Macbeth Act 3 Scene 4 Notes - Sir Thomas Boughey High School

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Shows togetherness with wife – use of ‘We’ ‘Come, we’ll to sleep’ ‘We are yet but young in deed.’ ‘You look but on a stool.’ Tries to reassure her husband ‘My worthy lord’ Shows her strength in the relationship by telling off her husband. ‘You have displaced the mirth, broke the good meeting, with most admired disorder’ Act 3 sc 4 Enter Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Ross, Lennox, Lords, and Attendants: The first stage direction, "A banquet prepared " (3.4.1, s.d.), is important. To prepare a banquet, servants would bring in tables, stools, dishes, cutlery, cups, food, and drink. This hustle and bustle makes it seem like a good time is going to be had by all. Macbeth certainly seems in the mood. He welcomes everyone at once, saying, "You know your own degrees; sit down. At first / And last the hearty welcome" (3.4.1-2). The "degrees" of the guests are their social ranks. Normally, each guest would receive an individual greeting and then be escorted to his seat, with the highest ranking person sitting closest to the king, and the next highest the next closest, etc. Macbeth tells them that they know where they should sit, and welcomes everyone at once. He will "play the humble host" (3.4.4), showing how friendly and down-to-earth he is, even though he is now the king. First Murderer appears at the door: Just as Macbeth is taking his place among all of his loving subjects, he sees First Murderer come to the door with blood on his face. Not wanting anyone else to see the bloody man, Macbeth jumps up and hurries to the door. As he goes, he tells his guests that in a minute "we'll drink a measure / The table round" (3.4.11-12). Macbeth whispers with the murderer at the door. (Of course we can hear what they say, but Macbeth's guests can't.) First Murderer says that the blood on his face is Banquo's. In reply, Macbeth makes a cruel joke, saying that it's better for the blood to be on the outside of the murderer than on the inside of Banquo: "'Tis better thee without than he within" (3.4.14). Despite his disappointment that Fleance escaped with his life, there's nothing more to be done in this matter, so Macbeth tells First Murderer to leave. Just at this moment Lady Macbeth comes with some advice for her husband. She is afraid that Macbeth's behaviour — standing at the door and apparently saying nothing — will make the guests feel unwelcome. She tells him, "The feast is sold / That is not often vouch'd, while 'tis a-making, / 'Tis given with welcome" (3.4.32-34). She means that a host makes his guests feel welcome by often inviting them to eat and drink freely. If a feast is not thus "vouch'd," it's no better than a meal that is "sold" at an inn. She goes on to say that if a person just wants to eat, the best place to do that is at home. Away from
home, the most important thing for a guest is to be treated like a guest. This again is Lady Macbeth appearing to take charge of her husband’s behaviour. Enter the Ghost of Banquo and sits in Macbeth's place. Taking his wife's advice to heart, which again emphasises the trust he has in her, Macbeth returns to his guests, wishing them good digestion, good appetite, and good health. As he is doing so, the last stool is take by an uninvited guest — the Ghost of Banquo. Macbeth is so busy playing the good host that he doesn't notice the ghost. No one else sees the ghost, either, because it's invisible to everyone except Macbeth. Ironically, Macbeth now chooses to comment about Banquo's absence from the banquet. He says, "Here had we now our country's honour roof'd, / Were the graced person of our Banquo present / Who may I rather challenge for unkindness / Than pity for mischance!" (3.4.39-42). If you "roof" an honour, you put the top on it. Macbeth is literally praising Banquo to the skies, but he also takes care to mention that he's sure that Banquo is absent because of Banquo's own "unkindness," not because of any "mischance" that could have happened to him. Ross agrees that Banquo should have kept his promise to come to the banquet, then invites Macbeth to sit among them. This is exactly the sort of thing that Macbeth wants; he hopes to be seen by the thanes as not only their king, but their friend. He starts towards the table, then sees that there's no empty stool. He can't find a place for himself and says, "The table's full" (3.4.45). It takes Macbeth a moment before he sees why the table is full. When Lennox points to the empty place, Macbeth asks where it is, looks harder, and sees the bloody figure of Banquo's Ghost. At first Macbeth thinks it might be some sort of ghastly joke, and asks, "Which of you have done this?" (3.4.48), but no one knows what he's talking about. Then Macbeth speaks to the ghost, saying "Thou canst not say I did it: never shake / Thy gory locks at me" (3.4.50). The ghost's "locks" of hair are "gory" because — as First Murderer told Macbeth — Banquo died with twenty gashes on his head. At this point Ross thinks it best if they all just go away and leave Macbeth alone, but Lady Macbeth covers for her husband – again, emphasising the strength she appears to bring to the relationship. She asks everyone to stay seated, and explains that Macbeth is often like this, and has been ever since he was young. He'll recover in a moment, she says, but if they stare at him, it will only make him worse, so they should just eat and pretend that nothing has happened. The guests do as they are told, and Lady Macbeth takes her husband aside. As she did early in the play, Lady Macbeth challenges her husband's manhood. The first thing out of her mouth is the insulting question, "Are you a man?" (3.4.57). Macbeth answers that he's not only man, he's a bold man who can look at things that might frighten the devil. His wife is not impressed. She exclaims sarcastically, "O proper stuff!" Then she tells him that "This is the very painting of your fear: / This is the air-drawn dagger which, you said, / Led you to Duncan" (3.4.59-62). She also tells him that he's making ridiculous faces, so that he reminds her of a woman telling a scary story that she heard
Page 1 and 2: You should consider: • the though
Page 3: • the way other characters react
Page 7 and 8: lood is cold; / Thou hast no specul

Macbeth Act 3 Scene 4 Notes - Sir Thomas Boughey High School

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