In Your Own Words
Lady Macbeth: “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” (3.4.144).
Please, do not speak. [Macbeth] will only become more upset. Asking questions will only make him worse. Good night. Do not worry about leaving in any particular order; just leave immediately.
Mirth - Lady Macbeth: “You have displaced the mirth, broke the good/meeting/With most admired disorder” (3.4.132).
Joy, happiness
What does sleep symbolize in this scene?
“LM: You lack the season of all natures, sleep./M: 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” (Shakespeare 3.4.173).
Innocence/Restoration
"I drink to th’ general joy o’ th’ whole table/And to our dear friend Banquo, whom we miss./Would he were here! To all, and him we thirst,/And all to all" (3.4.105).
Macbeth
Macbeth: "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" (3.4.103).
Do not worry about me, dear friends. I have a strange weakness, but it doesn’t mean anything to those who know me. Let us drink to love and health for everyone.
Infirmity - Macbeth: “Do not muse at me, my most worthy friends./I have a strange infirmity, which is nothing/To those that know me” (3.4.103).
Weakness or flaw
Question: How does using the motif of embodying a man’s role show the degree of impact that Macbeth’s hallucinations have on him?
Quote: “[Ghost exits.]/Macbeth: Why so, being gone,/I am a man again” (3.4.129).
It shows that Macbeth, in the face of his hallucinations, is no longer a man, strong or brave.
"Sit, worthy friends. My lord is often thus/And hath been from his youth. Pray you, keep seat./The fit is momentary; upon a thought/He will again be well” (3.4.64).
Lady Macbeth
Macbeth: “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 brows/And push us from our stools. This is more strange/Than such a murder is” (3.4.94).
It used to be that when a man’s brain was damaged, that he would die and stay dead. But now, men seem to come back alive even after twenty fatal wounds to their heads, and take our seating. This is stranger than a murder.
Avaunt - Macbeth, to the Ghost: “Avaunt, and quit my sight! Let the earth hide thee” (3.4.113).
Go away; leave (command)
What motif is used by Lady Macbeth in this quote, and why?
Quote: Lady Macbeth, to Macbeth: “What, quite unmanned in folly?” (3.4.88).
Lady Macbeth leverages gender roles in an attempt to stop Macbeth from acting crazy by talking to the Ghost of Banquo.
“At once, good night./Stand not upon the order of your going,/But go at once” (3.4.140).
Lady Macbeth
Macbeth: “Here had we now our country’s honor roofed,/Were the graced person of our Banquo present,/Who may I rather challenge for unkindness/Than pity for mischance” (Shakespeare 3.4.46).
All of Scotland's nobility is here, except Banquo. Rather than feeling sorry for his tardiness, I accuse him of being rude.
Nonpareil - Macbeth, to the murderers: “Thou art the best o’ th’ cutthroats,/Yet he’s good that did the like for Fleance./If thou didst it, thou art the nonpareil” (3.4.19).
To be the best of one’s kind, to have no equal competitor
Question: What does blood represent in the context of the scene? How has Macbeth’s attitude towards “blood” changed from earlier scenes?
Quote: Macbeth: “I am in blood/Stepped in so far that, should I wade no more,/Returning were as tedious as go o’er” (Shakespeare 3.4.168).
Answer: Blood represents the immoral actions that Macbeth has already taken. Macbeth used to feel more guilt for such actions, but has now started to accept them as necessary for his success.
“Safe in a ditch he bides,/With twenty trenchèd gashes on his head,/The least a death to nature” (3.4.28).
(First) Murderer
“There the grown serpents lies. The worm that’s fled/Hath nature that in time will venom breed,/No teeth for th’ present. Get thee gone. Tomorrow/We’ll hear ourselves again” (3.4.32).
At least the grown serpent (biggest threat - Banquo) is dead. The worm that has escaped (Fleance) will eventually become dangerous, but is not a threat right now. Leave for now. I will speak with you again tomorrow.
Disposition - Macbeth, to the Lords: “You make me strange/Even to the disposition that I owe/When now I think you can behold such sights/And keep the natural ruby of your cheeks” (3.4.137).
Personality, character
Question: What does the conflict of Macbeth’s hallucinations versus reality in this scene reveal about the story and its characters?
Quote: Lady Macbeth: “O, proper stuff!/This is the very painting of your fear./This is the air-drawn dagger which you said/Led you to Duncan” (Shakespeare 3.4.73).
Answer: Macbeth’s hallucinations represent how appearances are often deceptive in Macbeth, as well as reflect the state of Macbeth’s deteriorating conscience and sanity.
“His absence, sir,/Lays blame upon his promise. Please ’t your/Highness/To grace us with your royal company” (3.4.50).
Ross