© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved.NOTESTo be thus^11 is nothing, but^12 to be safely thus—
Our fears in Banquo stick deep,
And in his royalty of nature reigns that
Which would be feared. ’Tis much he dares;
And, to^13 that dauntless temper of his mind,
He hath a wisdom that doth guide his valor
To act in safety. There is none but he
Whose being I do fear: and under him
My genius is rebuked,^14 as it is said
Mark Antony’s was by Caesar. He chid^15 the sisters,
When first they put the name of King upon me.
And bade them speak to him; then prophetlike
They hailed him father to a line of kings.
Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown
And put a barren scepter in my gripe,^16
Thence to be wrenched with an unlineal hand.
No son of mine succeeding. If ’t be so,
For Banquo’s issue have I filed^17 my mind;
For them the gracious Duncan have I murdered;
Put rancors in the vessel of my peace
Only for them, and mine eternal jewel^18
Given to the common enemy of man,^19
To make them kings, the seeds of Banquo kings!
Rather than so, come, fate, into the list,
And champion me to th’ utterance!^20 Who’s there?
[Enter Servant and Two Murderers.]
Now go to the door, and stay there till we call.
[Exit Servant.]
Was it not yesterday we spoke together?
Murderers. It was, so please your Highness.
Macbeth. Well then, now
Have you considered of my speeches? Know
That it was he in the times past, which held you
So under fortune,^21 which you thought had been
Our innocent self: this I made good to you
In our last conference; passed in probation^22 with you.
How you were born in hand,^23 how crossed, the instruments,
Who wrought with them, and all things else that might
To half a soul^24 and to a notion^25 crazed
Say “Thus did Banquo.”
First Murderer. You made it known to us.
Macbeth. I did so; and went further, which is now
Our point of second meeting. Do you find
Your patience so predominant in your nature,
That you can let this go? Are you so gospeled,^26
To pray for this good man and for his issue,
Whose heavy hand hath bowed you to the grave- thus king.
- but unless.
50- to added to.
55- genius is rebuked guardian
spirit is cowed. - chid scolded.
60- gripe grip.
65 17. filed defiled.rancors (RANG kuhrz) n. angry
feelings- eternal jewel soul.
- common... man the Devil.
- champion me to th’ utterance
Fight against me to the death.
7075- held... fortune kept you
from good fortune. - passed in probation reviewed
the proofs. - born in hand deceived.
- half a soul halfwit.
- notion mind.
8085- gospeled ready to forgive.
90The Tragedy of Macbeth, Act III 299LIT17_SE12_U03_A3_WC.indd 299WriteNow Analyze and Interpret 3/14/16 1:11 AM
Retelling Review Macbeth’s speech in Scene i, lines 75–84.
Instruct students to rewrite the lines in contemporary English in
order to ensure that they understand what he’s saying.
Possible response: Did you think about what I told you? By now
you should have figured out that Banquo is the one responsible
for making your lives miserable; you always blamed me, but I am
innocent! At our last meeting I spelled out how you were let down
and betrayed, and gave you enough evidence to make even an idiot
say, “Yes, Banquo did it!”Whole-Class Learning 299
LIT17_TE12_U03_A3_WC.indd 299 4/9/16 12:17 PM