Scene iii 1. As the porter answers the door, what does he pretend to be? The porter, or guard at the door, pretends to be the guard to the gates of hell. “Here's a knocking indeed! If a man were porter of hell-­‐gate, he should have old turning the key.” Irony – the gates to Macbeth’s home = the gates to hell! In what way is Macbeth’s castle/home hellish (even though Banquo compared it in Act 1, scene 6 to heaven?) Words that suggest hell or sin include: “hell-­‐gate”, “Beelzebub” (devil), “hanged himself”, “devil’s name”, “equivocator,” “treason,” “hell,” “devil-­‐porter”, “bonfire” 2. According to the porter, what three things does drink provide? What does it both provoke and unprovoked? 1. nose-­‐painting (fooling around) 2. sleep 3. urine It provokes and unprovokes lechery (drinking provokes sexual desire but not the performance!) Note that alcohol’s effects have not changed much even today! 3. Why does Shakespeare provide comic relief at this point in the play? On a dramatic level, it is necessary to juxtapose the heavy intensity of the previous scene of Duncan’s murder and Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s guilt. The audience needs some space for laughter. The Porter’s jokes are about things that were very familiar to audiences in 1606, when the play was first performed: greedy farmers, cheating tailors, and sexually transmitted diseases (“roast your goose”). On a more literal level, the Macbeths need time to change into nightgowns. Some productions cut the porter scene, arguing it is irrelevant to the play, but note that the porter’s speech echoes the play’s themes: damnation (“the everlasting bonfire”), evil and the supernatural (“Beelzebub”), ambition (the greedy farmer), lying and deceit (“equivocator”), theft (the tailor), desire and achievement (the effects of drink). 4. Why have Macduff and Lennox come to Inverness? To wake Duncan and accompany him on the next part of his journey. Macduff: “He did command me to call timely on him:/ I have almost slipp'd the hour.” 5. List the strange happenings of the previous night. What is the significance of these happenings? -­‐ the night has been “unruly” (stormy) -­‐ chimneys were blown down -­‐ lamentings or cries were heard in the air, “strange screams of death” -­‐ horrible prophesies or warnings of things to come -­‐ confused events -­‐ earthquakes – “the earth/ Was feverous and did shake” The significance of these happenings is that nature mirrors the horror of the murder!
The earth itself seems diseased. What Macbeth has done is unnatural! (Remember the
storm at the beginning of the play – foreshadowing)
Also, note the dramatic Irony: Macbeth comments, “ ‘Twas a rough night.” In what way
has the night truly been “rough”?
6. Who discovers Duncan’s body? What is his reaction? Macduff; true shock and horror “O horror, horror, horror! Tongue nor heart/ Cannot conceive nor name thee!” Notice the contrast to Macbeth’s reaction: “Had I but lived an hour before this chance,/ I had lived a blessed time,…/ All is but toys…/ The wine of life is drawn…” Macbeth’s longer speeches show how he uses elaborate imagery to try to persuade the others and conceal the truth. Macbeth is saying that Duncan’s death makes trivial (“toys”) everything worthwhile in life. Duncan was “the wine of life” and everyone else in the world is far inferior – but it was Macbeth himself who killed Duncan! 7. Who tells Malcolm and Donalbain that their father has been murdered? Macbeth: “The spring, the head, the fountain of your blood/ Is stopp'd; the very source of it is stopp'd.” Notice the contrast to Macduff’s version of the events: “Your royal father 's murder'd.” As usual, Macbeth speaks in very political language, or euphemisms (the nice way of saying something bad), perhaps to avoid facing the truth himself. Notice also Lady Macbeth tries to immediately feign her shock and innocence. When Macduff says Duncan is murdered, Lady Macbeth says, “Woe, alas./ What, in our house?” Banquo, perhaps immediately suspicious, notes, “Too cruel, anywhere.” (Why is Lady Macbeth so concerned the murder took place in her house? The murder is horrible regardless). 8. What has Macbeth done to the chamberlains and what is his explanation for this action? Macbeth killed them in his fury when he discovered that they had killed Duncan. His excuse was he was so caught up in his emotions of the moment that he didn’t think straight, and went to avenge the murder. Again, Macbeth uses language rich in evocative imagery to try to defend his killing of Duncan’s guards. However, we know what he says is false. Do you think Macbeth sounds sincere? “Who can be wise, amazed, temperate and furious, Loyal and neutral, in a moment? No man: The expedition my violent love Outrun the pauser, reason. Here lay Duncan, His silver skin laced with his golden blood; And his gash'd stabs look'd like a breach in nature For ruin's wasteful entrance: there, the murderers, Steep'd in the colours of their trade, their daggers Unmannerly breech'd with gore: who could refrain, That had a heart to love, and in that heart Courage to make 's love known?” ** Notice Lady Macbeth may think Macbeth is going too far here, and indirectly drawing attention to himself. Perhaps to distract everyone, or perhaps she is truly horrified by the reality of what she’s done, she faints: “Help me hence, ho.” ** Is Lady Macbeth’s swoon genuine or not????? Does her fainting help or hurt the situation??? 9. Why do Malcolm and Donalbain choose to speak privately on the murder of their father? They are worried that they will be suspected of the murder. “What should be spoken here, where our fate,/ Hid in an auger-­‐hole, may rush, and seize us?/ Let 's away; Our tears are not yet brew'd.” Note the importance of appearances again! 10. Why does everyone decide to split up again and meet later? “And when we have our naked frailties hid,/ That suffer in exposure, let us meet,/ And question this most bloody piece of work,/ To know it further.” Banquo proposes a meeting to investigate the murder, but they all need to get dressed first (remember, everyone was sleeping when the murder occurred). At this point, everyone is suspicious of everyone else! Note the difference between Banquo and Macbeth regarding the meeting. Banquo says, “In the great hand of God I stand and thence/ Against the undivulged pretence I fight/ Of treasonous malice.” Macbeth says, “Let’s briefly put on manly readiness and meet i’th’ hall together.” What is the difference in each character’s approach? 11. In their solitude, what do Malcolm and Donalbain decide to do? Why? They decide to run away, incase whoever decided to murder their father tries to murder them (remember, Malcolm is next in line for the throne.) Malcolm: I'll to England. Donalbain: To Ireland, I; our separated fortune/ Shall keep us bo h the safer: where we are,/ There's daggers in men's smiles: the near in blood,/ The nearer bloody Malcolm: This murderous shaft that's shot/ Hath not yet lighted, and our safest way/ Is to avoid the aim. Therefore, to horse… Given the situation, do you think they make the most logical decision? Scene iv 12. The old man and Ross are discussing the strange events of the previous night as this scene begins. What three strange things have they noticed? -­‐ Darkness in daytime (“…by the clock, 'tis day,/ And yet dark night strangles the travelling lamp:/ Is't night's predominance…” -­‐ Owls killing falcolns (little bird killing a greater one – Macbeth and Duncan?) -­‐ Horses eating each other *** These strange and terrible disruptions in nature mirror the chaos of the social world – Macbeth’s murder of Duncan. *** The character of the Old Man is worth considering – he is unnamed, and only appears here in the play. His dramatic function is like the chorus in a Greek tragedy. The chorus comments on the action, shows how the action is reflected in nature and society, and represents the point of view of the ordinary people. Is the Old Man this kind of chorus? Remember that he has seen “hours dreadful and things strange” (war is a constant in society???) 13. Next, Macduff reveals the prevalent theory on who killed Duncan and why. What is this theory? Malcolm and Donalbain. Because they left the country, they are suspected the murder. “Malcolm and Donalbain, the king's two sons,/ Are stol'n away and fled; which puts upon them/ Suspicion of the deed.” 14. Why are some of the characters headed to SCONE at the end of this scene? Who isn’t going? Some of the characters are headed to Scone to see Macbeth, in Malcolm’s place as Duncan’s successor, crowned king. Significantly, Macduff is NOT going – does he suspect something fishy about Macbeth’s role in Duncan’s murder?