Notes: Act 3 Scene 4

Question 1

explain the quote
Then comes my fit again, I had else been perfect
Macbeth

Answer 1

This is the beginning of Macbeth’s attempt to control fate

Question 2

Explain the quote:
But now I am cabined, cribbed, confined
Macbeth

Answer 2

Macbeth is imprisoned by fear

Question 3

Explain the quote:
There the grown serpent lies; the worm that’s fled hath nature that in time will venom breed, no teeth for th’ present.
Macbeth

Answer 3

This is animal imagery.

Fleance’s escape will be a problem later on, not an imminent danger to Macbeth.

Question 4

Explain the quote:
Pray you keep seat; the fit is momentary; upon a thought he will again be well
Lady Macbeth

Answer 4

Lady Macbeth is resourceful again. She offers an expalnation with impressive self control

Question 5

What has Macbeth done to Scotland?

Answer 5

He has established his own kind of order in Scotland

Question 6

What was the banquet supposed to be?

Answer 6

It should be a triumphant celebration of his rule

Question 7

What are banquets in Shakespeare’s plays usually a symbol of?

Answer 7

They are usually symbols of friendship and unity, of bodily health and the health of the kingdom.

Question 8

What is the banquet in Macbeth a symbol of?

Answer 8

It is a microcosm of the state of the kingdom. There is chaos abounding.
The breakdown in social order and authority symbolises the chaos which now reins in the kingdom.

Question 9

How is the bloody face of the first murderer symbolic?

Answer 9

Macbeth cannot suppress his deeds or cover them with false shows of order.

Question 10

How does Macbeth react to the news that Fleance escaped?

Answer 10

He becomes distressed

Question 11

Explain the entry of Banquo’s ghost and what it symbolises.

Answer 11

The ruinous/catastrophic entry of Banquo’s ghost as he sits on Macbeth’s royal seat symbolises the witches prophecy for Banquo; this is the position Banquo’s descendants will one day inherit

Question 12

Why does the Banquet scene mark a turning pont in the play?

Answer 12

It involves Macbeth’s social ruin, his total loss of face

Question 13

Describe the scene once the guests leave

Answer 13

Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are left alone on stage amid the ruins of their banquet

Question 14

Describe Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s relationship in this scene

Answer 14

We discover a distinctly new relationship between them.
LM’s efforts to save M from the complete exposure of his guilt have exhausted her and broken her spirit.

M has become the provactive partner that his wife once was

Question 15

How does their relationship change?

Answer 15

M can no longer expect her help, but he no longer needs it.

Question 16

What will Macbeth do next? What is significant about this

Answer 16

He intends to find out more information from the witches.

It is significant that he can think of himself wading through a river of blood

Question 17

Give an example of M’s growing ruthlessness

Answer 17

His newfound ability to plan and carry out murders without a second thought.
He has closed the gap between thinking and doing

Question 18

Quote the sealing of Macduff’s family’s fate

Answer 18

Strange things I have heard that will to hand, which must be acted ere they may be scanned.