mood he experiences is, to him, merely lack of practice in evil, "the initiate fear." He merely hints to her that he has strange plans and she, ironically, recommends restorative sleep, which is the privilege solely of the innocent. This is the last appearance of a sane Lady Macbeth; she too needs sleep but cannot achieve it. He believes he merely lacks practice in evil and there is a terrible pun in the last line, "young in deed" could mean "truly young" or "young in murderous actions" or both together.
Shakespeare has altered his source, the chronicler Holinshed, in three main ways: by inventing this memorable and revelatory scene, by making Banquo (an ancestor of James I) wholly good whereas he was an accomplice in the murder of Duncan and by omitting several years of good rule by Macbeth, thereby making him more villainous. The effect is to provide a strong and thematic contrast between Banquo and Macbeth as polar opposites of good and evil.
The next scene (Act III v) is probably not by Shakespeare but by an anonymous author responding to public interest in witches: the Arden edition discusses this in the introduction. The rhythm is joggingly regular and the sentiments trite; the only lines which have any Shakespearian quality are those about the drop hanging from the moon. Hecate does say that Macbeth is selfish and not truly evil, simply ambitious, and that he is reckless in pursuit of his own ends, which is not contradictory to the rest of the play although the atmpsphere of mystery is lacking.
In scene vi we see factions coming together as Lennox reveals to a Lord his supicions of Macbeth in sarcastic hints and innuendos: he may be afraid to speak more directly in case there are spies but he may also be assessing the loyalties of the Lord. He observes that "things have been strangely borne [carried on]" and that two men close to Macbeth's interests have been killed. Duncan is described as "gracious" and Banquo as "right-valiant" and the suggestion that it is now perilous to be out late is a comment on the lack of law in society under Macbeth's rule but also a side hit at Macbeth as suspect, rather than Fleance and, in the other case, Duncan's sons. The lexis is inverted as "monstrous" and "damned" are used of the innocent Malcolm and Donalbain and Macbeth's exaggerated hypocrisy has been noted as "pious rage" when he killed the "delinquents", the harmless guards. With heavy and bitter irony he calls this an act "nobly" done but also "wisely" in that the dead men could give no evidence against Macbeth. Lennox becomes more overt as he continues, claiming that, if Macbeth could imprison Malcolm, Donalbain and Fleance, they too would be murdered. Macduff is also an enemy of Macbeth for failing to attend the banquet and is therefore in danger.
The scene takes on a more political tone as we learn that Malcolm, the heir, and Macduff are in England at the court of Edward where the help of Northumberland and Siward may be at hand. The forces of good are uniting "with Him above to ratify the work". Symbols of good and social order are food, sleep, feasts and banquets and the giving of "faithful homage" and the receiving of "free honours," not the present "bloody knives", sham and corruption. Macbeth is preparing for war and has sent a messenger to Macduff who refused the King's request, whereupon the "cloudy [sullen]" servant turned away as if to say that someone would regret this answer (Macduff or the servant himself). A holy Angel is called upon to warn Macduff and Lennox hopes for a "swift blessing" for the "suffering country." Macbeth is proving to be a cruel tyrant as well as a discontented man and his wish for the throne was out of pure personal ambition for power and position, not to rule well. All that can stop the inexorable progress of evil is a victory for the uniting agents of good but we suspect that more crimes and sins will be committed before that happens.
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