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Act 3, page 1

Table of Contents

ACT 3, SCENE 1
Setting: Forres. The palace.

[Enter BANQUO]

BANQUO Thou hast it now: king, Cawdor, Glamis, all,
As the weird women promised, and, I fear,
Thou play'dst most foully for't: yet it was said
It should not stand in thy posterity,
But that myself should be the root and father 5
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. 10

[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.
MACBETH To–night we hold a solemn supper sir, 15
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. 20
MACBETH Ride you this afternoon?
BANQUO Ay, my good lord.
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 to–morrow. 25
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. 30
MACBETH Fail not our feast.
BANQUO My lord, I will not.
MACBETH We hear, our bloody cousins are bestow'd
In England and in Ireland, not confessing
Their cruel parricide, filling their hearers 35
With strange invention: but of that to–morrow,
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. 40
MACBETH I wish your horses swift and sure of foot;
And so I do commend you to their backs. Farewell.
[Exit BANQUO]
Let every man be master of his time
Till seven at night: to make society
The sweeter welcome, we will keep ourself 45
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. 50
[Exit Attendant]
To be thus is nothing; (Soliloquy Analysis)
But to be safely thus.––Our fears in Banquo
Stick deep; and in his royalty of nature
Reigns that which would be fear'd: 'tis much he dares;
And, to that dauntless temper of his mind, 55
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 60
When first they put the name of king upon me,
And bade them speak to him: then prophet–like
They hail'd him father to a line of kings:
Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown,
And put a barren sceptre in my gripe, 65
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 murder'd;
Put rancours in the vessel of my peace 70
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! 75

[Re–enter Attendant, with two Murderers]

Now go to the door, and stay there till we call.
[Exit Attendant]
Was it not yesterday we spoke together?
First Murderer It was, so please your highness.
MACBETH Well then, now
Have you consider'd of my speeches? Know 80
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, pass'd in probation with you,
How you were borne in hand, how cross'd, 85
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.'
First Murderer You made it known to us. 90
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 gospell'd
To pray for this good man and for his issue, 95
Whose heavy hand hath bow'd you to the grave
And beggar'd yours for ever?
First Murderer We are men, my liege.
MACBETH Ay, in the catalogue ye go for men;
As hounds and greyhounds, mongrels, spaniels, curs, 100
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 105
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; 110
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. 115
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.
First Murderer And I another 120
So weary with disasters, tugg'd 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. 125
Both Murderers True, my lord.
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 130
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, 135
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–– 140
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 to–night,
And something from the palace; always thought 145
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 150
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, 155
If it find heaven, must find it out to–night.

[Exit]

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Question #11

What does Lady Macbeth mean in this quote?

"O proper stuff!
This is the very painting of your fear:
This is the air–drawn dagger which you said,
Led you to Duncan."
Act 3, Scene 4, Lines 61–64





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Question #4

Macduff says:

"When shalt thou see thy wholesome days again,
Since that the truest issue of thy throne
By his own interdiction stands accurst,
And does blaspheme his breed?"
Act 4, Scene 3, Lines 105–108

What does "issue" mean in this passage?





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Act 5, page 1

Table of Contents

ACT 5, SCENE 2
Setting: The country near Dunsinane.

[Drum and colours. Enter MENTEITH, CAITHNESS, ANGUS, LENNOX, and Soldiers ]

MENTEITH The English power is near, led on by Malcolm,
His uncle Siward and the good Macduff:
Revenges burn in them; for their dear causes
Would to the bleeding and the grim alarm
Excite the mortified man.
ANGUS Near Birnam wood
Shall we well meet them; that way are they coming.
CAITHNESS Who knows if Donalbain be with his brother?
LENNOX For certain, sir, he is not: I have a file
Of all the gentry: there is Siward's son,
And many unrough youths that even now 10
Protest their first of manhood.
MENTEITH What does the tyrant?
CAITHNESS Great Dunsinane he strongly fortifies:
Some say he's mad; others that lesser hate him
Do call it valiant fury: but, for certain,
He cannot buckle his distemper'd cause
Within the belt of rule.
ANGUS Now does he feel
His secret murders sticking on his hands;
Now minutely revolts upbraid his faith–breach;
Those he commands move only in command,
Nothing in love: now does he feel his title 20
Hang loose about him, like a giant's robe
Upon a dwarfish thief.
MENTEITH Who then shall blame
His pester'd senses to recoil and start,
When all that is within him does condemn
Itself for being there?
CAITHNESS Well, march we on,
To give obedience where 'tis truly owed:
Meet we the medicine of the sickly weal,
And with him pour we in our country's purge
Each drop of us.
LENNOX Or so much as it needs,
To dew the sovereign flower and drown the weeds. 30
Make we our march towards Birnam.
[Exeunt, marching]

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Question #10

One of the prophesies said that Birnam Wood would come to Dunsinane.

How does Birnam Wood come to Dunsinane?





Please enter the first three words of a sentence that shows your answers is correct.

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Question #10

After reading a letter from Macbeth telling her about the events of the battle and his meeting with the witches, Lady Macbeth says: "…yet do I fear they nature; It is too full o'th' milk of human kindness To catch the nearest way; thou wouldst be great; Art not without ambition, but without The illness should attend it:"

What do Lady Macbeth's statements about her husband reveal?





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Act 1, page 2

Table of Contents

ACT 1, SCENE 2
Setting: A camp near Forres.

[ Alarum within. Enter DUNCAN, MALCOLM, DONALBAIN, LENNOX, with Attendants, meeting a bleeding Sergeant ]

DUNCAN What bloody man is that? He can report,
As seemeth by his plight, of the revolt
The newest state.
MALCOLM This is the sergeant
Who like a good and hardy soldier fought 5
Gainst my captivity. Hail, brave friend!
Say to the king the knowledge of the broil
As thou didst leave it.
Sergeant Doubtful it stood;
As two spent swimmers, that do cling together 10
And choke their art. The merciless Macdonwald––
Worthy to be a rebel, for to that
The multiplying villanies of nature
Do swarm upon him––from the Western Isles
Of kerns and gallowglasses is supplied; 15
And fortune, on his damned quarrel smiling,
Show'd like a rebel's whore: but all's too weak:
For brave Macbeth––well he deserves that name––
Disdaining fortune, with his brandish'd steel,
Which smoked with bloody execution, 20
Like valour's minion carved out his passage
Till he faced the slave;
Which ne'er shook hands, nor bade farewell to him,
Till he unseam'd him from the nave to the chaps,
And fix'd his head upon our battlements. 25
DUNCAN O valiant cousin! worthy gentleman!
Sergeant As whence the sun 'gins his reflection
Shipwrecking storms and direful thunders break,
So from that spring whence comfort seem'd to come
Discomfort swells. Mark, king of Scotland, mark: 30
No sooner justice had with valour arm'd
Compell'd these skipping kerns to trust their heels,
But the Norweyan lord surveying vantage,
With furbish'd arms and new supplies of men
Began a fresh assault. 35
DUNCAN Dismay'd not this
Our captains, Macbeth and Banquo?
Sergeant Yes;
As sparrows eagles, or the hare the lion.
If I say sooth, I must report they were 40
As cannons overcharged with double cracks, so they
Doubly redoubled strokes upon the foe:
Except they meant to bathe in reeking wounds,
Or memorize another Golgotha,
I cannot tell. 45
But I am faint, my gashes cry for help.
DUNCAN So well thy words become thee as thy wounds;
They smack of honour both. Go get him surgeons.
[Exit Sergeant, attended]
Who comes here?
[Enter ROSS]
MALCOLM The worthy thane of Ross. 50
LENNOX What a haste looks through his eyes! So should he look
That seems to speak things strange.
ROSS God save the king!
DUNCAN Whence camest thou, worthy thane?
ROSS From Fife, great king; 55
Where the Norweyan banners flout the sky
And fan our people cold. Norway himself,
With terrible numbers,
Assisted by that most disloyal traitor
The thane of Cawdor, began a dismal conflict; 60
Till that Bellona's bridegroom, lapp'd in proof,
Confronted him with self–comparisons,
Point against point rebellious, arm 'gainst arm.
Curbing his lavish spirit: and, to conclude,
The victory fell on us. 65
DUNCAN Great happiness!
ROSS That now
Sweno, the Norways' king, craves composition:
Nor would we deign him burial of his men
Till he disbursed at Saint Colme's inch 70
Ten thousand dollars to our general use.
DUNCAN No more that thane of Cawdor shall deceive
our bosom interest: go pronounce his present death,
And with his former title greet Macbeth.
ROSS I'll see it done. 75
DUNCAN What he hath lost noble Macbeth hath won.
[Exeunt]

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Act 1, page 3

Table of Contents

ACT 1, SCENE 3
Setting: A heath near Forres.

Thunder. Enter the three Witches.

First Witch Where hast thou been, sister?
Second Witch Killing swine.
Third Witch Sister, where thou?
First Witch A sailor's wife had chestnuts in her lap,
And munch'd, and munch'd, and munch'd:–– 5
Give me,' quoth I:
Aroint thee, witch!' the rump–fed ronyon cries.
Her husband's to Aleppo gone, master o' the Tiger:
But in a sieve I'll thither sail,
And, like a rat without a tail, 10
I'll do, I'll do, and I'll do.
Second Witch I'll give thee a wind.
First Witch Thou'rt kind.
Third Witch And I another.
First Witch I myself have all the other, 15
And the very ports they blow,
All the quarters that they know
I' the shipman's card.
I will drain him dry as hay:
Sleep shall neither night nor day 20
Hang upon his pent–house lid;
He shall live a man forbid:
Weary se'n nights nine times nine
Shall he dwindle, peak and pine:
Though his bark cannot be lost, 25
Yet it shall be tempest–tost.
Look what I have.
Second Witch Show me, show me.
First Witch Here I have a pilot's thumb,
Wreck'd as homeward he did come. 30
Drum within.
Third Witch A drum, a drum!
Macbeth doth come.
ALL The weird sisters, hand in hand,
Posters of the sea and land,
Thus do go about, about: 35
Thrice to thine and thrice to mine
And thrice again, to make up nine.
Peace! the charm's wound up.
Enter MACBETH and BANQUO.
MACBETH So foul and fair a day I have not seen.
BANQUO How far is't call'd to Forres? What are these 40
So wither'd and so wild in their attire,
That look not like the inhabitants o' the earth,
And yet are on't? Live you? or are you aught
That man may question? You seem to understand me,
By each at once her choppy finger laying 45
Upon her skinny lips: you should be women,
And yet your beards forbid me to interpret
That you are so.
MACBETH Speak, if you can: what are you?
First Witch All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Glamis! 50
Second Witch All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, thane of Cawdor!
Third Witch All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!
BANQUO Good sir, why do you start; and seem to fear
Things that do sound so fair? I' the name of truth,
Are ye fantastical, or that indeed 55
Which outwardly ye show? My noble partner
You greet with present grace and great prediction
Of noble having and of royal hope,
That he seems rapt withal: to me you speak not.
If you can look into the seeds of time, 60
And say which grain will grow and which will not,
Speak then to me, who neither beg nor fear
Your favours nor your hate.
First Witch Hail!
Second Witch Hail! 65
Third Witch Hail!
First Witch Lesser than Macbeth, and greater.
Second Witch Not so happy, yet much happier.
Third Witch Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none:
So all hail, Macbeth and Banquo! 70
First Witch Banquo and Macbeth, all hail!
MACBETH Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more:
By Sinel's death I know I am thane of Glamis;
But how of Cawdor? the thane of Cawdor lives,
A prosperous gentleman; and to be king 75
Stands not within the prospect of belief,
No more than to be Cawdor. Say from whence
You owe this strange intelligence? or why
Upon this blasted heath you stop our way
With such prophetic greeting? Speak, I charge you. 80
Witches vanish.
BANQUO The earth hath bubbles, as the water has,
And these are of them. Whither are they vanish'd?
MACBETH Into the air; and what seem'd corporal melted
As breath into the wind. Would they had stay'd!
BANQUO Were such things here as we do speak about? 85
Or have we eaten on the insane root
That takes the reason prisoner?
MACBETH Your children shall be kings.
BANQUO You shall be king.
MACBETH And thane of Cawdor too: went it not so?
BANQUO To the selfsame tune and words. Who's here?
Enter ROSS and ANGUS.
ROSS The king hath happily received, Macbeth,
The news of thy success; and when he reads
Thy personal venture in the rebels' fight,
His wonders and his praises do contend 95
Which should be thine or his: silenced with that,
In viewing o'er the rest o' the selfsame day,
He finds thee in the stout Norweyan ranks,
Nothing afeard of what thyself didst make,
Strange images of death. As thick as tale
Came post with post; and every one did bear
Thy praises in his kingdom's great defence,
And pour'd them down before him.
ANGUS We are sent
To give thee from our royal master thanks; 105
Only to herald thee into his sight,
Not pay thee.
ROSS And, for an earnest of a greater honour,
He bade me, from him, call thee thane of Cawdor:
In which addition, hail, most worthy thane!
For it is thine.
BANQUO What, can the devil speak true?
MACBETH The thane of Cawdor lives: why do you dress me
In borrow'd robes?
ANGUS Who was the thane lives yet; 115
But under heavy judgment bears that life
Which he deserves to lose. Whether he was combined
With those of Norway, or did line the rebel
With hidden help and vantage, or that with both
He labour'd in his country's wrack, I know not;
But treasons capital, confess'd and proved,
Have overthrown him.
MACBETH Aside.
Glamis, and Thane of Cawdor:
The greatest is behind.
To ROSS and ANGUS.
Thanks for your pains.
To BANQUO. 125
Do you not hope your children shall be kings,
When those that gave the thane of Cawdor to me
Promised no less to them?
BANQUO That trusted home
Might yet enkindle you unto the crown,
Besides the thane of Cawdor. But 'tis strange:
And oftentimes, to win us to our harm,
The instruments of darkness tell us truths,
Win us with honest trifles, to betray's
In deepest consequence.
Cousins, a word, I pray you. 135
MACBETH Aside.
Two truths are told,
As happy prologues to the swelling act
Of the imperial theme. –– I thank you, gentlemen.
Aside.
This supernatural soliciting
Cannot be ill, cannot be good: if ill,
Why hath it given me earnest of success,
Commencing in a truth? I am thane of Cawdor: 140
If good, why do I yield to that suggestion
Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair
And make my seated heart knock at my ribs,
Against the use of nature? Present fears
Are less than horrible imaginings:
My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical,
Shakes so my single state of man that function
Is smother'd in surmise, and nothing is
But what is not.
BANQUO Look, how our partner's rapt. 150
MACBETH Aside.
If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me,
Without my stir.
BANQUO New honors come upon him,
Like our strange garments, cleave not to their mould
But with the aid of use.
MACBETH Aside. 155
Come what come may,
Time and the hour runs through the roughest day.
BANQUO Worthy Macbeth, we stay upon your leisure.
MACBETH Give me your favour: my dull brain was wrought
With things forgotten. Kind gentlemen, your pains
Are register'd where every day I turn
The leaf to read them. Let us toward the king. 160
Think upon what hath chanced, and, at more time,
The interim having weigh'd it, let us speak
Our free hearts each to other.
BANQUO Very gladly.
MACBETH Till then, enough. Come, friends.
[Exeunt]