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Act 2

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Act 2, page 1

Act 2, page 2

Act 2, page 3

Act 2, page 4

Questions

1) What is the main idea of Act 2?

2) Macbeth says,

"Hear it not, Duncan, for it is a knell
That summons thee to heaven, or to hell."

What does "summons" mean in this passage?

3) Lady Macbeth says,

"Alack! I am afraid they have awaked.
And 'tis not done: th'attempt and not the deed
Confounds us."

What does "Confounds" mean in this passage?

4) Macduff wakes everyone after discovering the murdered Duncan saying:

"Ring the alarum bell! Murder and treason!
Banquo and Donalbain! Malcolm! Awake!
Shake off this downy sleep, death's counterfeit,
And look on death itself!"

What does "sleep, death's counterfeit" mean in this passage?

5) Macbeth says,

"Here lay Duncan,
His silver skin laced with his golden blood,
And his gashed stabs looked like a breach in nature"

What does "breach" mean in this passage?

6) What does Macbeth imagine that he sees which seems to lead him to Duncan's room?

7) How was Macbeth able to get past Duncan's chamberlains to gain access to Duncan's room?

8) Which word describes Macbeth's and Lady Macbeth's attitudes toward Duncan's murder?

9) Who finds Duncan's murdered body?

10) Where do Malcolm and Donalbain go after their father is murdered?

11) What does Macbeth mean in this quote?

"Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood
Clean from my hand? No; this my hand will rather
The multitudinous seas incarnadine,
Making the green one red."
Act 2, Scene 2, Lines 75–78

12) The same quote from the last question is copied below. What does "blood" represent in this quote?

"Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood
Clean from my hand? No; this my hand will rather
The multitudinous seas incarnadine,
Making the green one red."
Act 2, Scene 2, Lines 75–78

13) In Act 2, Scene 4 Ross and an old man discuss some of the bizarre happenings in nature that seem to suggest that something is wrong. Which three strange occurrences do they discuss?

14) Who is the porter pretending to be as he answers the knock at the gate?

15) When Macbeth is being questioned about why he killed the chamberlains, what does Lady Macbeth do to draw everyone's attention away from her husband?

16) Were there any events that weren't clear to you?

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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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Act 3, page 2

Table of Contents

ACT 3, SCENE 2
Setting: The palace.

[Enter LADY MACBETH and a Servant]

LADY MACBETH Is Banquo gone from court?
Servant Ay, madam, but returns again to–night.
LADY MACBETH Say to the king, I would attend his leisure
For a few words.
Servant Madam, I will.
[Exit]
LADY MACBETH 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.
[Enter MACBETH]
How now, my lord! why do you keep alone,
Of sorriest fancies your companions making,
Using those thoughts which should indeed have died 10
With them they think on? Things without all remedy
Should be without regard: what's done is done.
MACBETH We have scotch'd the snake, not kill'd it:
She'll close and be herself, whilst our poor malice
Remains in danger of her former tooth.
But let the frame of things disjoint, both the
worlds suffer,
Ere we will eat our meal in fear and sleep
In the affliction of these terrible dreams
That shake us nightly: better be with the dead,
Whom we, to gain our peace, have sent to peace, 20
Than on the torture of the mind to lie
In restless ecstasy. Duncan is in his grave;
After life's fitful fever he sleeps well;
Treason has done his worst: nor steel, nor poison,
Malice domestic, foreign levy, nothing,
Can touch him further.
LADY MACBETH Come on;
Gentle my lord, sleek o'er your rugged looks;
Be bright and jovial among your guests to–night.
MACBETH So shall I, love; and so, I pray, be you:
Let your remembrance apply to Banquo; 30
Present him eminence, both with eye and tongue:
Unsafe the while, that we
Must lave our honours in these flattering streams,
And make our faces vizards to our hearts,
Disguising what they are.
LADY MACBETH You must leave this.
MACBETH O, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife!
Thou know'st that Banquo, and his Fleance, lives.
LADY MACBETH But in them nature's copy's not eterne.
MACBETH There's comfort yet; they are assailable;
Then be thou jocund: ere the bat hath flown 40
His cloister'd flight, ere to black Hecate's summons
The shard–borne beetle with his drowsy hums
Hath rung night's yawning peal, there shall be done
A deed of dreadful note.
LADY MACBETH What's to be done?
MACBETH Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck,
Till thou applaud the deed. Come, seeling night,
Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day;
And with thy bloody and invisible hand
Cancel and tear to pieces that great bond
Which keeps me pale! Light thickens; and the crow 50
Makes wing to the rooky wood:
Good things of day begin to droop and drowse;
While night's black agents to their preys do rouse.
Thou marvell'st at my words: but hold thee still;
Things bad begun make strong themselves by ill.
So, prithee, go with me.
[Exeunt]

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Act 3, page 3

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ACT 3, SCENE 3
Setting: A park near the palace.

[Enter Three Murderers]

First Murderer But who did bid thee join with us?
Third Murderer Macbeth.
Second Murderer He needs not our mistrust, since he delivers
Our offices and what we have to do
To the direction just.
First Murderer Then stand with us.
The west yet glimmers with some streaks of day:
Now spurs the lated traveller apace
To gain the timely inn; and near approaches
The subject of our watch.
Third Murderer Hark! I hear horses.
BANQUO [Within] Give us a light there, ho!
Second Murderer Then 'tis he: the rest
That are within the note of expectation 10
Already are i' the court.
First Murderer His horses go about.
Third Murderer Almost a mile: but he does usually,
So all men do, from hence to the palace gate
Make it their walk.
Second Murderer A light, a light!

[Enter BANQUO, and FLEANCE with a torch]

Third Murderer Tis he.
First Murderer Stand to't.
BANQUO It will be rain to–night.
First Murderer Let it come down.
[They set upon BANQUO]
BANQUO O, treachery! Fly, good Fleance, fly, fly, fly!
Thou mayst revenge. O slave!
[Dies. FLEANCE escapes]
Third Murderer Who did strike out the light?
First Murderer Wast not the way?
Third Murderer There's but one down; the son is fled.
Second Murderer We have lost
Best half of our affair. 20
First Murderer Well, let's away, and say how much is done.
[Exeunt]

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Act 3, page 4

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ACT 3, SCENE 4
Setting: The same. A hall in the palace.

[A banquet prepared. Enter MACBETH, LADY MACBETH, ROSS, LENNOX, Lords, and Attendants ]

MACBETH You know your own degrees; sit down: at first
And last the hearty welcome.
Lords Thanks to your majesty.
MACBETH Ourself will mingle with society,
And play the humble host.
Our hostess keeps her state, but in best time
We will require her welcome.
LADY MACBETH Pronounce it for me, sir, to all our friends;
For my heart speaks they are welcome.
[First Murderer appears at the door]
MACBETH See, they encounter thee with their hearts' thanks.
Both sides are even: here I'll sit i' the midst: 10
Be large in mirth; anon we'll drink a measure
The table round.
[Approaching the door]
There's blood on thy face.
First Murderer Tis Banquo's then.
MACBETH Tis better thee without than he within.
Is he dispatch'd?
First Murderer My lord, his throat is cut; that I did for him.
MACBETH Thou art the best o' the cut–throats: yet he's good
That did the like for Fleance: if thou didst it,
Thou art the nonpareil.
First Murderer Most royal sir,
Fleance is 'scaped. 20
MACBETH 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 cabin'd, cribb'd, confined, bound in
To saucy doubts and fears. But Banquo's safe?
First Murderer Ay, my good lord: safe in a ditch he bides,
With twenty trenched gashes on his head;
The least a death to nature.
MACBETH Thanks for that:
There the grown serpent lies; the worm that's fled
Hath nature that in time will venom breed, 30
No teeth for the present. Get thee gone: to–morrow
First Witch Why, how now, Hecate! you look angerly.
HECATE Have I not reason, beldams as you are,
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 call'd to bear my part,
Or show the glory of our art?
And, which is worse, all you have done 10
Hath been but for a wayward son,
Spiteful and wrathful, who, as others do,
Loves for his own ends, not for you.
But make amends now: get you gone,
And at the pit of Acheron
Meet me i' the morning: thither he
Will come to know his destiny:
Your vessels and your spells provide,
Your charms and every thing beside.
I am for the air; this night I'll spend 20
Unto a dismal and a fatal end:
Great business must be wrought ere noon:
Upon the corner of the moon
There hangs a vaporous drop profound;
I'll catch it ere it come to ground:
And that distill'd by magic sleights
Shall raise such artificial sprites
As by the strength of their illusion
Shall draw him on to his confusion:
He shall spurn fate, scorn death, and bear 30
He hopes 'bove wisdom, grace and fear:
And you all know, security
Is mortals' chiefest enemy.
[ Music and a song within: 'Come away, come away,' &c ]
Hark! I am call'd; my little spirit, see,
Sits in a foggy cloud, and stays for me.
[Exit]
First Witch Come, let's make haste; she'll soon be back again.
[Exeunt]

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Act 3, page 6

Table of Contents

ACT 3, SCENE 6
Setting: Forres. The palace.

[Enter LENNOX and another Lord]

LENNOX My former speeches have but hit your thoughts,
Which can interpret further: only, I say,
Things have been strangely borne. The
gracious Duncan
Was pitied of Macbeth: marry, he was dead:
And the right–valiant Banquo walk'd too late;
Whom, you may say, if't please you, Fleance kill'd,
For Fleance fled: men must not walk too late.
Who cannot want the thought how monstrous
It was for Malcolm and for Donalbain
To kill their gracious father? damned fact! 10
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?
Was not that nobly done? Ay, and wisely too;
For 'twould have anger'd any heart alive
To hear the men deny't. So that, I say,
He has borne all things well: and I do think
That had he Duncan's sons under his key––
As, an't please heaven, he shall not––they
should find
What 'twere to kill a father; so should Fleance. 20
But, peace! for from broad words and 'cause he fail'd
His presence at the tyrant's feast, I hear
Macduff lives in disgrace: sir, can you tell
Where he bestows himself?
Lord The son of Duncan,
From whom this tyrant holds the due of birth
Lives in the English court, and is received
Of the most pious Edward with such grace
That the malevolence of fortune nothing
Takes from his high respect: thither Macduff
Is gone to pray the holy king, upon his aid 30
To wake Northumberland and warlike Siward:
That, by the help of these––with Him above
To ratify the work––we may again
Give to our tables meat, sleep to our nights,
Free from our feasts and banquets bloody knives,
Do faithful homage and receive free honours:
All which we pine for now: and this report
Hath so exasperate the king that he
Prepares for some attempt of war.
LENNOX Sent he to Macduff?
Lord He did: and with an absolute 'Sir, not I,' 40
The cloudy messenger turns me his back,
And hums, as who should say 'You'll rue the time
That clogs me with this answer.'
LENNOX And that well might
Advise him to a caution, to hold what distance
His wisdom can provide. Some holy angel
Fly to the court of England and unfold
His message ere he come, that a swift blessing
May soon return to this our suffering country
Under a hand accursed!
Lord I'll send my prayers with him.
[Exeunt]