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MacbethPlease see the bottom of this page for full explanatory notes and helpful Macbeth resources.
Next: Macbeth, Act 3, Scene 4 ___________ Explanatory Notes for Act 3, Scene 3 From Macbeth. Ed. Thomas Marc Parrott. New York: American Book Co. (Line numbers have been altered.) __________ This scene, short as it is, contains the climax of the drama. So far everything has been in Macbeth's favour, and, outwardly at least, his career has been one unbroken series of successes. The escape of Fleance is his first piece of bad luck. From this time on, however, everything goes wrong with Macbeth. The various incidents that contribute to his downfall will be pointed out as they occur in the course of the action. It is enough, here, to call the attention of the student to the fact that this scene is the turning-point of the drama. It has been rather foolishly asserted that the Third Murderer who appears in this scene is Macbeth himself. Had Shakespeare meant this, we may be sure that he would have given the audience a hint to that effect. The speeches of Macbeth to the First Murderer in the next scene show conclusively, I think, that he was ignorant of the details of the assault on Banquo, which would not have been the case had he himself been one of the murderers. We may perhaps take the Third Murderer to be the "perfect spy" of iii. I. 130 whom Macbeth sends at the last moment as a re-enforcement to the ambush. 2. needs not our mistrust, we need not distrust him. The Second Murderer says these words to the First, who is evidently suspicious of the newcomer. He goes on to say that the third man has repeated Macbeth's instructions as to the time and place of the deed exactly as they were given in the first place, "to the direction just," which shows that he comes straight from the king. 3. offices, business. 7. timely, appropriate to the time, welcome. 8. The subject of our watch, the man we are waiting for. 9. Give us a light, Banquo says these words to one of his servants. He sends them on the winding road with the horses while he and Fleance take the straight path through the woods to the palace. Fleance carries the torch to light them on their way. 10. the note of expectation, the list of the expected guests. 11. about, the long way around. 15. stand to't, get ready. 16. It will be rain to-night. This remark of Banquo's shows how utterly unprepared he is for the treacherous assault. 17, 18. It is characteristic of the brave and self-possessed Banquo, that even at this terrible moment he thinks of his son, and contrives to get him away in the hope that he may revenge his father's death. 19. Was't not the way? Was not that the right thing to do? 20, 21. lost Best half of our affair, left the best part of our work undone. ________ How to cite the explanatory notes:________ Related Articles  Shakespeare's Sources and Banquo Macbeth: The Annotated Play Macbeth Character Introduction
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