Rehma Zahid, Steven Perri, Garrett Cook, Elizabeth Kurkowski
Act III, Scene 4
The same. Hall in the palace.




[A banquet prepared. Enter MACBETH, LADY MACBETH,] [p]ROSS, LENNOX, Lords, and Attendants]
Macbeth. You know your own degrees; sit down: at first
And last the hearty welcome.
Lords.
Macbeth.
Our hostess keeps her state, but in best time
We will require her welcome.
Lady Macbeth.
[First Murderer appears at the door]
Macbeth.
Be large in mirth; anon we'll drink a measure
The table round.
[Approaching the door]
There's blood on thy face.
First Murderer. 'Tis Banquo's then.
Macbeth.
Is he dispatch'd?
First Murderer. My lord, his throat is cut; that I did for him.
Macbeth. Thou art the best o' the cut-throats: yet he's good
That did the like for Fleance: if thou didst it,
Thou art the nonpareil.
First Murderer. Most royal sir,
Fleance is 'scaped.
Macbeth. Then comes my fit again: I had else been perfect,
But now I am cabin'd, cribb'd, confined, bound in
To saucy doubts and fears. But Banquo's safe?
First Murderer. Ay, my good lord: safe in a ditch he bides,
With twenty trenched gashes on his head;
The least a death to nature.
Macbeth. Thanks for that:
There the grown serpent lies; the worm that's fled
Hath nature that in time will venom breed,
No teeth for the present.
[Exit Murderer]
Lady Macbeth. My royal lord,
You do not give the cheer: the feast is sold
That is not often vouch'd, while 'tis a-making,
'Tis given with welcome: to feed were best at home;
From thence the sauce to meat is ceremony;
Meeting were bare without it.
Macbeth.
Lennox. May't please your highness sit.
[The GHOST OF BANQUO enters, and sits in]
MACBETH's place]
Macbeth.
Ross (Lennox). His absence, sir,
Lays blame upon his promise. Please't your highness
To grace us with your royal company.
Macbeth. The table's full.
Lennox. Here is a place reserved, sir.
Macbeth. Where?
Lennox. Here, my good lord. What is't that moves your highness?
Macbeth. Which of you have done this?
Lords.
Macbeth. Thou canst not say I did it: never shake
Thy gory locks at me.
Ross (Lennox).
Lady Macbeth. Sit, worthy friends: my lord is often thus,
And hath been from his youth: if much you note him,
You shall offend him and extend his passion:
Feed, and regard him not. Are you a man?
Macbeth. Ay, and a bold one, that dare look on that
Which might appal the devil.
Lady Macbeth. O proper stuff!
This is the very painting of your fear:
This is the air-drawn dagger which, you said,
Led you to Duncan.
Why do you make such faces? When all's done,
You look but on a stool.
Macbeth. Prithee, see there! behold! look! lo!
how say you?
Why, what care I? If thou canst nod, speak too.
[GHOST OF BANQUO vanishes]
Lady Macbeth. What, quite unmann'd in folly?
Macbeth. If I stand here, I saw him.
Lady Macbeth. Fie, for shame!
Macbeth. Blood hath been shed ere now, i' the olden time,
Ere human statute purged the gentle weal;
Ay, and since too, murders have been perform'd
Too terrible for the ear: the times have been,
That, when the brains were out, the man would die,
And there an end; but now they rise again,
With twenty mortal murders on their crowns,
And push us from our stools: this is more strange
Than such a murder is.
Lady Macbeth. My worthy lord,
Your noble friends do lack you.
Macbeth. Give me some wine; fill full.
I drink to the general joy o' the whole table,
And to our dear friend Banquo, whom we miss;
Would he were here! to all, and him, we thirst,
And all to all.1385
Lords. Our duties, and the pledge.
[Re-enter GHOST OF BANQUO]
Macbeth. Avaunt! and quit my sight! let the earth hide thee!
Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold;
Thou hast no speculation in those eyes 1390
Which thou dost glare with!
Lady Macbeth.
Macbeth. What man dare, I dare:
Approach thou like the rugged Russian bear,
The arm'd rhinoceros, or the Hyrcan tiger;
Take any shape but that, and my firm nerves
Shall never tremble: or be alive again,
And dare me to the desert with thy sword;
If trembling I inhabit then, protest me
The baby of a girl. Hence, horrible shadow!
Unreal mockery, hence!
[GHOST OF BANQUO vanishes]
Why, so: being gone,
I am a man again. Pray you, sit still.
Lady Macbeth. You have displaced the mirth, broke the good meeting,
With most admired disorder.
Macbeth. Can such things be,
When now I think you can behold such sights,
And keep the natural ruby of your cheeks,
When mine is blanched with fear.
Ross (Lennox). What sights, my lord?
Lady Macbeth. I pray you, speak not; he grows worse and worse;
Question enrages him. At once, good night:
Stand not upon the order of your going,
But go at once.
Lennox.
Lady Macbeth. A kind good night to all!
[Exeunt all but MACBETH and LADY MACBETH]
Macbeth. It will have blood; they say, blood will have blood:
The secret'st man of blood. What is the night?
Lady Macbeth. Almost at odds with morning, which is which.
Macbeth. How say'st thou, that Macduff denies his person
At our great bidding?
Lady Macbeth. Did you send to him, sir?
Macbeth. I hear it by the way; but I will send:
There's not a one of them but in his house
I keep a servant fee'd. I will to-morrow,
And betimes I will, to the weird sisters:
I am in blood
Stepp'd in so far that, should I wade no more,
Returning were as tedious as go o'er:
Strange things I have in head, that will to hand;
Which must be acted ere they may be scann'd.
Lady Macbeth.
Macbeth.
We are yet but young in deed.
[Exeunt]