Thou hast it now: king, Cawdor, Glamis, all,
As the weird women promised, and I fear,
Thou play’dst most foully for’t.
Banquo
What is Banquo thinking about at the start of this act?
He suspects Macbeth has killed to become king and wonders if the witches' prophesy will come true for himself.
How is the motif of the supernatural explored in Act III?
Through the ghost of Banquo
The witches and Hecate
What literary device does this line use? "My genius is rebuked, as it is said Mark Antony's was by Caesar."
Allusion
(references historical figures of Mark Antony and Julius Caesar)
Better be with the dead,
Whom we, to gain our peace, have sent to peace,
Than on the torture of the mind to lie
In restless ecstasy.
It's better to be dead—like the one whom we sent to eternal peace in order to gain our own peace of mind—than be tortured by nightmares and anxiety.
Name this character
Banquo
Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold.
Thou hast no speculation in those eyes
Which thou dost glare with!
Macbeth
What happens at the banquet?
The ghost of Banquo appears and Macbeth goes crazy
How is the topic of ambition explored in Act III?
Macbeth is willing to kill Banquo and Fleance to ensure his reign
Which type of irony is used in the following lines?
Macbeth says, "I wish your horses swift and sure of foot; And so I do commend you to their backs. Farewell."
Verbal irony (Macbeth doesn't actually wish Banquo good luck)
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 cabined, cribbed, confined, bound in
To saucy doubts and fears.
But Banquo’s safe?
My torment returns. Otherwise, I would have been perfect: solid as a piece of marble, as firm as a rock, as free as the air which surrounds everything. But now I’m all confined and bound in endless doubts and fears.
But Banquo’s been killed?
Name 3 actors who have played Macbeth
Patrick Steward
Michael Fassbender
Ian McKellen
Denzel Washington
Jon Finch
Nought's had, all's spent,
Where our desire is got without content:
'Tis safer to be that which we destroy
Than by destruction dwell in doubtful joy.
Lady Macbeth
How does Lady Macbeth explain Macbeth's hallucinations?
He has had them since he was young, so don't pay him any attention and he'll eventually recover.
How is the topic of fate explored in this act?
Macbeth and Banquo's prophesies
Which three characters give soliloquies in this act?
Banquo, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth
(all deliver monologues alone on stage)
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.
If much you note him,
You shall offend him and extend his passion.
Feed and regard him not.
Sit, friends. My husband is often like this, and has been since childhood. Please, stay seated. This is a momentary fit. He’ll be well again in just a second. If you pay too much attention to him you’ll offend him, which will prolong the fit. Eat, and pay no attention to him.
What year did this production of Macbeth come out? Who is the director?
2021. Joel Coen.
And I the mistress of your charms,
The close contriver of all harms
Was never called to bear my part,
Or show the glory of our art?
Hecate
What does Hecate talk to the witches about?
She scolds them for messing with Macbeth without her and tells them they need to meet him again to put an end to it.
Find two example quotes of how the motif of blood is explored in Act III
"Blood will have blood"
"There’s blood upon thy face"'
"thy bloody and invisible hand"
"We hear our bloody cousins are bestowed
In England and in Ireland"
"So is he mine; and in such bloody distance"
"Blood hath been shed ere now"
"Thy blood is cold"
"The secret’st man of blood."
" I am in blood Stepped in so far"
What does the repeated motif of blood symbolize in act III?
Blood symbolizes the murder, the violence that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have committed as well as the guilt that sits on their consciences
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.
It used to be that when you knocked a man’s brains out he would die, and that was the end of it. But now they rise again with twenty fatal wounds on their head and push us from our stools. This returning from the dead is more strange than the original murder.
Describe 3 different versions of the banquet scene
2010--Patrick Stewart--20th century setting, ghost walks on table
2015--Michael Fassbender--ghost looks human, true medieval scene, Macbeth acts mad, gets touchy
2021--Denzel Washington--ghost looks like a bird, Macbeth fights it
Who cannot want the thought how monstrous
It was for Malcolm and for Donalbain
To kill their gracious father?
Damned fact! How it did grieve Macbeth!
Did he not straight
In pious rage the two delinquents tear
That were the slaves of drink and thralls of sleep?
Lennox
What do Lennox and Lord discuss at the end of Act III?
They talk about how Macbeth's people do not trust him and are hoping for his downfall. Macduff has fled to England to find Malcolm and get a group together to take Macbeth down.
Give an example of how the topic of gender is explored in Act III.
1. Macbeth uses the same methods to get the murderers to kill Banquo and Fleance that Lady Macbeth used against Macbeth: he questions their manhood.
2. Lady Macbeth tells the thanes not to worry, that since childhood Macbeth has suffered fits. She pulls Macbeth aside and once again questions his manhood.
What literary device does the following quote incorporate?
Can such things be,
And overcome us like a summer’s cloud,
Without our special wonder?
Simile (compares the ghost's appearance to a sudden storm)
Saucy and overbold, how did you dare
To trade and traffic with Macbeth
In riddles and affairs of death,
And I, the mistress of your charms,
The close contriver of all harms,
Was never called to bear my part,
Or show the glory of our art?
Defiant and overly bold, How dare you trick Macbeth with riddles and prophecies without including me—the source of your powers; the creator of all evil things;
I wasn't called to help or show how powerful our magic can be?
Name 3 actors who have played Lady Macbeth
Judi Dench
Kate Fleetwood
Frances McDormand
Francesca Annis