Tag: Scotland

by David Burgess on May 8, 2018 0

Shakespeare’s Macbeth – A Scene By Scene Synopsis (Act 3)

Macbeth Synopsis – Act 3 Scene 1

At the palace in Forres, Banquo reflects on the newly crowned king’s rise to power. He suspects Macbeth of foul play but has not challenged him.
Banquo cannot forget the witch’s prophecy that he will father a line of kings. In some ways their fates are meshed.

Macbeth interrupts Banquo’s thoughts, commanding him to be at the evening banquet. Banquo is to be chief guest. Macbeth draws information from Banquo about his movements for the rest of the day, discovering that he plans to ride a fair distance with his son Fleance, returning at nightfall. Banquo sets off and Macbeth dismisses Lady Macbeth and the rest of the court.

Alone, the mask falls. Macbeth feels unsafe on the throne. He believes that the chief threat lies in Banquo. Macbeth doubts his loyalty, and fears that he may simply be biding his time before making a move. Moreover, Macbeth is anguished by the prophecy that it will be Banquo who founds a royal dynasty, and not himself, Macbeth is ready to challenge fate itself by killing Banquo and his son.

Two desperado’s, down on their luck, are persuaded by Macbeth that their ill-fortune is due to Banquo, and they agree to murder Banquo and Fleance that evening.

Macbeth Synopsis – Act 3 Scene 2

Lady Macbeth sends a servant to her husband, requesting a private audience. While she waits, she lapses into sorrow. She has found no joy as Queen. But when Macbeth joins her, she hides her despair. Instead she chides him for brooding alone, and coaxes him to forget the past. Macbeth reminds his wife that they are still in danger, and tells her to flatter Banquo, their chief enemy. Lady Macbeth is disturbed by Macbeth’s obsession with Banquo. Although he hints at the dark deed planned, Macbeth does not confide in her. This time Macbeth is able to act without her support.

Macbeth Synopsis – Act 3 Scene 3

The two assassins, together with a third sent by Macbeth, ambush Banquo and Fleance as they approach the palace at dusk. In the confusion Fleance escapes, but Banquo is brutally stabbed to death.

Macbeth Synopsis – Act 3 Scene 4

Inside the palace, the nobility of Scotland assembles in the banqueting hall for the great feast. Macbeth bids them to be seated according to their rank, and the royal hosts are lavish in their welcome. As Macbeth mingles with the guests, he catches sight of one of the assassins lingering on the fringe. Slipping away to join him, Macbeth is relieved to hear that Banquo is dead, but enraged at Fleance’s escape. However, that threat lies in the future, and Macbeth puts it aside. Macbeth enjoys a fleeting moment of security as he toasts the company, and remarks on the absence of the chief guest, Banquo. Ross urges him to join the table, but Macbeth doesn’t see a spare seat. Lenox motions him to an empty chair. Macbeth is aghast. Banquo has kept his promise to attend the feast: his ghost sits in Macbeth’s seat. Macbeth speaks wildly to the ghost.

The thanes are alarmed at the sight of their king addressing an empty chair. No one, except perhaps Lady Macbeth, has any inkling of Banquo’s fate. Lady Macbeth desperately tries to deflect attention from the king: it is just a passing fit, best ignored. Whispering urgently to Macbeth, she tries to shame him into self-control. But Macbeth is hysterical with fear, and Lady Macbeth’s efforts are futile.

When the ghost disappears, Macbeth recovers and sits. He again toasts the company, and the absent Banquo. On cue, the ghost re-appears. Macbeth is convulsed with terror and rage. He has lost all instinct for concealment. Lady Macbeth is on a knife-edge of terror in case he exposes them both as murderers. The queen tries to cling to some shreds of royal dignity, but Macbeth’s ravings cannot be ignored. She dismisses the bewildered guests, and the company breaks up in disorder.
Left alone, Lady Macbeth is too exhausted even to reproach her husband for putting them both in such peril. But Macbeth, with Banquo’s ghost gone, immediately turns to new problems – Macduff who has flouted the royal summons, and his own uncertainty about the future. He decides to visit the witches again, and force more information from them. Macbeth is determined to be utterly ruthless in cementing his power. Already he has thrown an intelligence network over the kingdom: in every noble household there is a spy in the kings pay. Macbeth resolves to stop at nothing to make his power absolute. He will wade even further in blood. Macbeth puts his earlier terror at Banquo’s haunting down to inexperience in dark deeds – he will be tougher in future.

Macbeth Synopsis – Act 3 Scene 5

Although Macbeth does not yet know it, his future dealings with the witches will involve a stronger power. The witches are subservient to the dark goddess Hecat, who now scolds them for daring to speak to Macbeth without her guidance. Macbeth, she tells them, acts for his own ends, and not for love of the witches or what they represent. From now on, she will take charge of the oracle-making. The witches are commanded to meet Hecat at the pit of Acheron – the gates of hell – the next morning. They will cast the spells. But it is Hecat who will determine what Macbeth sees: she will make him feel secure through the power of illusion.

Macbeth Synopsis – Act 3 Scene 6

Meanwhile, discontent is growing in Scotland. There is gossip about the deaths of Duncan and Banquo. But some are wary about declaring Macbeth a murderer. Lenox uses double-speak in conversation with another lord: on the face of it, he sounds loyal, but there is deep sarcasm underneath. The other lord is less cautious; he calls Macbeth a tyrant outright and reveals that Macduff has fled to the English court, there to help gather an army to restore Duncan’s line. Lenox, now more sure of the other lord’s sympathies, declares himself for the Scottish exiles in England.
Macbeth Synopsis – The Other Acts

Shakespeare’s Macbeth – A Scene By Scene Synopsis (Act 4)

acbeth – Synopsis (Act 4 Scene 1)

On the heath, the witches mix their horrible brew, chanting and dancing around the cauldron. Hecat appears briefly to check their sinister work before Macbeth arrives.
Macbeth demands that the witches answer whatever he may ask, despite the consequences.
The first witch asks if he would rather hear the higher powers of darkness, and, throwing caution to the wind, Macbeth agrees.

The first apparition, an armed head, warns Macbeth to beware Macduff. The second apparition, a bloody child, tells Macbeth to be ruthless and fearless, for no man born of woman shall ever harm him. The third apparition, a crowned child carrying a tree, tells Macbeth that he shall never be vanquished until Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane Hill.

Macbeth accepts the visions without question: the witches’ earlier prophecies were truthful enough, so why doubt these oracles? Macbeth feels secure with all theses supernatural assurances about his own invincibility, but he still burns to know whether Banquo’s line will inherit the throne.
The witches are reluctant, but Macbeth insists, and they call forth a line of kings, the last with a mirror to reflect Banquo’s dynasty down the ages. Macbeth is beside himself with rage.
The witches vanish and Lenox, who hasn’t yet joined the exiles, brings Macbeth news of Macduff’s flight to England.
Macbeth has just been warned to beware Macduff, but he is now beyond his reach. Furious, Macbeth resolves to slaughter all Macduff’s kin. And in future he will act more swiftly, in case other traitors escape. The iron fist of tyrrany is closing on the land.

Macbeth Synopsis – Act 4 Scene 2

In Macduff’s castle, his wife, left alone with her children, is bewildered at her husband’s unexplained flight. She feels he has abandoned his family out of fear – a treacherous act. Her relative, Ross, tries to soothe her. After he has left, Lady Macduff laments her son’s fatherless state. A messenger bursts in and begs her to flee the castle with her children. Confused, she hesitates, and the murderers enter. Lady Macduff’s small son stands up to the villains, and as he is stabbed to death he cries to his mother to flee. There is no escape, her family and entire household are butchered.

Macbeth Synopsis – Act 4 Scene 3

Macduff, unaware of the tragedy, meets Duncan’s son Malcolm at the English court. Macduff urges him to challenge Macbeth, for the sake of Scotland, groaning under his rule. But Malcolm has learnt from his father’s to ready trust in men, and he suspects Macduff of being Macbeth’s spy. To test Macduff, Malcolm pretends that he has Macbeth’s vices, and more. At first Macduff argues that any king is better than Macbeth, but as the list of unkingly vices grows, Macduff is horrified. The man is not fit to live, let alone rule! All hope for Scotland is dead, he prepares to leave. A spy of Macbeths would have pretended to stick by Malcolm whatever his vices, but Macduff’s genuine concern for Scotland is now beyond doubt. Malcolm throws off his evil disguise, and shares his battle plans with Macduff: his uncle Siward, Earl of Northumberland, is to join him with ten thousand men.
Macduff is digesting this sudden change in Malcolm’s character when Ross enters unexpectedly. He brings the latest news of Scotlands woes, but hedges when Macduff asks after his family. At last he blurts out the terrible news. Macduff is beside himself with grief, remorse and a burning desire for vengeance.