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Kamrass; English 10

Macbethby William Shakespeare

A Study Guide for Act 3 (pp. 77-113)

Even though we do not have a coronation scene, Macbeth is now King of Scotland and has achieved his ambition.

Was there a time when you, or someone you know, achieved a goal? What happened afterwards (immediately, a week later, month later…)?

Scene 1:

  1. How does Banquo react to Macbeth becoming king?
  1. What news has Macbeth heard regarding the king’s sons?
  1. What concerns does Macbeth express in his soliloquy once Banquo leaves?
  1. Instead of just hiring men to kill Banquo, Macbeth goes to the trouble of finding men who are down on their luck and convinces them that Banquo is the cause of their problems. Why do you think he does this? (Notice how he implies that if they were real men, they would commit murder, just as Macbeth’s wife did to him.)Who else are they supposed to kill?

Scene 2:

  1. At the beginning of this scene, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth express the same sentiments regarding the way things are going. What do they say?

(End of scene note: Notice that Macbeth does not share his plan with his wife. He has now taken over as the one who plots and plans.)

Scene 3:

We’ll skip this brief scene. In it the murderers ambush Banquo and kill him, but Banquo’s son, Fleance, is able to escape unharmed.

  1. After his first confrontation with the witches, Macbeth worried that he would have to commit a murder to gain the Scottish crown. He seems to have gotten used to the idea and commits multiple murders (directly and indirectly). Who has been murdered so far?

Scene 4:

  1. When Macbeth hears that Banquo is dead, he’s thrilled, but when he learns that Fleance lives, he has a hard time being a host to his guests. Why does he refuse to sit in his chair at the dinner table?
  1. Describe what Lady Macbeth says to her husband when he starts raving in front of his guests:
  1. Macbeth is so terrified that he decides to do something: What is it? Why?

Scene 5: Many scholars believe that this scene was added by another writer, not Shakespeare.

  1. Discuss why Hecate is angry and what her plan is:

Scene 6:

  1. What does Lennox reveal in his first speech?
  1. Where has Macduff gone, and why does it anger Macbeth?

The appearance of the ghost and the reappearance of the witches may represent the political disorder in Scotland after Duncan’s assassination and the moral disorder within Macbeth and his wife. It seems appropriate that Banquo haunts Macbeth and not Duncan because (1) he has a larger role in the play, (2) he was a legendary ancestor of King James, and (3) he was also intrigued by the witches’ prophesies, but he never did anything criminal to achieve his ambitions. He is a FOIL to Macbeth (foils are characters that are so similar that they warrant comparison, but the comparison highlights how different they really are).