Taylor Svete

British Literature/ Mrs. Smith

Macbeth quote responses Act III

10/22/09

“Thou hast it now: King, Cawdor, Glamis, all,/ As the weird women promised, and I fear/ Thou

play‟dst most foully for „t.”

(Scene i, lines 1-3)

This quote shows that Banquo suspects Macbeth of foul play, yet Banquo is hesitant to do

anything about it, in fact, he has no desire to stop Macbeth whatsoever. Is this out of loyalty to

his friend, or is he only concerned about his own prophecies coming true? The latter is most

likely because the “weird women” prophesized that Banquo’s sons would be kings, and this is

what he wants to come true. Macbeth has other ideas though. Will he betray his loyalty to his

friend in order to stop the witches prophecies from coming true, so that his own sons may be

kings?

“Nought‟s had, all‟s spent,/ Where our desire is got without content:”

(Scene ii, lines 4-5)

Now, even Lady Macbeth has begun to feel regret about the evil deeds Macbeth and she

have done. She has gotten what she wanted all along, but she is miserable and feels worse off

than she was before. She no longer has the same relationship she used to have with Macbeth, in

fact, they hardly talk at all, and now when Macbeth talks to her he is very vague, as opposed to
the direct way they used to speak. But even though she herself is miserable, she still tries to

comfort her husband, telling him that “Things without all remedy/ Should be without regard:

what’s done is done” (11-12) because Macbeth is still feeling the initial guilt he had when he

decided to kill Duncan.

“And make our faces vizards to our hearts,/ Disguising what they are.”

(Scene ii, line 34-35)

Now it is Macbeth telling Lady Macbeth to make their faces hide what their guilty hearts

would show. This time it is him who comes up with the murderous plan and Lady Macbeth who

is forced to stand to the side and watch while Macbeth does all the work. In the murder of

Duncan, apart from the actual killing, Lady Macbeth was the brave one who did most of the dirty

work while Macbeth simply went along with it, but now the roles have changed and Lady

Macbeth’s persuasion to avert the death of innocent Banquo does not work. She is told simply to

act innocent even though her heart is guilty with knowledge of sin.

“And you all know security/ Is mortals‟ chiefest enemy.”

(Scene v, line 32)

Hecate, the leader of the three witches, wants her chance to mess with Macbeth. Her plan

is to deceive him into overconfidence in order to ruin him, because in this quote she tells us that

overconfidence is what brings decadence upon humans. Unlike Macbeth, and now Lady

Macbeth, the witches feel no guilt for ruining people or bringing them their death, they are

sadistic in their ways and derive pleasure from ruining humans’ lives.