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Act 1 Scene 3

At the start of Act 1 Scene 3, the witches are gathered together waiting for Macbeth
and Banquo to return from battle. One witch tells the others about how she has been
rebuked by a sailor’s wife and as a result has cast a spell on the sailor to get her
revenge.

Contextual information about ‘fate’ [AO3-Context]

In Shakespeare’s time, it was commonly believed that one’s life was predestined. Even though it
was believed that life was predestined that did not mean that humans did not have free will to
make the right moral and religious choices. The key question in Macbeth is the extent to which
his actions are
controlled by fate (in this case the witches) and the extent to which he makes evil choices using
his own free will.

In Act 1 Scene 3, the witches refer to themselves as ‘the weird sisters.’ This is not the modern
meaning of weird which is ‘peculiar or strange.’ The word comes from the Anglo-Saxon word for
fate – ‘wyrd.’ The suggestion is that the witches can control human destiny.

In the Middle Ages particularly, but also later in the Elizabethan times it was widely believed that
Fate (or Fortune) was the main controlling force in life. In Shakespeare’s time, tragedy was
perceived as a reversal of fortune; a fall from a high position. This view of tragedy derives from
the Medieval concept of
fortune, which was personified as Fortuna, a blindfolded woman who turned a wheel at whim.
Men were stationed at various places on the wheel – the top of the wheel represented the best
fortune and under the wheel the worst. However, the wheel could turn suddenly and the man
on top could unexpectedly
find himself under the wheel, without warning.

A heath near Forres. Thunder. Enter the three

Witches.

FIRST WITCH
1 Where hast thou been, sister?

SECOND WITCH
2 Killing swine.

THIRD WITCH
3 Sister, where thou?

FIRST WITCH
4 A sailor’s wife had chestnuts in her lap,
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5 And munch’d, and munch’d, and munch’d:- Which of these statements do

6 ‘Give me,’ quoth I: you agree with? Explain

7 ‘Aroint thee, witch!’ the rump-fed ronyon cries. • Macbeth is referring to the
8 Her husband’s to Aleppo gone, master o’ the weather
Tiger:
• Macbeth is referring to their
9 But in a sieve I’ll thither sail,
recent success in the battle
10 And, like a rat without a tail,
11 I’ll do, I’ll do, and I’ll do. • Macbeth’s comment is in
reference to the light.
SECOND WITCH
12 I’ll give thee a wind. • Macbeth’s meaning is unclear.
Like the witches he is speaking
in riddles
FIRST WITCH
13 Thou’rt kind.
Look at the following
THIRD WITCH statements – which are said to
14 And I another. Macbeth and which are said to
Banquo?
FIRST WITCH
15 I myself have all the other, a) You will be king.
16 And the very ports they blow, b) Your title is Thane of Glamis.
17 All the quarters that they know c) Your children will be kings, but
18 I’ the shipman’s card. you won’t.
19 I will drain him dry as hay; d) You are not going to be as
20 Sleep shall neither night nor day happy as your friend in one
21 Hang upon his pent-house lid; way, but in another way you
22 He shall live a man forbid: will be much happier.
23 Weary se’nnights nine times nine e) You are getting a new title,
24 Shall he dwindle, peak and pine: Thane of Cawdor.
f) You’re not as important as your
25 Though his bark cannot be lost,
friend but in another way you
26 Yet it shall be tempest-tost. are more important.
27 Look what I have.

SECOND WITCH
28 Show me, show me.

FIRST WITCH
29 Here I have a pilot’s thumb,
30 Wreck’d as homeward he did come.

Drum within

THIRD WITCH
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31 A drum, a drum!
32 Macbeth doth come.

ALL
33 The weird sisters, hand in hand,
34 Posters of the sea and land,
35 Thus do go about, about:
36 Thrice to thine and thrice to mine
37 And thrice again, to make up nine.
38 Peace! The charm’s wound up.
Enter MACBETH and BANQUO

MACBETH AO1-How do Banquo and

38 So foul and fair a day I have not seen. Macbeth describe the
witches?
BANQUO
39 How far is’t call’d to Forres? What are these How does Macbeth respond to
the witches’ prophecies?
40 So wither’d and so wild in their attire,
41 That look not like the inhabitants o’ the earth,
42 And yet are on’t? Live you? Or are you aught
Chosen quotations:
43 That man may question? You seem to understand me,
44 By each at once her chappy finger laying
45 Upon her skinny lips: you should be women,
46 And yet your beards forbid me to interpret Summarise Macbeth’s response
47 That you are so.

MACBETH
48 Speak, if you can: what are you?
How does Banquo respond to
FIRST WITCH the witches’ prophecies?
49 All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Glamis!

SECOND WITCH Chosen quotations:

50 All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Cawdor!

THIRD WITCH
Summarise Macbeth’s response
51 All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!

BANQUO
52 Good sir, why do you start; and seem to fear
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53 Things that do sound so fair? I’ the name of truth, What does Banquo say about
54 Are ye fantastical, or that indeed Macbeth and the effect the
55 Which outwardly ye show? My noble partner witches seem to have had on
56 You greet with present grace and great prediction him?
57 Of noble having and of royal hope,
58 That he seems rapt withal: to me you speak not.
59 If you can look into the seeds of time, Chosen quotations:
60 And say which grain will grow and which will not,
61 Speak then to me, who neither beg nor fear
62 Your favours nor your hate. Summarise Macbeth’s
response
FIRST WITCH
63 Hail!
Complete these statements
SECOND WITCH on the structural techniques
64 Hail! 1. Interrogative sentences
reveal Macbeth’s…
THIRD WITCH 2. Gender subversion
65 Hail! occurs through…
3. Imperative sentences are
FIRST WITCH used because…
66 Lesser than Macbeth, and greater. 4. Banquo’s feelings are
clearly expressed
SECOND WITCH through the use of
67 Not so happy, yet much happier. adjectives…
5. Macbeth is impatient and
THIRD WITCH this is revealed through
68 Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none: Shakespeare’s use of…
69 So all hail, Macbeth and Banquo!
AO2- Language and
FIRST WITCH
Structure
70 Banquo and Macbeth, all hail!
• Irony
MACBETH
71 Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more: • Metaphor of vegetation
72 By Sinel’s death I know I am thane of Glamis; • Paradoxes-
73 But how of Cawdor? The thane of Cawdor lives,
74 A prosperous gentleman; and to be king • Simile-
75 Stands not within the prospect of belief,
76 No more than to be Cawdor. Say from whence
77 You owe this strange intelligence? Or why
78 Upon this blasted heath you stop our way
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79 With such prophetic greeting? Speak, I charge you.

Witches vanish
BANQUO
80 The earth hath bubbles, as the water has,
81 And these are of them. Whither are they vanish’d?

MACBETH
82 Into the air; and what seem’d corporal melted
83 As breath into the wind. Would they had stay’d!

BANQUO
84 Were such things here as we do speak about?
85 Or have we eaten on the insane root
86 That takes the reason prisoner?

MACBETH
87 Your children shall be kings.

BANQUO
88 You shall be king.

MACBETH
89 And thane of Cawdor too: went it not so?

BANQUO
90 To the selfsame tune and words. Who’s here

a) Contradictions ‘You should be women, / And yet your beards forbid me to

interpret that you are so.’
b) Adjectives ‘Would they had stayed!’
c) Alliteration ‘Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more’
d) Interrogative ‘Say from whence you owe this strange intelligence?’
sentence
e) Exclamatory ‘What are these so wild and withered in their attire’
sentence
f) Imperative sentence ‘Or have we eaten on the insane root / That takes the reason
prisoner?’
g) Nouns ‘Lesser than Macbeth and greater / Not so happy, yet much
happier.’
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Act 1 Scene 3 continued

ROSS 1. Which line does Macbeth

91 The king hath happily received, Macbeth, mirror and why do you
92 the news of thy success, and when he reads think Shakespeare has
93 thy personal venture in the rebels’ fight, Macbeth do this?
94 his wonders and praise do contend
95 which should be thine or his. Silenced with that, 2. How can you tell the
96 in viewing o’er the rest o’ the selfsame day, witches have caught
97 he finds thee in the stout Norweyan ranks, Macbeth’s attention?
98 nothing afeard of what thyself didst make,
99 strange images of death. As thick as tale
100 can post with post, and everyone did bear
101 thy praises in his kingdom’s great defense,
102 and poured them down before him.

ANGUS
103 We are sent
104 to give thee from our royal master thanks,
105 only to herald thee into his sight,
106 not pay thee.

ROSS
107 And, for an earnest of a greater honour,
108 he bade me, from him, call thee thane of
Cawdor:
109 in which addition, hail, most worthy thane,
110 for it is thine.

BANQUO
111 What, can the devil speak true?

MACBETH
112 The thane of Cawdor lives. Why do you dress
me
113 in borrowed robes?

ANGUS
114 Who was the thane lives yet,
115 but under heavy judgement bears that life
116 which he deserves to lose. Whether he was
combined
117 with those of Norway, or did line the rebel
118 with hidden help and vantage, or that with both
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119 he laboured in his country’s wrack, I know not; The instruments of darkness tell us
120 but treasons capital, confessed and proved, truths,
121 have overthrown him. Win us with honest trifles, to betray’s
In deepest consequence
MACBETH
122 (aside) Glamis, and thane of Cawdor! 1. What inferences can we make
123 The greatest is behind. (to ROSS and ANGUS) about Banquo’s attitude
Thanks for towards the witches?
124 your pains. 2. Which words are key? What
125 (aside to BANQUO) Do you not hope your type of words are these?
children shall be Noun? Verb? Adjective?
126 kings, Adverb?
127 when those that gave the thane of Cawdor to 3. What do these words suggest
me about Banquo’s thoughts?
128 promised no less to them? How can we interpret these
words?
BANQUO 4. How does this quotation
129 That, trusted home, reinforce that Banquo is
130 might yet enkindle you unto the crown, Macbeth’s foil?
131 besides the thane of Cawdor. But ‘tis strange.
132 And oftentimes, to win us to our harm,
133 the instruments of darkness tell us truths,
134 win us with honest trifles, to betray’s
135 in deepest consequence.
136 (to ROSS and ANGUS) Cousins, a word, I pray
you.
BANQUO, ROSS and ANGUS move to one side.
‘Shakespeare has crafted Banquo to be Macbeth’s foil.’
How does the quotation ‘the instruments of darkness tell us truths, / Win us with
honest trifles, to betray’s / In deepest consequence’ reinforce this notion?
Topic Comment on the relationship between Macbeth and Banquo?
sentence
Example This is evident in the line…

Explanation What does this line tell you about how Macbeth is viewed?
This line tells me…
Exploration Focus in on the language that has been used here. Which words are key?
What do they reveal about Banquo’s thoughts? Is he Macbeth’s foil? Why?
The use of ____ suggests…
Effect What would an audience think as a result? Which character would they prefer
(Macbeth or Banquo) and why?
An audience would…
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AO3-Context
The Great Chain of Being and the divine right of kings.
Elizabethans believed that God set out an order for everything in the universe. This
was known as the Great Chain of Being. On Earth, God created a social order for
everybody and chose where you belonged. In other words, the king or queen was in
charge because God put them there and they were only answerable to God (the
Divine Right of Kings). This meant that disobeying the monarch was a sin, which was
handy for keeping people in their place! Love and obey your monarch and you
would go to heaven. Defy or betray your monarch (TREASON) or kill a king
(REGICIDE) and you were killing a God, and you would surely go to Hell. You would
be branded a traitor. In Dante’s Inferno, the lowest circle of hell was reserved for
traitors. If you were caught your execution would see you hanged, drawn and
quartered.

This consisted of hanging till almost dead, then your insides pulled out and your
body cut into four pieces. Unless you were a woman, in which case you’d be burnt at
the stake. It also led to the idea that if the wrong person was monarch everything
would go wrong for a country, including whether
the crops would be good, or if animals behaved as they should.

James I was a firm believer in The Divine Right of Kings and in 1599 he wrote a
treatise on government, which sets out the Christian justification for a monarch’s
absolute power. He was also the patron saint of Shakespeare’s company so
Shakespeare would present any act of regicide as an act of extreme evil.

Act 1 Scene 3 continued

MACBETH
(Aside) Two truths are told,
As happy prologues to the swelling act
Of the imperial theme – I thank you, gentlemen.
This supernatural soliciting,
Cannot be ill, cannot be good: if ill,
Why hath it given me earnest of success,
Commencing in a truth? I am Thane of Cawdor:
If good, why do I yield to that suggestion
Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair
And make my seated heart knock at my ribs,
Against the use of nature? Present fears
Are less than horrible imaginings:
My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical,
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Shakes so my single state of man that function Decide if the following

Is smothered in surmise, and nothing is utterances are ‘speech’ or
But what is not. ‘thoughts’

BANQUO a) Thank you for the trouble

Look, how our partner’s rapt. you’ve gone to bring me this
news.
MACBETH b) I’m already Glamis, not I’m
Thane of Cawdor. I’m well on
(Aside) If chance will have me king, why, chance may
the way to becoming King!
crown me
c) Is this news good or evil?
Where do the witches get their
Without my stir.
knowledge from?
d) I’ve already got a horrid picture
BANQUO
in my mind of what I’m being
New honours come upon him. tempted to do…
Like our strange garments, cleave not to their mould
But with the aid of use. e) Surely, I can’t be Thane of
Cawdor! He’s alive and well.
MACBETH You’ve made a mistake.
(Aside) Come what come may, f) Banquo, I want to talk with you
Time and the hour runs through the roughest day. later about what has happened
to us today after we’ve both
BANQUO had a chance to think about it.
Worthy Macbeth, we stay upon your leisure.

MACBETH
Give me your favour: my dull brain was wrought
If we track Banquo, what do the
With things forgotten. Kind gentleman, your pains
Are register’d where every day I turn following quotations reveal about
The leaf to read them. Let us toward the king. how Banquo observes Macbeth
(To Banquo) Think upon what hath chanced, and, at upon receiving this news?
more Look how our partner’s rapt
time.
The interim having weigh’d it, let us speak
Our free hearts each to other.
New honours come upon him /
Like our strange garments, cleave
BANQUO not to their mould / But with the
Very gladly. aid of use.
MACBETH
Till then, enough. Come, friends.

The scene ends with Macbeth saying ‘Come what come may, Time and hour runs through
the roughest day.’ What is Macbeth saying here? What structural technique is used and
why?
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Formative assessment:
What effect does the news from Ross have on Macbeth and Banquo?
Try to include as many of the following words in your response:
ambitious wavered The Great Chain of Being repelled

pensive suspicious regicide apprehension

Offer your opinion about how the characters react to the news from Ross
Support your opinion with a textual reference and a brief link to the wider social and
historical context of regicide during this time.
Try to make 3 points about how Macbeth and Banquo respond and aim to use shorter
textual references. Link Macbeth and Banquo’s response to Ross to the wider social and
historical context of The Great Chain of Being and the act of committing regicide.