Scene 1
- Banquo's scepticism of Macbeth's new title of king; "Thou hast it now: king, cawdor, glamis all, as the wierd sisters promised, and i fear thou play'dst most foully for't". Note that banquo is being open with Macbeth with these thoughts; he is not, at this stage, concearned that macbeth will kill him because he knows too much. he still sees him as his friend
- Macbeth's first fear of what banquo knows; "Our fears in banquo stick deep" and "My genius rebuked". Macbeth is concearned that if banquo tells anyone what has been going on, they will figure out that Macbeth killed Duncan for the throne.
- Macbeth gets two murderers in - lower class citizens, who he tells that Banquo is their opressor in a bad society; "Both of you know banquo was your enemy...so he is mine". He manipulates the murderers, so they do not question their king's motives behind the requested assassination.
- Macbeth's fear of a 'fruitless crown' is brought forwards; "Fleance his son...must embrace the fate of that dark hour" to end the possibility of banquo's prophesy coming true
Scene 2
- "O, full of scorpions is my mind" - the beginning of madness?
- "There's comfort yet; they are assailable." hints that murder has become Macbeth's preferred way of dealing with problems
- "Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest" shows roll reversal, in that he is now taking charge, wheras Lady took charge earlier in the play
Scene 3
- First onstage murder of the play
- Is done badly by the murderers, who struggle and miss Fleance
Scene 4
- the presence of banquo's ghost can be the same as the dagger in macbeth's sololiquy, in that it ma or may not actually be visable to the audience. however, if an interpretation shows the dagger to be invisible but the ghost visable, it could emphasise macbeth's gradual decent into madness
- Speaks to the apparition this time. last time, he simply thought to himself aloud. He beleves it is real this time, without doubting it
- Lady desprately tries to pass Macbeth's iratic behaviour off as normal, but in doing so, further alienates the other onstage characters. Her theatrical side comes out again to manipulate others.
Scene 5
- Witches. Hecate tells them off for not asking her permission to meddle. shows they are rebelling against their authority, reinforcing the interpretation that they are just out to be entertained at other's expense
Scene 6
- two interpretations; Lennox is grilling the Lord for information, or Lennox and the Lord have met up secretly to talk politics. We find out that Macduff has fled to england to attempt to gain an army and oust macbeth
- Treachery by Macduff is gossip to the other lords of the court; shamefull macduff?
These are good comments. You are analysing the text with some insight. The point about Banquo's ghost being visible might suggest M's madness, but is there any evidence to suggest that he goes mad? Is it more a confirmation of the guilt that the dagger vision suggests?
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