Macbeth — Macbeth, Act III, Scene i

Production Notes

Macbeth is king — and he’s not sleeping. This speech is his private reckoning with Banquo: a man he fears, respects, and is about to have murdered. He lays out the case with terrible logic. He has given his soul to the witches’ prophecy and gotten nothing he can keep. The speech ends in a decision to fight fate head-on.

One of Shakespeare’s great portraits of guilt-in-motion — Macbeth is not paralyzed, he is calculating. Players who play the rationality rather than the horror often find the most frightening version of this speech.

Script

MACBETH

To be thus is nothing, But 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 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, as it is said Mark Antony’s was by Caesar. He chid the sisters When first they put the name of king upon me And bade them speak to him. Then, prophet-like, They hailed him father to a line of kings. Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown And put a barren scepter in my grip, Thence to be wrenched with an unlineal hand, No son of mine succeeding. If ’t be so, For Banquo’s issue have I filed 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 Given to the common enemy of man To make them kings, the seeds of Banquo kings. Rather than so, come fate into the list, And champion me to th’ utterance.

Facilitator Notes

Warm-up: Ask Players to list something they’ve worked hard for that they can’t quite keep. Then approach the speech from that feeling.

Debrief prompts:

• Macbeth’s fear of Banquo is also expressed as admiration. What does it mean that the man he fears most is the one he respects most?
• “Mine eternal jewel / Given to the common enemy of man” — Macbeth believes he has traded his soul. When in the speech does he seem to know this?
• The speech ends on defiance, not despair. How does that choice shape the character who follows?
• Where does Macbeth’s logic break down, if anywhere? Is he right about his situation?