Macbeth - Act 3 Scene 1

Forres. The palace.

Enter BANQUO

This is the only time we see Banquo alone, and he is still wrestling with his own temptations and ambitions, even as he harbors suspicions about Macbeth. Unlike Macbeth, Banquo has hope for the future, though that hope resides not in Banquo himself, but in his lineage.

BANQUO
Thou hast it now: King, Cawdor, Glamis, all,
As the weird women promised; and, I fear,
Thou playedst most foully for't; yet it was said
It should not stand in thy posterity,
But that myself should be the root and father
Of many kings. If there come truth from them –
As upon thee, Macbeth, their speeches shine –
Why, by the verities on thee made good,
May they not be my oracles as well,
And set me up in hope? But hush! No more.

This is the first time we see Macbeth and Lady Macbeth as king and queen, so this could be quite a lavish entrance. Macbeth's arrival is preceded by trumpets, and he arrives with a full court in tow, or as much of one as the production can manage.

Sennet sounded. Enter MACBETH, as King, LADY MACBETH, as queen,
LENNOX, ROSS, Lords, Ladies, and Attendants

MACBETH
Here's our chief guest.

LADY MACBETH
If he had been forgotten,
It had been as a gap in our great feast,
And all-thing unbecoming.

Even the polite conversation here can take on an ominous tone, as Banquo stands alone and isolated, while Macbeth is flanked by his wife and an entire court.

MACBETH
Tonight we hold a solemn supper sir,
And I'll request your presence.

BANQUO
Let your highness
Command upon me; to the which my duties
Are with a most indissoluble tie
For ever knit.

MACBETH
Ride you this afternoon?

BANQUO
Ay, my good lord.

Macbeth repeatedly ends the conversation, then continues it with a new question. He may be performing his regard for Banquo, in order to allay suspicions after Banquo's murder; he might also be extending the conversation because he knows this is the last time he will see his old friend alive.

MACBETH
We should have else desired your good advice,
Which still hath been both grave and prosperous,
In this day's council; but we'll take tomorrow.
Is't far you ride?

BANQUO
As far, my lord, as will fill up the time
'Twixt this and supper; go not my horse the better,
I must become a borrower of the night
For a dark hour or twain.

MACBETH
Fail not our feast.

BANQUO
My lord, I will not.

Macbeth repeatedly ends the conversation, then continues it with a new question. He may be performing his regard for Banquo, in order to allay suspicions after Banquo's murder; he might also be extending the conversation because he knows this is the last time he will see his old friend alive.

MACBETH
We hear our bloody cousins are bestowed
In England and in Ireland, not confessing
Their cruel parricide, filling their hearers
With strange invention; but of that tomorrow,
When therewithal we shall have cause of state
Craving us jointly. Hie you to horse. Adieu,
Till you return at night. Goes Fleance with you?

BANQUO
Ay, my good lord; our time does call upon 's.

MACBETH
I wish your horses swift and sure of foot;
And so I do commend you to their backs.
Farewell.

Macbeth dismisses his wife along with the rest of the court, which might be an indication of their fracturing relationship.

Exit BANQUO

Let every man be master of his time
Till seven at night; to make society
The sweeter welcome, we will keep ourself
Till supper-time alone. While then, God be with you!

Exeunt all but MACBETH, and an attendant

Sirrah, a word with you: attend those men
Our pleasure?

ATTENDANT
They are, my lord, without the palace gate.

MACBETH
Bring them before us.

Once again, Macbeth demonstrates the restlessness that comes with ambition. Having murdered Duncan to attain the crown, he now must continue murdering in order to keep it.

Exit Attendant

To be thus is nothing,
But to be safely thus. – Our fears in Banquo
Stick deep; and in his royalty of nature
Reigns that which would be feared: 'tis much he dares,
And, to that dauntless temper of his mind,
He hath a wisdom that doth guide his valour
To act in safety. There is none but he
Whose being I do fear; and, under him,
My Genius is rebuked, as, it is said,
Mark Antony's was by Caesar. He chid the sisters
When first they put the name of King upon me,
And bade them speak to him; then prophet-like
They hailed him father to a line of kings.
Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown,
And put a barren sceptre in my gripe,
Thence to be wrench'd with an unlineal hand,
No son of mine succeeding. If 't be so,
For Banquo's issue have I filed my mind;
For them the gracious Duncan have I murdered;
Put rancours in the vessel of my peace
Only for them; and mine eternal jewel
Given to the common enemy of man,
To make them kings, the seed of Banquo kings!
Rather than so, come fate into the list,
And champion me to the utterance! Who's there?

Re-enter Attendant, with two Murderers

Now go to the door, and stay there till we call.

Exit Attendant

This is an odd detail. The initial meeting between Macbeth and the Murderers is not staged, though much of the information from it is repeated here. As a result, Macbeth appears to work very hard to convince the Murderers to kill Banquo, rather than simply ordering it done.

Was it not yesterday we spoke together?

First Murderer
It was, so please your highness.

MACBETH
Well then, now
Have you considered of my speeches? Know
That it was he in the times past which held you
So under fortune, which you thought had been
Our innocent self. This I made good to you
In our last conference, passed in probation with you,
How you were borne in hand, how crossed, the instruments,
Who wrought with them, and all things else that might
To half a soul and to a notion crazed
Say 'Thus did Banquo.'

The Murderer's terse responses may be the result of confusion about Macbeth's intentions, or they may indicate caution, as the Murderer waits for Macbeth to give explicit commands (and rewards) rather than volunteering his services.

First Murderer
You made it known to us.

MACBETH
I did so, and went further, which is now
Our point of second meeting. Do you find
Your patience so predominant in your nature
That you can let this go? Are you so gospelled
To pray for this good man and for his issue,
Whose heavy hand hath bowed you to the grave
And beggared yours for ever?

First Murderer
We are men, my liege.

Having failed to convince the Murderers to kill Banquo out of their own honour and self-interest, Macbeth hints at the possibility of reward. He doesn't go into details, but does intimate that they will earn Macbeth's favour by killing Banquo.

MACBETH
Ay, in the catalogue ye go for men;
As hounds and greyhounds, mongrels, spaniels, curs,
Shoughs, water-rugs and demi-wolves, are clept
All by the name of dogs; the valued file
Distinguishes the swift, the slow, the subtle,
The housekeeper, the hunter, every one
According to the gift which bounteous nature
Hath in him closed; whereby he does receive
Particular addition from the bill
That writes them all alike: and so of men.
Now, if you have a station in the file,
Not i' the worst rank of manhood, say 't;
And I will put that business in your bosoms,
Whose execution takes your enemy off,
Grapples you to the heart and love of us,
Who wear our health but sickly in his life,
Which in his death were perfect.

Second Murderer
I am one, my liege,
Whom the vile blows and buffets of the world
Have so incensed that I am reckless what
I do to spite the world.

These speeches suggest that the Murderers may not be hardened professional killers, but rather men whose poverty and unemployment have left them desperate enough to turn to crime. In Shakespeare's day, unemployed soldiers, scarred by war and poverty, sometimes turned to crime, and the soldier-as-criminal was a conventional figure in plays of the time.

First Murderer
And I another
So weary with disasters, tugged with fortune,
That I would set my lie on any chance,
To mend it, or be rid on't.

MACBETH
Both of you
Know Banquo was your enemy.

Both Murderers
True, my lord.

This speech suggests that Macbeth is becoming an effective politician. He explains that he desires Banquo's death, but must publicly appear unconnected to the murder, and express dismay at a death that he himself has caused.

MACBETH
So is he mine; and in such bloody distance,
That every minute of his being thrusts
Against my near'st of life; and though I could
With barefaced power sweep him from my sight
And bid my will avouch it, yet I must not,
For certain friends that are both his and mine,
Whose loves I may not drop, but wail his fall
Who I myself struck down; and thence it is,
That I to your assistance do make love,
Masking the business from the common eye
For sundry weighty reasons.

Second Murderer
We shall, my lord,
Perform what you command us.

First Murderer
Though our lives –

Once again, Macbeth's plans are rushed and hurried, taking advantage of opportunity rather than fully considering the consequences.

Macbeth has presumably been planning Fleance's death all along, so it's interesting that he has not mentioned it to the Murderers until this point. Though they have no lines here, their faces may indicate surprise or hesitation at the thought of murdering a child, prompting Macbeth's offer of time to consider.

It's worth noting that, having murdered Duncan and the servants himself, Macbeth now seeks minions to commit murders for him. This may be an attempt to distance himself from the guilt of the murder, or an indication of his newfound power and confidence as King.

MACBETH
Your spirits shine through you. Within this hour at most
I will advise you where to plant yourselves;
Acquaint you with the perfect spy o' the time,
The moment on't; for't must be done tonight,
And something from the palace; always thought
That I require a clearness; and with him –
To leave no rubs nor botches in the work –
Fleance his son, that keeps him company,
Whose absence is no less material to me
Than is his father's, must embrace the fate
Of that dark hour. Resolve yourselves apart;
I'll come to you anon.

Both Murderers
We are resolved, my lord.

MACBETH
I'll call upon you straight: abide within.

Exeunt Murderers

It is concluded. Banquo, thy soul's flight,
If it find heaven, must find it out tonight.

Exit