Act III of Macbeth

     

     Banquo hopes that if what the witches told Macbeth actually came true, then he hopes his sons such as Fleance will become king as well. Although the death of King Duncan brings his sons closer to being king, Banquo's loyalty causes him to feel upset at the loss of his leader. It is clear that Banquo is stuck in between two hard places, with two men he has possessed trust and respect for in Macbeth and King Duncan. Macbeth begins to get paranoid and his guilt begins to consume him and Lady Macbeth can see it as well and is worried. Now that the king has been taken out, Macbeth seeks to take out the source of what the witches said the future kings would come from-- Banquo. The new king hires murderers to kill Banquo and his son Fleance but does not tell Lady Macbeth anything about it. I am starting to see that Macbeth has become greedy and selfish with his power. He is not satisfied with what he already has so he wishes to take out any source of power that can contest against him. Banquo is killed while riding horses with Fleance, fortunately Fleance escapes and he is not heard for the rest of the scene. The murderers return to give Macbeth the news about Fleance's escape but the success in killing Banquo. Macbeth knows eventually Fleance will be a threat to him but not at this point in time. As the feast begins Macbeth sees the ghost of Banquo walk into the room and sit in a seat. The guilt again has consumed Macbeth and forces him to go crazy in front of all of the lords and servants. He turns cold at the sight of the ghost, for it is the most horrific thing he can possibly see. He would rather see a "russian bear" or even an "armed rhinoceros", but not the ghost of Banquo. After dinner Lady Macbeth and her husband talk about what has been driving Macbeth so crazy. He admits that he is too deep in the "river of blood" to turn back. He has killed too many men to try and become good. He plans to carry out many more crimes and not think twice about them and just do them. His excuse for his weird moods is that he is a begginner at committing crimes, so he must get used to being cold blooded. The ending of this scene (Scene 4) can help us understand that Macbeth's attitude and demeanor is beginning to change. He is turning into a cold blooded killer that does not reevaluate his actions anymore. If he thinks too much about something, he feels he is being sensitive. In the following scene, Hecate confronts the witches about what they have been doing for Macbeth without her permission. She believes Macbeth is selfish and spoiled and does not deserve having his future be told for he ony cares about himself. She states that, "security is mortal's chiefest enemy". Macbeth has become over confident with his power and is abusing it. Hecate could be forshadowing that basically Macbeth has bit off more than he can chew and is fixing to pay for using taking advantage of the witches.