THE MERCHANT OF VENICE

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Monday, January 19/Tuesday, January 20 Act II Scenes III, IV, V + VI, VII, VIII
Wednesday, January 21 Act II Scene IX
Thursday, January 22/Friday, January 23 Post Quiz on Act II Scenes III IX
Monday, January 26/Tuesday, January 27 Act III Scenes I-II
Wednesday, January 28 Act III Scenes III-IV
Thursday, January 29/Friday, January 30 Post-Quiz on Act III Scenes I IV
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Summary: Act II, scene iii
Shylocks daughter Jessica bids good-bye to Launcelot. She tells him that his presence made life with her father
more bearable. Jessica gives Launcelot a letter to carry to Bassanios friend Lorenzo, and Launcelot leaves,
almost too tearful to say good-bye. Jessica, left alone, confesses that although she feels guilty for being ashamed
of her father, she is only his daughter by blood, and not by actions. Still, she hopes to escape her damning
relationship to Shylock by marrying Lorenzo and converting to Christianity.
Summary: Act II, scene iv
On a street in Venice, Gratiano, Lorenzo, Salarino, and Solanio discuss the plan to unite Lorenzo with Jessica.
Gratiano frets that they are not well prepared, but Lorenzo assures the men that they have enough time to gather
the necessary disguises and torchbearers. As they talk, Launcelot enters bearing Jessicas letter. Lorenzo
recognizes the writing, lovingly exclaiming that the hand that penned the message is whiter than the paper it
writ on (II.iv.13). Lorenzo bids Launcelot to return to Shylocks house in order to assure Jessica, secretly, that
Lorenzo will not let her down. Launcelot departs, and Lorenzo orders his friends to prepare for the nights
festivities. Salarino and Solanio leave, and Lorenzo relates to Gratiano that Jessica will escape from Shylocks
house by disguising herself as Lorenzos torchbearer. Lorenzo gives Gratiano the letter and asks Gratiano to
read it, then leaves, excited for the evenings outcome.
Analysis: Act II, scenes iii-iv
Although Shylock does not appear in these scenes, our view of him is further shaped by the opinions of those
closest to him. Even though his servant and daughter do not like him, their descriptions of him inadvertently
make him a more sympathetic figure in our eyes. Launcelot, we learn, is not abandoning his post because
Shylock has proved to be a cruel or harsh master, but because he seems to fear contamination from being so
close to a Jew. Interestingly, although he calls Shylock a devil, Launcelot points out that his desire to leave is a
temptation more devilish still, and says his desire to stay is a product of his conscience, which is generally a
guide of what is right. Jessica, too, voices no real complaint about her father, other than the tedium of life with
him, but she seems eager to escape her Jewish heritage, which she sees as a stain on her honor. Jessica even
brings the morality of her own actions into question when she calls her shame at being Shylocks daughter a sin,
and she feels enormous guilt at her own sentiments. Her desire to convert would undoubtedly have been
applauded by Elizabethan audiences, but here it is expressed as a kind of young recklessness that borders on
selfishness. The negative impression that Shylock has given us with his first appearance is somewhat
counteracted by the words of those closest to him, who feel guilty even as they speak ill of him.
Summary: Act II, scene v
Shylock warns Launcelot that Bassanio will not be as lenient a master as Shylock himself has been, and that
Launcelot will no longer be at liberty to overeat and oversleep. Shylock calls for Jessica and tells her that he has
been summoned for dinner. Worried by a premonition that trouble is brewing, Shylock asks Jessica to keep the
doors locked and not look out at the revelry taking place in the streets. Launcelot whispers to Jessica that she
must disobey her father and look out the window for the Christian who will be worth a Jews eye (II.v.41).
Shylock asks Jessica about her furtive conversation with Launcelot, and says that, though Launcelot is kind, he
eats and sleeps too much to be an efficient, worthwhile servant. After Shylock has left to see Bassanio, Jessica
bids him farewell, thinking that, if nothing goes wrong, Shylock will soon have lost a daughter, and she, a
father.

Summary: Act II, scene vi

As planned, Gratiano and Salarino meet in front of Shylocks house. They are especially anxious because
Lorenzo is late, and they think that lovers tend always to be early. The garrulous Gratiano expounds on
Salarinos theory that love is at its best when the lover chases the object of his affection, and that once the lover
captures his lady and consummates the relationship, he tends to tire and lose interest. Lorenzo joins them,
apologizes for his tardiness, and calls up to Jessica, who appears on the balcony dressed as a page. Jessica tosses
him a casket of gold and jewels. Jessica descends and exits with Lorenzo and Salarino. Just then, Antonio enters
to report that Bassanio is sailing for Belmont immediately. Gratiano is obliged to leave the festivities and join
Bassanio at once.
Summary: Act II, scene vii
Back in Belmont, Portia shows the prince of Morocco to the caskets, where he will attempt to win her hand by
guessing which chest contains her portrait. The first casket, made of gold, is inscribed with the words, Who
chooseth me shall gain what many men desire (II.vii.37). The second, made of silver, reads, Who chooseth
me shall get as much as he deserves (II.vii.23). The third, a heavy leaden casket, declares, Who chooseth me
must give and hazard all he hath (II.vii.16). After much pondering, the prince chooses the gold casket,
reasoning that only the most precious metal could house the picture of such a beautiful woman. He opens the
chest to reveal a skull with a scroll in its eye socket. After reading a short poem chastising him for the folly of
his choice, the prince makes a hasty departure. Portia is glad to see him go and hopes that [a]ll of his
complexion choose me so (II.viii.79).
Summary: Act II, scene viii
Having witnessed Shylocks rage upon learning of Jessicas elopement, Solanio describes the scene to Salarino.
Shylock, he reports, railed against the loss of his daughter and his ducats, and he shouted a loud, urgent appeal
for justice and the law to prevail. Solanio hopes that Antonio is able to pay his debt, but Salarino reminds him of
rumors that the long-awaited ships have capsized in the English Channel. The two men warmly remember
Bassanios departure from Antonio, wherein the merchant insisted that his young friend not allow thoughts of
debt or danger to interfere with his courtship of Portia.
Summary: Act II, scene ix
The prince of Arragon is in Belmont to try his luck at winning Portias hand in marriage. When brought to the
caskets, he selects the silver one, confident that he shall get as much as he deserves (II.ix.35). Inside, he finds
a portrait of a blinking idiot, and a poem that condemns him as a fool. Soon after he departs, a messenger
arrives to tell Portia that a promising young Venetian, who seems like the perfect suitor, has come to Belmont to
try his luck at the casket game. Hoping that it is Bassanio, Portia and Nerissa go out to greet the new suitor.
Analysis: Act II, scenes vix
In these scenes, Shylock is again portrayed as a penny-pinching, but not wicked, master. Indeed, he seems to
think himself quite lenient, and when he calls Launcelot lazy, this jibe seems likely to be an accurate description
of the buffoonish retainer. Shylocks fear for his daughter and his distaste for the Venetian revelry paint him as a
puritanical figure who respects order and the rule of law above all else, and who refuses to have shallow
foppry in his sober house (II.v.3435). Shylocks rhetoric is distinctive: he tends to repeat himself and
avoids the digressions common to other characters. As more than one critic has pointed out, he is characterized
by a one-track mind.
Happily, Jessica and Lorenzos romantic love triumphs, but a number of critics have pointed out the ambiguity
in the scene of their elopement. The couples love for one another is not in doubt, but Jessicas determination to
bring a hefty store of treasure reminds us that she is still an alien, a Jew among gentiles, who may be insecure
about her reception. Indeed, her shame at her boys costume may reflect a deeper concern for her place in her
husbands Christian society. Later, at Belmont, she will be all but ignored by everyone save Lorenzo, suggesting
that despite her husband and her conversion, she remains a Jew in others eyes.
The prince of Moroccos choice of the caskets is wrong, but his mistake is understandable, and we sympathize
with him. There is something casually cruel about Portias unwillingness to spare even a moments pity for the
Moor. Portia is a willful characterwhile her independence is often appealing, at other times she can seem
terribly self-centered. She wants Bassanio as a husband and seems to have no regrets in seeing other suitors
sentenced to a life of celibacy.

Salarino and Solanio are the least interesting characters in the play. They are indistinguishable from one another
and serve primarily to fill us in on events that take place offstagein this case, Shylocks reaction to his
daughters flight and the parting of Antonio and Bassanio. Shylocks cries of My daughter! O, my ducats! O,
my daughter! are meant to be comicthe moneylender is, after all, a comic villain (II.viii.15). He bemoans the
loss of his money as much as his loss of Jessica, suggesting that greed is as important to him as familial love.
However, we cannot be sure that Shylock really reacted in this way, since we hear the story secondhand.
Salarino and Solanio are poking fun at the Jew, and their testimony must be balanced by the concern that
Shylock expresses for his daughter in the earlier scenes.
Arragon, a Spanish prince, completes the parade of nationalities competing for Portia. He lacks the nobility of
the prince of Morocco, and his arrogance almost makes us feel that he deserves his punishment. His quick
dismissal from the scene clears the way for Bassanio.
Summary: Act III, scene i
Salarino and Solanio discuss the rumors that yet another of Antonios ships has been wrecked. They are joined
by Shylock, who accuses them of having helped Jessica escape. The two Venetians proudly take credit for their
role in Jessicas elopement. Shylock curses his daughters rebellion, to which Salarino responds, There is more
difference between thy flesh and hers than between jet and ivory (III.i.3233). Salarino then asks Shylock
whether he can confirm the rumors of Antonios lost vessels. Shylock replies that Antonio will soon be bankrupt
and swears to collect his bond. Salarino doubts Shylocks resolve, wondering what the old man will do with a
pound of flesh, to which Shylock chillingly replies that Antonios flesh will at least feed his revenge. In a short
monologue, Shylock says Antonio has mistreated him solely because Shylock is a Jew, but now Shylock is
determined to apply the lessons of hatred and revenge that Christian intolerance has taught him so well.
Salarino and Solanio head off to meet with Antonio, just as Tubal, a friend of Shylocks and a Jew, enters. Tubal
announces that he cannot find Jessica. Shylock rants against his daughter, and he wishes her dead as he bemoans
his losses. He is especially embittered when Tubal reports that Jessica has taken a ringgiven to Shylock in his
bachelor days by a woman named Leah, presumably Jessicas motherand has traded that ring for a monkey.
Shylocks spirits brighten, however, when Tubal reports that Antonios ships have run into trouble and that
Antonios creditors are certain Antonio is ruined.
Summary: Act III, scene ii
In Belmont, Portia begs Bassanio to delay choosing between the caskets for a day or two. If Bassanio chooses
incorrectly, Portia reasons, she will lose his company. Bassanio insists that he make his choice now, to avoid
prolonging the torment of living without Portia as his wife. Portia orders that music be played while her love
makes his choice, and she compares Bassanio to the Greek hero and demigod Hercules. Like the suitors who
have come before him, Bassanio carefully examines the three caskets and puzzles over their inscriptions. He
rejects the gold casket, saying that [t]he world is still deceived with ornament (III.ii.74), while the silver he
deems a pale and common drudge / Tween man and man (III.ii.103104). After much debate, Bassanio picks
the lead casket, which he opens to reveal Portias portrait, along with a poem congratulating him on his choice
and confirming that he has won Portias hand.
The happy couple promises one another love and devotion, and Portia gives Bassanio a ring that he must never
part with, as his removal of it will signify the end of his love for her. Nerissa and Gratiano congratulate them
and confess that they too have fallen in love with one another. They suggest a double wedding. Lorenzo and
Jessica arrive in the midst of this rejoicing, along with Salarino, who gives a letter to Bassanio. In the letter,
Antonio writes that all of his ships are lost, and that Shylock plans to collect his pound of flesh. The news
provokes a fit of guilt in Bassanio, which in turn prompts Portia to offer to pay twenty times the sum. Jessica,
however, worries that her father is more interested in revenge than in money. Bassanio reads out loud the letter
from Antonio, who asks only for a brief reunion before he dies. Portia urges her husband to rush to his friends
aid, and Bassanio leaves for Venice.
Analysis: Act III, scenes iii
The passage of time in The Merchant of Venice is peculiar. In Venice, the three months that Antonio has to pay
the debt go by quickly, while only days seem to pass in Belmont. Shakespeare juggles these differing
chronologies by using Salarino and Solanio to fill in the missing Venetian weeks.

As Antonios losses mount, Shylocks villainous plan becomes apparent. [L]et him look to his bond, he
repeats single-mindedly (III.i.3940). Despite his mounting obsession with the pound of Antonios flesh,
however, he maintains his dramatic dignity. In his scene with the pair of Venetians, he delivers the celebrated
speech in which he cries, Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections,
passions . . . ? If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh? If you poison us do we not
die? (III.i.4955). We are not meant to sympathize entirely with Shylock: he may have been wronged, but he
lacks both mercy and a sense of proportion. His refusal to take pity on Antonio is later contrasted with the
mercy shown him by the Christians. But even as we recognize that Shylocks plans are terribly wrong, we can
appreciate the angry logic of his speech. By asserting his own humanity, he lays waste to the pretensions of the
Christian characters to value mercy, charity, and love above self-interest.
Shylocks dignity lapses in his scene with Tubal, who keeps his supposed friend in agony by alternating
between good and bad news. Shylock lurches from glee to despair and back, one moment crying, I thank God,
I thank God! (III.i.86), and the next saying, Thou stickst a dagger in me (III.i.92). But even here he rouses
our sympathy, because we hear that Jessica stole a ring given to him by his late wife and traded it for a monkey.
It was my turquoise, Shylock says. I had it of Leah when I was a bachelor. I would not have given it for a
wilderness of monkeys (III.i.100103). Villain though he may be, we can still feel sorrow that Jessicawho is
suddenly a much less sympathetic characterwould be heartless enough to steal and sell a ring that her dead
mother gave her father.
Bassanios successful choice seems inevitable and brings the drama of the caskets to an end. Bassanios
excellence is made clear in his ability to select the correct casket, and his choice brings the separated strands of
the plot together. Portia, who is the heroine of the playshe speaks far more lines than either Antonio or
Shylockis free to bring her will and intelligence to bear on the problem of Shylocks pound of flesh. Once
Lorenzo and Jessica arrive, the three couples are together in Belmont, but the shadow of Shylock hangs over
their happiness.
Critics have noticed that Jessica is ignored by Portia and the others at Belmont. Her testimony against her father
may be an attempt to prove her loyalty to the Christian cause, but the coldness of Portia, Bassanio, and the
others is an understandable reactionafter all, she is a Jew and the daughter of their antagonist. Lorenzo may
love her, but she remains an object of suspicion for the others.
Summary: Act III, scene iii
Shylock escorts the bankrupt Antonio to prison. Antonio pleads with Shylock to listen, but Shylock refuses.
Remembering the many times Antonio condemned him as a dog, Shylock advises the merchant to beware of his
bite. Assured that the duke will grant him justice, Shylock insists that he will have his bond and tells the jailer
not to bother speaking to him of mercy. Solanio declares that Shylock is the worst of men, and Antonio reasons
that the Jew hates him for bailing out many of Shylocks debtors. Solanio attempts to comfort Antonio by
suggesting that the duke will never allow such a ridiculous contract to stand, but Antonio is not convinced.
Venice, Antonio claims, is a wealthy trading city with a great reputation for upholding the law, and if the duke
breaks that law, Venices economy may suffer. As Solanio departs, Antonio prays desperately that Bassanio will
arrive to see me pay his debt, and then I care not (III.iii.36).
Summary: Act III, scene iv
Lorenzo assures Portia that Antonio is worthy of all the help she is sending him, and that if Portia only knew the
depths of Antonios love and goodness, she would be proud of her efforts to save him. Portia replies that she has
never regretted doing a good deed, and goes on to say that she could never deny help to anyone so close to her
dear Bassanio. Indeed, Antonio and Bassanio are so inseparable that Portia believes saving her husbands friend
is no different than saving her own husband. She has sworn to live in prayer and contemplation until Bassanio
returns to her, and announces that she and Nerissa will retire to a nearby monastery. Lorenzo and Jessica, she
declares, will rule the estate in her absence.
Portia then sends her servant, Balthasar, to Padua, where he is to meet her cousin, Doctor Bellario, who will
provide Balthasar with certain documents and clothing. From there, Balthasar will take the ferry to Venice,
where Portia will await him. After Balthasar departs, Portia informs Nerissa that the two of them, dressed as
young men, are going to pay an incognito visit to their new husbands. When Nerissa asks why, Portia dismisses
the question, but promises to disclose the whole of her purpose on the coach ride to Venice.

Summary: Act III, scene v

Quoting the adage that the sins of the father shall be delivered upon the children, Launcelot says he fears for
Jessicas soul. When Jessica claims that she will be saved by her marriage to Lorenzo, Launcelot complains that
the conversion of the Jews, who do not eat pork, will have disastrous consequences on the price of bacon.
Lorenzo enters and chastises Launcelot for impregnating a Moorish servant. Launcelot delivers a dazzling series
of puns in reply and departs to prepare for dinner. When Lorenzo asks Jessica what she thinks of Portia, she
responds that the woman is without match, nearly perfect in all respects. Lorenzo jokes that he is as good a
spouse as Portia, and leads them off to dinner.
Analysis: Act III, scenes iiiv
Once the play reaches Act III, scene iii, it is difficult to sympathize with Shylock. Whatever humiliations he has
suffered at Antonios hands are repaid when he sees the Christian merchant in shackles. Antonio may have
treated the moneylender badly, but Shylocks pursuit of the pound of flesh is an exercise in naked cruelty. In this
scene, Shylocks narrowly focused rhetoric becomes monomaniacal in its obsession with the bond. Ill have
my bond. Speak not against my bond, (III.iii.4) he insists, and denies attempts at reason when he says, Ill
have no speaking. I will have my bond (III.iii.17). When Antonio tells Solanio that Shylock is getting revenge
for his practice of lending money without interest, he seems to miss the bigger picture. Shylocks mind has been
warped into obsession not by Antonio alone, but by the persecutions visited on him by all of Christian Venice.
He has taken Antonio as the embodiment of all his persecutors so that, in his pound of flesh, he can avenge
himself against everyone.
The institution of law comes to the forefront of the play in these scenes, and we may be tempted to view the law
as a sort of necessary evil, a dogmatic set of rules that can be forced to serve the most absurd requests. In the
thirty-six lines that make up Act III, scene iii, Shylock alludes to revenge in only the vaguest of terms, but
repeats the word bond no less than six times. He also frequently invokes the concept of justice. Law is cast as
the very backbone of the Venetian economy, as Antonio expresses when he makes the grim statement that [t]he
duke cannot deny the course of law. . . . / . . . / Since that the trade and profit of the city / Consisteth of all
nations (III.iii.2631). Trade is the citys lifeblood, and an integral part of trade is ensuring that merchants of
all religions and nationalities are extended the same protections as full-blooded Venetian citizens. In principle,
the dukes inability to bend the law is sound, as the law upholds the economy that has allowed Antonio and his
friends to thrive. However, Shylocks furious rants about justice and his bond make it seem as if his very lawabiding nature has perverted a bastion of Christian uprightness.
Shylock remains in control of events in Venice, but Portia, his antagonist, is now moving against him. Her
cross-dressing is a device typical of women in Shakespeares comedies. Indeed, the play has already shown
Jessica dressed as a boy in her escape from Shylocks house. Dressing as a man is necessary since Portia is
about to play a mans part, appearing as member of a male profession. The demands placed upon her by her
fathers will are gone, and she feels free to act and to prove herself more intelligent and capable than the men
around her.
The conversation between Jessica and Launcelot in Act III, scene v, does little to advance the plot. It acts as
comic relief and conveys the impression of time passing while the various characters converge on the Venetian
courtroom. Jessicas subsequent description of Portias perfection to her husband is odd, given how little
attention Portia paid to her, but Jessica recognizes that Portia is the center of the social world that she hopes to
join.

HAMLET
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Tuesday, January 20 Act III Scene I + Act III Scenes II-III
Wednesday, January 22 Act III Scene IV
Friday, January 23 Post Quiz on Act II Scene I Act III Scene IV
Tuesday, January 27 Act IV Scenes I-II
Wednesday, January 28 Act IV Scene III
Friday, January 30 Post-Quiz on Act IV Scenes I-III
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Summary: Act III, Scene i
Claudius and Gertrude discuss Hamlets behavior with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, who say they have been
unable to learn the cause of his melancholy. They tell the king and queen about Hamlets enthusiasm for the
players. Encouraged, Gertrude and Claudius agree that they will see the play that evening. Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern leave, and Claudius orders Gertrude to leave as well, saying that he and Polonius intend to spy on
Hamlets confrontation with Ophelia. Gertrude exits, and Polonius directs Ophelia to walk around the lobby.
Polonius hears Hamlet coming, and he and the king hide.
Hamlet enters, speaking thoughtfully and agonizingly to himself about the question of whether to commit
suicide to end the pain of experience: To be, or not to be: that is the question (III.i.58). He says that the
miseries of life are such that no one would willingly bear them, except that they are afraid of something after
death (III.i.80). Because we do not know what to expect in the afterlife, we would rather bear those ills we
have, Hamlet says, than fly to others that we know not of (III.i.8384). In mid-thought, Hamlet sees Ophelia
approaching. Having received her orders from Polonius, she tells him that she wishes to return the tokens of
love he has given her. Angrily, Hamlet denies having given her anything; he laments the dishonesty of beauty,
and claims both to have loved Ophelia once and never to have loved her at all. Bitterly commenting on the
wretchedness of humankind, he urges Ophelia to enter a nunnery rather than become a breeder of sinners
(III.i.122123). He criticizes women for making men behave like monsters and for contributing to the worlds
dishonesty by painting their faces to appear more beautiful than they are. Working himself into a rage, Hamlet
denounces Ophelia, women, and humankind in general, saying that he wishes to end all marriages. As he storms
out, Ophelia mourns the noble mind that has now lapsed into apparent madness (III.i.149).
The king and Polonius emerge from behind the tapestry. Claudius says that Hamlets strange behavior has
clearly not been caused by love for Ophelia and that his speech does not seem like the speech of insanity. He
says that he fears that melancholy sits on something dangerous in Hamlets soul like a bird sits on her egg, and
that he fears what will happen when it hatches. He declares that he will send Hamlet to England, in the hope
that a change of scenery might help him get over his troubles. Polonius agrees that this is a good idea, but he
still believes that Hamlets agitation comes from loving Ophelia. He asks Claudius to send Hamlet to Gertrudes
chamber after the play, where Polonius can hide again and watch unseen; he hopes to learn whether Hamlet is
really mad with love. Claudius agrees, saying that [m]adness in great ones must be carefully watched
(III.i.187).
Analysis
To be, or not to be is the most famous line in English literature. What does it mean? Why are these words and
what follows special?
One reason is that they are a stunning example of Shakespeares ability to make his characters seem threedimensional. The audience senses that there is more to Hamlets words than meets the earthat there is
something behind his words that is never spoken. Or, to put it another way, the audience witnesses signs of
something within Hamlets mind that even he isnt aware of. Hamlet is a fictional character who seems to
possess a subconscious mind. How does Shakespeare manage to accomplish this?
In the first place, Hamlet doesnt talk directly about what hes really talking about. When he questions whether
it is better to be, or not to be, the obvious implication is, Should I kill myself? The entire soliloquy strongly
suggests that he is toying with suicide and perhaps trying to work up his courage to do it. But at no point does
he say that he is in pain or discuss why he wants to kill himself. In fact, he never says I or me in the entire
speech. Hes not trying to express himself at all; instead, he poses the question as a matter of philosophical
debate. When he claims that everybody would commit suicide if they werent uncertain about the afterlife, it
sounds as if hes making an argument to convince an imaginary listener about an abstract point rather than

directly addressing how the question applies to him. Now, its perfectly ordinary for characters in plays to say
something other than what they mean to other characters (this suggests that they are consciously hiding their
true motives), but Hamlet does it when hes talking to himself. This creates the general impression that there are
things going on in Hamlets mind that he cant think about directly.
While were on the subject of whats going on inside Hamlets mind, consider his encounter with Ophelia. This
conversation, closely watched by Claudius and Polonius, is, in fact, a test. Its supposed to establish whether
Hamlets madness stems from his lovesickness over Ophelia. Before we, the audience, see this encounter, we
already think we know more than Claudius does: we know that Hamlet is only acting crazy, and that hes doing
it to hide the fact that hes plotting against (or at least investigating) his uncle. Therefore, it cant be true that
hes acting mad because of his love for Ophelia. But witnessing Hamlets encounter with her throws everything
we think we know into question.
Does Hamlet mean what he says to Ophelia? He says that he did love her once but that he doesnt love her now.
There are several problems with concluding that Hamlet says the opposite of what he means in order to appear
crazy. For one thing, if he really does love her, this is unnecessarily self-destructive behavior. Its unnecessary
because it doesnt accomplish very much; that is, it doesnt make Claudius suspect him less. His professions of
former love make him appear fickle, or emotionally withdrawn, rather than crazy.
Is Hamlet really crazy or just pretending? He announced ahead of time that he was going to act crazy, so its
hard to conclude that he (coincidentally) really went mad right after saying so. But his behavior toward Ophelia
is both self-destructive and fraught with emotional intensity. It doesnt obviously further his plans. Moreover,
his bitterness against Ophelia, and against women in general, resonates with his general discontentedness about
the state of the world, the same discontentedness that he expresses when he thinks no one is watching. There is
a passionate intensity to his unstable behavior that keeps us from viewing it as fake.
Perhaps it is worthwhile to ask this question: if a person in a rational state of mind decides to act as if he is
crazy, to abuse the people around him regardless of whether he loves those people or hates them, and to give
free expression to all of his most antisocial thoughts, when he starts to carry those actions out, will it even be
possible to say at what point he stops pretending to be crazy and starts actually being crazy?
Summary: Act III, Scene ii
That evening, in the castle hall now doubling as a theater, Hamlet anxiously lectures the players on how to act
the parts he has written for them. Polonius shuffles by with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and Hamlet
dispatches them to hurry the players in their preparations. Horatio enters, and Hamlet, pleased to see him,
praises him heartily, expressing his affection for and high opinion of Horatios mind and manner, especially
Horatios qualities of self-control and reserve. Having told Horatio what he learned from the ghostthat
Claudius murdered his fatherhe now asks him to watch Claudius carefully during the play so that they might
compare their impressions of his behavior afterward. Horatio agrees, saying that if Claudius shows any signs of
guilt, he will detect them
The trumpets play a Danish march as the audience of lords and ladies begins streaming into the room. Hamlet
warns Horatio that he will begin to act strangely. Sure enough, when Claudius asks how he is, his response
seems quite insane: Excellent, i faith; of the chameleons dish: I eat the air, promise-crammed (III.ii.8486).
Hamlet asks Polonius about his history as an actor and torments Ophelia with a string of erotic puns.
The players enter and act out a brief, silent version of the play to come called a dumbshow. In the dumbshow,
a king and queen display their love. The queen leaves the king to sleep, and while he is sleeping, a man murders
him by pouring poison into his ear. The murderer tries to seduce the queen, who gradually accepts his advances.
The players begin to enact the play in full, and we learn that the man who kills the king is the kings nephew.
Throughout, Hamlet keeps up a running commentary on the characters and their actions, and continues to tease
Ophelia with oblique sexual references. When the murderer pours the poison into the sleeping kings ear,
Claudius rises and cries out for light. Chaos ensues as the play comes to a sudden halt, the torches are lit, and
the king flees the room, followed by the audience. When the scene quiets, Hamlet is left alone with Horatio.
Hamlet and Horatio agree that the kings behavior was telling. Now extremely excited, Hamlet continues to act
frantic and scatterbrained, speaking glibly and inventing little poems. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern arrive to
tell Hamlet that he is wanted in his mothers chambers. Rosencrantz asks again about the cause of Hamlets
distemper, and Hamlet angrily accuses the pair of trying to play him as if he were a musical pipe. Polonius
enters to escort Hamlet to the queen. Hamlet says he will go to her in a moment and asks for a moment alone.

He steels himself to speak to his mother, resolving to be brutally honest with her but not to lose control of
himself: I will speak daggers to her, but use none (III.ii.366).
Analysis
In the first two scenes of Act III, Hamlet and Claudius both devise traps to catch one anothers secrets: Claudius
spies on Hamlet to discover the true nature of his madness, and Hamlet attempts to catch the conscience of the
king in the theater (III.i.582). The play-within-a-play tells the story of Gonzago, the Duke of Vienna, and his
wife, Baptista, who marries his murdering nephew, Lucianus. Hamlet believes that the play is an opportunity to
establish a more reliable basis for Claudiuss guilt than the claims of the ghost. Since he has no way of knowing
whether to believe a member of the spirit world, he tries to determine whether Claudius is guilty by reading his
behavior for signs of a psychological state of guilt.
Although Hamlet exults at the success of his stratagem, interpreting Claudiuss interruption isnt as simple as it
seems. In the first place, Claudius does not react to the dumbshow, which exactly mimics the actions of which
the ghost accuses Claudius. Claudius reacts to the play itself, which, unlike the dumbshow, makes it clear that
the king is murdered by his nephew. Does Claudius react to being confronted with his own crimes, or to a play
about uncle-killing sponsored by his crazy nephew? Or does he simply have indigestion?
Hamlet appears more in control of his own behavior in this scene than in the one before, as shown by his
effortless manipulations of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and his frank conversation with Horatio. He even
expresses admiration and affection for Horatios calm level-headedness, the lack of which is his own weakest
point: Give me that man / That is not passions slave, and I will wear him / In my hearts core, ay, in my heart
of heart, / As I do thee (III.ii.6467). In this scene he seems to prove that he is not insane after all, given the
effortlessness with which he alternates between wild, erratic behavior and focused, sane behavior. He is excited
but coherent during his conversation with Horatio before the play, but as soon as the king and queen enter, he
begins to act insane, a sign that he is only pretending. His only questionable behavior in this scene arises in his
crude comments to Ophelia, which show him capable of real cruelty. His misogyny has crossed rational bounds,
and his every comment is laced with sexual innuendo. For instance, she comments, You are keen, my lord, you
are keen, complimenting him on his sharp intellect, and he replies, It would cost you a groaning to take off
my edge (III.ii.227228). His interchange with Ophelia is a mere prelude to the passionate rage he will unleash
on Gertrude in the next scene.
Summary: Act III Scene iii
Elsewhere in the castle, King Claudius speaks to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Badly shaken by the play and
now considering Hamlets madness to be dangerous, Claudius asks the pair to escort Hamlet on a voyage to
England and to depart immediately. They agree and leave to make preparations. Polonius enters and reminds the
king of his plan to hide in Gertrudes room and observe Hamlets confrontation with her. He promises to tell
Claudius all that he learns. When Polonius leaves, the king is alone, and he immediately expresses his guilt and
grief over his sin. A brothers murder, he says, is the oldest sin and hath the primal eldest curse upont
(III.iii.37). He longs to ask for forgiveness, but says that he is unprepared to give up that which he gained by
committing the murder, namely, the crown and the queen. He falls to his knees and begins to pray.
Hamlet slips quietly into the room and steels himself to kill the unseeing Claudius. But suddenly it occurs to
him that if he kills Claudius while he is praying, he will end the kings life at the moment when he was seeking
forgiveness for his sins, sending Claudiuss soul to heaven. This is hardly an adequate revenge, Hamlet thinks,
especially since Claudius, by killing Hamlets father before he had time to make his last confession, ensured
that his brother would not go to heaven. Hamlet decides to wait, resolving to kill Claudius when the king is
sinningwhen he is either drunk, angry, or lustful. He leaves. Claudius rises and declares that he has been
unable to pray sincerely: My words fly up, my thoughts remain below (III.iii.96).
Analysis
In Act III, scene iii, Hamlet finally seems ready to put his desire for revenge into action. He is satisfied that the
play has proven his uncles guilt. When Claudius prays, the audience is given real certainty that Claudius
murdered his brother: a full, spontaneous confession, even though nobody else hears it. This only heightens our
sense that the climax of the play is due to arrive. But Hamlet waits.
On the surface, it seems that he waits because he wants a more radical revenge. Critics such as Samuel Taylor
Coleridge have been horrified by Hamlets words herehe completely oversteps the bounds of Christian
morality in trying to damn his opponents soul as well as kill him. But apart from this ultraviolent posturing,

Hamlet has once again avoided the imperative to act by involving himself in a problem of knowledge. Now that
hes satisfied that he knows Claudiuss guilt, he wants to know that his punishment will be sufficient. It may
have been difficult to prove the former, but how can Hamlet ever hope to know the fate of Claudiuss immortal
soul?
Hamlet poses his desire to damn Claudius as a matter of fairness: his own father was killed without having
cleansed his soul by praying or confessing, so why should his murderer be given that chance? But Hamlet is
forced to admit that he doesnt really know what happened to his father, remarking how his audit stands, who
knows, save heaven? (III.iv.82). The most he can say is that in our circumstance and course of thought / Tis
heavy with him (III.iv.8384). The Norton Shakespeare paraphrases in our circumstance and course of
thought as in our indirect and limited way of knowing on earth. Having proven his uncles guilt to himself,
against all odds, Hamlet suddenly finds something else to be uncertain about.
At this point, Hamlet has gone beyond his earlier need to know the facts about the crime, and he now craves
metaphysical knowledge, knowledge of the afterlife and of God, before he is willing to act. The audience has
had plenty of opportunity to see that Hamlet is fascinated with philosophical questions. In the case of the to be,
or not to be soliloquy, we saw that his philosophizing can be a way for him to avoid thinking about or
acknowledging something more immediately important (in that case, his urge to kill himself). Is Hamlet using
his speculations about Claudiuss soul to avoid thinking about something in this case? Perhaps the task he has
set for himselfkilling another human being in cold bloodis too much for him to face. Whatever it is, the
audience may once again get the sense that there is something more to Hamlets behavior than meets the eye.
That Shakespeare is able to convey this sense is a remarkable achievement in itself, quite apart from how we try
to explain what Hamlets unacknowledged motives might be.
Summary: Act III, Scene iv
In Gertrudes chamber, the queen and Polonius wait for Hamlets arrival. Polonius plans to hide in order to
eavesdrop on Gertrudes confrontation with her son, in the hope that doing so will enable him to determine the
cause of Hamlets bizarre and threatening behavior. Polonius urges the queen to be harsh with Hamlet when he
arrives, saying that she should chastise him for his recent behavior. Gertrude agrees, and Polonius hides behind
an arras, or tapestry.
Hamlet storms into the room and asks his mother why she has sent for him. She says that he has offended his
father, meaning his stepfather, Claudius. He interrupts her and says that she has offended his father, meaning the
dead King Hamlet, by marrying Claudius. Hamlet accosts her with an almost violent intensity and declares his
intention to make her fully aware of the profundity of her sin. Fearing for her life, Gertrude cries out. From
behind the arras, Polonius calls out for help. Hamlet, realizing that someone is behind the arras and suspecting
that it might be Claudius, cries, How now! a rat? (III.iv.22). He draws his sword and stabs it through the
tapestry, killing the unseen Polonius. Gertrude asks what Hamlet has done, and he replies, Nay, I know not: / Is
it the king? (III.iv.24). The queen says his action was a rash and bloody deed, and Hamlet replies that it was
almost as rash and bloody as murdering a king and marrying his brother (III.iv.2628). Disbelieving, the queen
exclaims, As kill a king! and Hamlet replies that she heard him correctly (III.iv.29).
Hamlet lifts the arras and discovers Poloniuss body: he has not killed the king and achieved his revenge but has
murdered the relatively innocent Polonius. He bids the old man farewell, calling him an intruding fool
(III.iv.30). He turns to his mother, declaring that he will wring her heart. He shows her a picture of the dead king
and a picture of the current king, bitterly comments on the superiority of his father to his uncle, and asks her
furiously what has driven her to marry a rotten man such as Claudius. She pleads with him to stop, saying that
he has turned her eyes onto her soul and that she does not like what she sees there. Hamlet continues to
denounce her and rail against Claudius, until, suddenly, the ghost of his father again appears before him.
Hamlet speaks to the apparition, but Gertrude is unable to see it and believes him to be mad. The ghost intones
that it has come to remind Hamlet of his purpose, that Hamlet has not yet killed Claudius and must achieve his
revenge. Noting that Gertrude is amazed and unable to see him, the ghost asks Hamlet to intercede with her.
Hamlet describes the ghost, but Gertrude sees nothing, and in a moment the ghost disappears. Hamlet tries
desperately to convince Gertrude that he is not mad but has merely feigned madness all along, and he urges her
to forsake Claudius and regain her good conscience. He urges her as well not to reveal to Claudius that his
madness has been an act. Gertrude, still shaken from Hamlets furious condemnation of her, agrees to keep his
secret. He bids her goodnight, but, before he leaves, he points to Poloniuss corpse and declares that heaven has
punished me with this, and this with me (III.iv.158). Hamlet reminds his mother that he must sail to England
with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, whom he says he will regard with suspicion, as though they were poisonous

snakes, since he assumes that their loyalties are with Claudius, not with him. Dragging Poloniuss body behind
him, Hamlet leaves his mothers room.
Analysis
What is Hamlet trying to do in his confrontation with his mother? It is possible that he wants her to confirm her
knowledge of Claudiuss crime, to provide further proof of his guilt. Or it may be that Hamlet wants to know
whether she was complicit in the crime. Or he may feel that he needs her on his side if he is to achieve justice.
While all of these are possibilities, what Hamlet actually does is urge his mother to repent choosing Claudius
over his own father. More specifically, he repeatedly demands that she avoid Claudiuss bed. Actually, hes
much more specific: he tells her not to let Claudius arouse her by fondling her neck, not to stay within his
semen-infested sheets, and other shockingly graphic details.
This is another point in the play where audiences and readers have felt that there is more going on in Hamlets
brain than we can quite put our fingers on. Sigmund Freud wrote that Hamlet harbors an unconscious desire to
sexually enjoy his mother. Freud maintained that all men unconsciously desire their mothers in this way, and he
called this the Oedipus Complex, after the character in Sophocles play who unwittingly murders his father
and has several children by his own mother. Whether or not Freud was right about this is as difficult to prove as
any of the problems that Hamlet worries about, but his argument in regard to Hamlet is quite remarkable. He
says that while Oedipus actually enacts this fantasy, Hamlet only betrays the unconscious desire to do so.
Hamlet is thus a quintessentially modern person, because he has repressed desires.
Though Gertrudes speech in this scene is largely limited to brief reactions to Hamlets lengthy denunciations of
her, it is our most revealing look at her character. As the scene progresses, Gertrude goes through several states
of feeling: she is haughty and accusatory at the beginning, then afraid that Hamlet will hurt her, shocked and
upset when Hamlet kills Polonius, overwhelmed by fear and panic as Hamlet accosts her, and disbelieving when
Hamlet sees the ghost. Finally, she is contrite toward her son and apparently willing to take his part and help
him. For Gertrude, then, the scene progresses as a sequence of great shocks, each of which weakens her
resistance to Hamlets condemnation of her behavior. Of course, Gertrude is convinced mainly by Hamlets
insistence and power of feeling, illustrating what many readers have felt to be her central characteristic: her
tendency to be dominated by powerful men and her need for men to show her what to think and how to feel.
This quality explains why Gertrude would have turned to Claudius so soon after her husbands death, and it also
explains why she so quickly adopts Hamlets point of view in this scene. Of course, the play does not
specifically explain Gertrudes behavior. It is possible that she was complicit with Claudius in the murder of her
husband, though that seems unlikely given her surprised reaction to Hamlets accusation in this scene, and it is
possible that she merely pretends to take Hamlets side to placate him, which would explain why she
immediately reports his behavior to Claudius after promising not to do so. But another interpretation of
Gertrudes character seems to be that she has a powerful instinct for self-preservation and advancement that
leads her to rely too deeply on men. Not only does this interpretation explain her behavior throughout much of
the play, it also links her thematically to Ophelia, the plays other important female character, who is also
submissive and utterly dependent on men.
Hamlets rash, murderous action in stabbing Polonius is an important illustration of his inability to coordinate
his thoughts and actions, which might be considered his tragic flaw. In his passive, thoughtful mode, Hamlet is
too beset by moral considerations and uncertainties to avenge his fathers death by killing Claudius, even when
the opportunity is before him. But when he does choose to act, he does so blindly, stabbing his anonymous
enemy through a curtain. It is as if Hamlet is so distrustful of the possibility of acting rationally that he
believes his revenge is more likely to come about as an accident than as a premeditated act.
When he sees Poloniuss corpse, Hamlet interprets his misdeed within the terms of retribution, punishment, and
vengeance: Heaven hath pleased it so / To punish me with this, and this with me (III.iv.157158). Though
Hamlet has not achieved his vengeance upon Claudius, he believes that God has used him as a tool of
vengeance to punish Poloniuss sins and punish Hamlets sins by staining his soul with the murder.
Summary: Act IV, scene i
Frantic after her confrontation with Hamlet, Gertrude hurries to Claudius, who is conferring with Rosencrantz
and Guildenstern. She asks to speak to the king alone. When Rosencrantz and Guildenstern exit, she tells
Claudius about her encounter with Hamlet. She says that he is as mad as the sea during a violent storm; she also
tells Claudius that Hamlet has killed Polonius. Aghast, the king notes that had he been concealed behind the
arras, Hamlet would have killed him. Claudius wonders aloud how he will be able to handle this public crisis

without damaging his hold on Denmark. He tells Gertrude that they must ship Hamlet to England at once and
find a way to explain Hamlets misdeed to the court and to the people. He calls Rosencrantz and Guildenstern,
tells them about the murder, and sends them to find Hamlet.
Summary: Act IV, scene ii
Elsewhere in Elsinore, Hamlet has just finished disposing of Poloniuss body, commenting that the corpse has
been safely stowed (IV.ii.1). Rosencrantz and Guildenstern appear and ask what he has done with the body.
Hamlet refuses to give them a straight answer, instead saying, The body is with the king, but the king is not
with the body (IV.ii.2526). Feigning offense at being questioned, he accuses them of being spies in the service
of Claudius. He calls Rosencrantz a sponge . . . that soaks up the kings countenance, his rewards, his
authorities, and warns him that when he needs what you have gleaned, it is but squeezing you, and, sponge,
you shall be dry again (IV.ii.1119). At last he agrees to allow Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to escort him to
Claudius.
Analysis: Act IV, scenes iii
The short first scene of Act IV centers around Gertrudes betrayal of her son, turning him in to the king after
having promised to help him. While she does keep her promise not to reveal that Hamlet was only pretending to
be insane, the immediate and frank way in which she tells Claudius about Hamlets behavior and his murder of
Polonius implies that she sees herself as allied to the king rather than to her son. Whether Gertrude really
believes Hamlet to be mad, or has simply recognized that her best interest lies in allying herself with Claudius
regardless of what she believes, is impossible to determine from this scene and is largely a matter of ones
personal interpretation of the events. Whatever the case, it is Gertrudes speech to Claudius that cements the
kings secret plan to have Hamlet executed in England.
As brief as it is, Act IV, scene i is a magnificent example of Shakespeares skill at developing characters,
illustrated by the subtle development of Claudius. Where most of the other male characters in the play,
including Hamlet, King Hamlet, Laertes, and Fortinbras, are obsessed with themes of honor, moral balance, and
retributive justice, Claudius is a selfish, ambitious king who is more concerned with maintaining his own power
and averting political danger than achieving justice through his rule. His response to Gertrudes revelation that
Hamlet has killed Polonius is extremely telling. Rather than considering that Gertrude might have been in
danger, he immediately remarks that had he been in the room, he would have been in danger. Hamlet must be
sent away from Denmark, he thinks, not as punishment for committing murder but because he represents a
danger to Claudius. And as soon as he hears of the murder, Claudiuss mind begins working to find a way to
characterize the killing so that it does not seem like a political crisis to his court and to the people of Denmark.
To do this, he says, will require all his majesty and skill (IV.i.30). In this scene and the scenes to follow,
Shakespeare creates in Claudius a convincing depiction of a conniving, ambitious politician. In this way,
Claudius emerges as a figure of powerful contrast to the more forthright men in the play, including Laertes,
Fortinbras, and Horatio, and the far more morally conscious Prince Hamlet.
Hamlets murder of Polonius at the end of Act III is one of the most disturbing moments in the play. If it was
previously possible to consider Hamlet a hero or an idealized version of a human being, it is no longer
possible after he kills Polonius. His sensitive, reflective naturethe trait that constantly interfered with his
ability to take revenge on Claudiusnow disappears in the wake of its violent opposite: a rash, murderous
explosion of activity. Hamlet leaps to the conclusion that Claudius is behind the arras, or else he simply lashes
out thoughtlessly. In any case, Hamlets moral superiority to Claudius is now thrown into question. He has
killed Polonius just as Claudius killed Hamlets father, the only differences being that Hamlets murder was not
premeditated and was not committed out of jealousy or ambition. Hamlet also eases his conscience with the fact
that Polonius was dishonestly spying on Hamlet at the moment when he was killed. But the result of Hamlets
deed is very similar to that of Claudiuss: Laertes and Ophelia have lost a father, just as Hamlet himself did.
Now, Hamlet hides the body. But rather than being overwhelmed with contrition, as we might expect of a hero
who has committed such a terrible mistake, he seems manic, desperate, and self-righteous, especially in his
condemnation of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Throughout Act IV, scene ii, as in the play-within-a-play scene
(Act III, scene ii), Hamlets biting, ironic wit is combined with his rash, impulsive streak, and his feigned
madness seems very close to the real thing. Though Hamlet has many admirable qualities, scenes such as this
one serve as powerful reminders that we are not meant to take the prince as an unqualified hero.

Summary: Act IV, scene iii

The king speaks to a group of attendants, telling them of Poloniuss death and his intention to send Hamlet to
England. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern appear with Hamlet, who is under guard. Pressed by Claudius to reveal
the location of Poloniuss body, Hamlet is by turns inane, coy, and clever, saying that Polonius is being eaten by
worms, and that the king could send a messenger to find Polonius in heaven or seek him in hell himself. Finally,
Hamlet reveals that Poloniuss body is under the stairs near the castle lobby, and the king dispatches his
attendants to look there. The king tells Hamlet that he must leave at once for England, and Hamlet
enthusiastically agrees. He exits, and Claudius sends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to ensure that he boards the
ship at once. Alone with his thoughts, Claudius states his hope that England will obey the sealed orders he has
sent with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. The orders call for Prince Hamlet to be put to death.
Summary: Act IV, scene iv
On a nearby plain in Denmark, young Prince Fortinbras marches at the head of his army, traveling through
Denmark on the way to attack Poland. Fortinbras orders his captain to go and ask the King of Denmark for
permission to travel through his lands. On his way, the captain encounters Hamlet, Rosencrantz, and
Guildenstern on their way to the ship bound for England. The captain informs them that the Norwegian army
rides to fight the Poles. Hamlet asks about the basis of the conflict, and the man tells him that the armies will
fight over a little patch of land / That hath in it no profit but the name (IV.iv.9899). Astonished by the
thought that a bloody war could be fought over something so insignificant, Hamlet marvels that human beings
are able to act so violently and purposefully for so little gain. By comparison, Hamlet has a great deal to gain
from seeking his own bloody revenge on Claudius, and yet he still delays and fails to act toward his purpose.
Disgusted with himself for having failed to gain his revenge on Claudius, Hamlet declares that from this
moment on, his thoughts will be bloody.
Analysis: Act IV, scenes iiiiv
As we saw in Act IV, scene ii, the murder of Polonius and the subsequent traumatic encounter with his mother
seem to leave Hamlet in a frantic, unstable frame of mind, the mode in which his excitable nature seems very
similar to actual madness. He taunts Claudius, toward whom his hostility is now barely disguised, and makes
light of Poloniuss murder with word games. He also pretends to be thrilled at the idea of sailing for England
with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.
On some level he is prepared for what is to come. His farewell to his mother proved as much, when he told her
that he would trust his old schoolfellows as if they were adders fangd, that is, poisonous snakes (III.iv.185.2).
But although Hamlet suspects his friends treachery, he may not fully realize the malevolence of Claudiuss
designs for him. Claudiuss subterfuge in asking the English to execute Hamlet reveals the extent to which he
now fears Hamlet: whether Hamlet is sane or mad, he is a danger to Claudius, and Claudius wishes him to die.
It is also revealing that one of Claudiuss considerations in seeking to have Hamlet murdered in far-off England,
rather than merely executing him in Denmark, is that he is beloved by the common people of Denmarkloved
of the distracted multitude, as Claudius says (IV.iii.4). Again, where King Hamlet was a brave warrior, King
Claudius is a crafty politician, constantly working to strengthen his own power, circumvent threats to his throne,
and manipulate those around him to his own advantage.
Act IV, scene iv restores the focus of the play to the theme of human action. Hamlets encounter with the
Norwegian captain serves to remind the reader of Fortinbrass presence in the world of the play and gives
Hamlet another example of the will to action that he lacks. Earlier, he was amazed by the players evocation of
powerful feeling for Hecuba, a legendary character who meant nothing to him (II.ii). Now, he is awestruck by
the willingness of Fortinbras to devote the energy of an entire army, probably wasting hundreds of lives and
risking his own, to reclaim a worthless scrap of land in Poland. Hamlet considers the moral ambiguity of
Fortinbrass action, but more than anything else he is impressed by the forcefulness of it, and that forcefulness
becomes a kind of ideal toward which Hamlet decides at last to strive. My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing
worth! he declares (IV.iv.9.56). Of course, he fails to put this exclamation into action, as he has failed at every
previous turn to achieve his revenge on Claudius. My thoughts be bloody, Hamlet says. Tellingly, he does not
say My deeds be bloody.

MACBETH
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Tuesday, January 20 Act I Scene VII, Act II Scenes I, II, III, IV
Thursday, January 22 Act III Scenes I, II, III, IV
Friday, January 23 Post Quiz on Act I Scene VII Act III Scene IV
Tuesday, January 27 Act III Scenes V, VI, Act IV Scene I
Wednesday, January 28 Act IV Scenes II, III
Friday, January 30 Post-Quiz on Act III Scene V Act IV Scene III
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Summary: Act 1, scene 7
Inside the castle, as oboes play and servants set a table for the evenings feast, Macbeth paces by himself,
pondering his idea of assassinating Duncan. He says that the deed would be easy if he could be certain that it
would not set in motion a series of terrible consequences. He declares his willingness to risk eternal damnation
but realizes that even on earth, bloody actions return / To plague thinventor (1.7.910). He then considers the
reasons why he ought not to kill Duncan: Macbeth is Duncans kinsman, subject, and host; moreover, the king is
universally admired as a virtuous ruler. Macbeth notes that these circumstances offer him nothing that he can
use to motivate himself. He faces the fact that there is no reason to kill the king other than his own ambition,
which he realizes is an unreliable guide.
Lady Macbeth enters and tells her husband that the king has dined and that he has been asking for Macbeth.
Macbeth declares that he no longer intends to kill Duncan. Lady Macbeth, outraged, calls him a coward and
questions his manhood: When you durst do it, she says, then you were a man (1.7.49). He asks her what
will happen if they fail; she promises that as long as they are bold, they will be successful. Then she tells him
her plan: while Duncan sleeps, she will give his chamberlains wine to make them drunk, and then she and
Macbeth can slip in and murder Duncan. They will smear the blood of Duncan on the sleeping chamberlains to
cast the guilt upon them. Astonished at the brilliance and daring of her plan, Macbeth tells his wife that her
undaunted mettle makes him hope that she will only give birth to male children (1.7.73). He then agrees to
proceed with the murder.
Analysis: Act 1, scene 7
A subjects loyalty to his king is one of the thematic concerns of Macbeth. The plot of the play hinges on
Macbeths betrayal of Duncan, and, ultimately, of Scotland. Just as Lady Macbeth will prove to be the antithesis
of the ideal wife, Macbeth proves to be a completely disloyal subject. In Act 1, scene 7, for instance, Macbeth
muses on Duncans many good qualities, reflects that Duncan has been kind to him, and thinks that perhaps he
ought not to kill his king. This is Macbeths first lengthy soliloquy and thus the audiences first peek inside his
mind. Yet Macbeth is unable to quell his desire for power. He evades answering his own questions of loyalty
and yearns unrealistically for the battlefields simple and consequence-free actionIf it were done when tis
done, he says, then twere well / It were done quickly (1.7.12).
At the same time, Macbeth is strongly conscious of the gravity of the act of regicide. He acknowledges that
bloody instructions . . . being taught, return / To plague thinventor (1.7.910). This is the first of many lines
linking blood to guilt and cosmic retribution.
As her husband wavers, Lady Macbeth enters like a hurricane and blows his hesitant thoughts away. She spurs
Macbeth to treason by disregarding his rational, moral arguments and challenging his manhood. Basically, she
dares him to commit the murder, using words that taunt rather than persuade. Under her spell, all of Macbeths
objections seem to evaporate and he is left only with a weak If we should fail? to set against her passionate
challenge (1.7.59).
The idea of a moral order is present in these scenes, albeit in muted form. Macbeth knows what he does is
wrong, and he recognizes that there will surely be consequences. As we have seen, his soliloquy reveals his
awareness that he may be initiating a cycle of violence that will eventually destroy him. Macbeth is not a good
man at this point in the play, but he is not yet an evil onehe is tempted, and he tries to resist temptation.
Macbeths resistance, however, is not vigorous enough to stand up to his wifes ability to manipulate him.

Summary: Act 2, scene 1

Banquo and his son Fleance walk in the torch-lit hall of Macbeths castle. Fleance says that it is after midnight,
and his father responds that although he is tired, he wishes to stay awake because his sleep has lately inspired
cursed thoughts (2.1.8). Macbeth enters, and Banquo is surprised to see him still up. Banquo says that the
king is asleep and mentions that he had a dream about the three weird sisters. When Banquo suggests that the
witches have revealed some truth to Macbeth, Macbeth claims that he has not thought of them at all since
their encounter in the woods (2.1.1920). He and Banquo agree to discuss the witches prophecies at a later
time.
Banquo and Fleance leave, and suddenly, in the darkened hall, Macbeth has a vision of a dagger floating in the
air before him, its handle pointing toward his hand and its tip aiming him toward Duncan. Macbeth tries to
grasp the weapon and fails. He wonders whether what he sees is real or a dagger of the mind, a false creation /
Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain (2.1.3839). Continuing to gaze upon the dagger, he thinks he sees
blood on the blade, then abruptly decides that the vision is just a manifestation of his unease over killing
Duncan. The night around him seems thick with horror and witchcraft, but Macbeth stiffens and resolves to do
his bloody work. A bell tollsLady Macbeths signal that the chamberlains are asleepand Macbeth strides
toward Duncans chamber.
Summary: Act 2, scene 2
As Macbeth leaves the hall, Lady Macbeth enters, remarking on her boldness. She imagines that Macbeth is
killing the king even as she speaks. Hearing Macbeth cry out, she worries that the chamberlains have awakened.
She says that she cannot understand how Macbeth could failshe had prepared the daggers for the
chamberlains herself. She asserts that she would have killed the king herself then and there, [h]ad he not
resembled / [her] father as he slept (2.2.1213). Macbeth emerges, his hands covered in blood, and says that
the deed is done. Badly shaken, he remarks that he heard the chamberlains awake and say their prayers before
going back to sleep. When they said amen, he tried to say it with them but found that the word stuck in his
throat. He adds that as he killed the king, he thought he heard a voice cry out: Sleep no more, / Macbeth does
murder sleep (2.2.3334).
Lady Macbeth at first tries to steady her husband, but she becomes angry when she notices that he has forgotten
to leave the daggers with the sleeping chamberlains so as to frame them for Duncans murder. He refuses to go
back into the room, so she takes the daggers into the room herself, saying that she would be ashamed to be as
cowardly as Macbeth. As she leaves, Macbeth hears a mysterious knocking. The portentous sound frightens
him, and he asks desperately, Will all great Neptunes ocean wash this blood / Clean from my hand? (2.2.58
59). As Lady Macbeth reenters the hall, the knocking comes again, and then a third time. She leads her husband
back to the bedchamber, where he can wash off the blood. A little water clears us of this deed, she tells him.
How easy it is then! (2.2.6566).
Analysis: Act 2, scenes 12
Banquos knowledge of the witches prophecy makes him both a potential ally and a potential threat to
Macbeths plotting. For now, Macbeth seems distrustful of Banquo and pretends to have hardly thought of the
witches, but Macbeths desire to discuss the prophecies at some future time suggests that he may have some sort
of conspiratorial plans in mind. The appearance of Fleance, Banquos son, serves as a reminder of the witches
prediction that Banquos children will sit on the throne of Scotland. We realize that if Macbeth succeeds in the
murder of Duncan, he will be driven to still more violence before his crown is secure, and Fleance will be in
immediate and mortal danger.
Act 2 is singularly concerned with the murder of Duncan. But Shakespeare here relies on a technique that he
uses throughout Macbeth to help sustain the plays incredibly rapid tempo of development: elision. We see the
scenes leading up to the murder and the scenes immediately following it, but the deed itself does not appear
onstage. Duncans bedchamber becomes a sort of hidden sanctum into which the characters disappear and from
which they emerge powerfully changed. This technique of not allowing us to see the actual murder, which
persists throughout Macbeth, may have been borrowed from the classical Greek tragedies of Aeschylus and
Sophocles. In these plays, violent acts abound but are kept offstage, made to seem more terrible by the power of
suggestion. The effect on Lady Macbeth of her trip into Duncans bedroom is particularly striking. She claims
that she would have killed Duncan herself except that he resembled her father sleeping. This is the first time
Lady Macbeth shows herself to be at all vulnerable. Her comparison of Duncan to her father suggests that
despite her desire for power and her harsh chastisement of Macbeth, she sees her king as an authority figure to
whom she must be loyal.

Macbeths trepidation about the murder is echoed by several portentous sounds and visions, the famous
hallucinatory dagger being the most striking. The dagger is the first in a series of guilt-inspired hallucinations
that Macbeth and his wife experience. The murder is also marked by the ringing of the bell and the knocking at
the gate, both of which have fascinated audiences. The knocking occurs four times with a sort of ritualistic
regularity. It conveys the heavy sense of the inevitable, as if the gates must eventually open to admit doom. The
knocking seems particularly ironic after we realize that Macduff, who kills Macbeth at the end of the play, is its
source. Macbeths eventual death does indeed stand embodied at the gate.
The motif of blood, established in the accounts of Macbeths and Banquos battlefield exploits, recurs here in
Macbeths anguished sense that there is blood on his hands that cannot be washed clean. For now, Lady
Macbeth remains the voice of calculating reason, as she tells him that the blood can be washed away with a
little water. But, as Lady Macbeth eventually realizes, the guilt that the blood symbolizes needs more than water
to be cleansed away. Her hallucinations later in the play, in which she washes her hands obsessively, lend irony
to her insistence here that [a] little water clears us of this deed (2.2.65).
Summary: Act 2, scene 3
A porter stumbles through the hallway to answer the knocking, grumbling comically about the noise and
mocking whoever is on the other side of the door. He compares himself to a porter at the gates of hell and asks,
Whos there, i th name of Beelzebub? (2.3.3). Macduff and Lennox enter, and Macduff complains about the
porters slow response to his knock. The porter says that he was up late carousing and rambles on humorously
about the effects of alcohol, which he says provokes red noses, sleepiness, and urination. He adds that drink also
provokes and unprovokes lecheryit inclines one to be lustful but takes away the ability to have sex (2.3.27).
Macbeth enters, and Macduff asks him if the king is awake, saying that Duncan asked to see him early that
morning. In short, clipped sentences, Macbeth says that Duncan is still asleep. He offers to take Macduff to the
king. As Macduff enters the kings chamber, Lennox describes the storms that raged the previous night,
asserting that he cannot remember anything like it in all his years. With a cry of O horror, horror, horror!
Macduff comes running from the room, shouting that the king has been murdered (2.3.59). Macbeth and
Lennox rush in to look, while Lady Macbeth appears and expresses her horror that such a deed could be done
under her roof. General chaos ensues as the other nobles and their servants come streaming in. As Macbeth and
Lennox emerge from the bedroom, Malcolm and Donalbain arrive on the scene. They are told that their father
has been killed, most likely by his chamberlains, who were found with bloody daggers. Macbeth declares that in
his rage he has killed the chamberlains.
Macduff seems suspicious of these new deaths, which Macbeth explains by saying that his fury at Duncans
death was so powerful that he could not restrain himself. Lady Macbeth suddenly faints, and both Macduff and
Banquo call for someone to attend to her. Malcolm and Donalbain whisper to each other that they are not safe,
since whoever killed their father will probably try to kill them next. Lady Macbeth is taken away, while Banquo
and Macbeth rally the lords to meet and discuss the murder. Duncans sons resolve to flee the court. Malcolm
declares that he will go south to England, and Donalbain will hasten to Ireland.
Summary: Act 2, scene 4
Ross, a thane, walks outside the castle with an old man. They discuss the strange and ominous happenings of
the past few days: it is daytime, but dark outside; last Tuesday, an owl killed a falcon; and Duncans beautiful,
well-trained horses behaved wildly and ate one another. Macduff emerges from the castle and tells Ross that
Macbeth has been made king by the other lords, and that he now rides to Scone to be crowned. Macduff adds
that the chamberlains seem the most likely murderers, and that they may have been paid off by someone to kill
Duncan. Suspicion has now fallen on the two princes, Malcolm and Donalbain, because they have fled the
scene. Macduff returns to his home at Fife, and Ross departs for Scone to see the new kings coronation.
Analysis: Act 2, scenes 34
After the bloody imagery and dark tone of the previous two scenes, the porters comedy comes as a jarring
change of tone. His good-natured joking with Macduff breaks up the mounting tension of the play and also
comments obliquely on its themes. Unlike all the characters of noble birth, who speak in iambic verse, the
porter speaks in prose. His relaxed language seems to signal that his words and his role are less important than
those of the other characters, but in his merry banter the porter hits on many truths. His description of the
confusion and lust provoked by alcohol caricatures Macbeths moral confusion and lust for power. Moreover,
his remarks about the ineffective lechery inspired by drink eerily echo Lady Macbeths sexual taunting of
Macbeth about his ability to carry out his resolutions. The porters joke that the door of Inverness is like hells
gate is ironic, given the cruel and bloody events that are taking place within the castle. When he cries, Whos

there, i th name of Beelzebub [the devil]? the analogy between hell and Inverness becomes even stronger
(2.3.3). Instead of receiving a welcome and a blessing when they step into Macbeths castle, guests are warned
that they are putting themselves in the hands of the devil.
Now that Lady Macbeths machinations have wrought their result, Lady Macbeth begins to recede from center
stage and Macbeth takes her place as the most compelling character in the play. The clipped, halting sentences
with which Macbeth speaks to Macduff and Lennox indicate his troubled mind and trepidation about the
impending discovery of Duncans body. For example, while Lennox offers a lengthy speech about the wild
weather of the previous night, Macbeths only response is a terse Twas

a rough night (2.3.57). And when

Lennox asks Macbeth, Goes the King hence today? Macbeth almost gives away his knowledge that Duncan is
dead (2.3.49). He does, answers Macbeth, before he realizes that his answer is incriminating and changes it
to: [H]e did appoint so (2.3.49).
Once Duncans body is discovered, it is as though a switch has been flipped within Macbeth. He springs into
action with a clear eye toward his purpose, seizing control of the nobles and becoming King of Scotland.
Interestingly, Shakespeare does not show us the scene in which Macbeth is made king. Just as he denied us the
scene of Duncans murder, he now skips over its most direct consequence, Macbeths election. The news is
conveyed secondhand through the characters of Ross, Macduff, and the old man.
Although Macbeth seems to gain confidence as Act 2, scene 3, progresses, other characters subtly cast suspicion
on him. When Malcolm asks about his fathers killer, Lennox replies, Those of his chamber, as it seemed, had
donet (2.3.98). Lennoxs insertion of as it seemed highlights the suspect nature of the crime scenes
appearance. Banquo, also, expresses his wariness of Macbeths argument that the chamberlains were the
murderers. He says: let us meet / And question this most bloody piece of work, / To know it further (2.3.123
125). By far, though, the most distrusting character is Macduff, who, up until this point in the play, has been a
fairly unobtrusive character. He asks Macbeth why he killed the chamberlains, and later expresses his suspicion
to Ross and the old man. His decision to return home to Fife rather than travel to Scone to see Macbeths
coronation is an open display of opposition. Thus, in a few swift strokes, the play establishes Macduff as
Macbeths eventual nemesis. Malcolm, of course, is the rightful king, but he lacks Macduffs initiative and
sense of purpose, a fact illustrated by his willingness to flee rather than assert his royal rights. In order to regain
the throne, he will need the aid of the more assertive Macduffand it is Macduff, not Malcolm, who assumes
the responsibility for Macbeths death.
The conversation between Ross and the old man at the beginning of Act 2, scene 4, tells the audience about a
number of unnatural occurrences in the weather and the behavior of animals, which cast a menacing shadow
over Macbeths ascension to the throne. In Shakespeares tragedies (Julius Caesar, King Lear, and Hamlet, in
particular), terrible supernatural occurrences often betoken wicked behavior on the part of the characters and
tragic consequences for the state. The storms that accompany the witches appearances and Duncans murder are
more than mere atmospheric disturbances; they are symbols of the connection between moral, natural, and
political developments in the universe of Shakespeares plays. By killing Duncan, Macbeth unleashes a kind of
primal chaos upon the realm of Scotland, in which the old order of benevolent king and loyal subjects is
replaced by a darker relationship between a tyrant and his victims.
Summary: Act 2, scene 3
A porter stumbles through the hallway to answer the knocking, grumbling comically about the noise and
mocking whoever is on the other side of the door. He compares himself to a porter at the gates of hell and asks,
Whos there, i th name of Beelzebub? (2.3.3). Macduff and Lennox enter, and Macduff complains about the
porters slow response to his knock. The porter says that he was up late carousing and rambles on humorously
about the effects of alcohol, which he says provokes red noses, sleepiness, and urination. He adds that drink also
provokes and unprovokes lecheryit inclines one to be lustful but takes away the ability to have sex (2.3.27).
Macbeth enters, and Macduff asks him if the king is awake, saying that Duncan asked to see him early that
morning. In short, clipped sentences, Macbeth says that Duncan is still asleep. He offers to take Macduff to the
king. As Macduff enters the kings chamber, Lennox describes the storms that raged the previous night,
asserting that he cannot remember anything like it in all his years. With a cry of O horror, horror, horror!
Macduff comes running from the room, shouting that the king has been murdered (2.3.59). Macbeth and
Lennox rush in to look, while Lady Macbeth appears and expresses her horror that such a deed could be done
under her roof. General chaos ensues as the other nobles and their servants come streaming in. As Macbeth and
Lennox emerge from the bedroom, Malcolm and Donalbain arrive on the scene. They are told that their father
has been killed, most likely by his chamberlains, who were found with bloody daggers. Macbeth declares that in
his rage he has killed the chamberlains.

Macduff seems suspicious of these new deaths, which Macbeth explains by saying that his fury at Duncans
death was so powerful that he could not restrain himself. Lady Macbeth suddenly faints, and both Macduff and
Banquo call for someone to attend to her. Malcolm and Donalbain whisper to each other that they are not safe,
since whoever killed their father will probably try to kill them next. Lady Macbeth is taken away, while Banquo
and Macbeth rally the lords to meet and discuss the murder. Duncans sons resolve to flee the court. Malcolm
declares that he will go south to England, and Donalbain will hasten to Ireland.
Summary: Act 2, scene 4
Ross, a thane, walks outside the castle with an old man. They discuss the strange and ominous happenings of
the past few days: it is daytime, but dark outside; last Tuesday, an owl killed a falcon; and Duncans beautiful,
well-trained horses behaved wildly and ate one another. Macduff emerges from the castle and tells Ross that
Macbeth has been made king by the other lords, and that he now rides to Scone to be crowned. Macduff adds
that the chamberlains seem the most likely murderers, and that they may have been paid off by someone to kill
Duncan. Suspicion has now fallen on the two princes, Malcolm and Donalbain, because they have fled the
scene. Macduff returns to his home at Fife, and Ross departs for Scone to see the new kings coronation.
Analysis: Act 2, scenes 34
After the bloody imagery and dark tone of the previous two scenes, the porters comedy comes as a jarring
change of tone. His good-natured joking with Macduff breaks up the mounting tension of the play and also
comments obliquely on its themes. Unlike all the characters of noble birth, who speak in iambic verse, the
porter speaks in prose. His relaxed language seems to signal that his words and his role are less important than
those of the other characters, but in his merry banter the porter hits on many truths. His description of the
confusion and lust provoked by alcohol caricatures Macbeths moral confusion and lust for power. Moreover,
his remarks about the ineffective lechery inspired by drink eerily echo Lady Macbeths sexual taunting of
Macbeth about his ability to carry out his resolutions. The porters joke that the door of Inverness is like hells
gate is ironic, given the cruel and bloody events that are taking place within the castle. When he cries, Whos
there, i th name of Beelzebub [the devil]? the analogy between hell and Inverness becomes even stronger
(2.3.3). Instead of receiving a welcome and a blessing when they step into Macbeths castle, guests are warned
that they are putting themselves in the hands of the devil.
Now that Lady Macbeths machinations have wrought their result, Lady Macbeth begins to recede from center
stage and Macbeth takes her place as the most compelling character in the play. The clipped, halting sentences
with which Macbeth speaks to Macduff and Lennox indicate his troubled mind and trepidation about the
impending discovery of Duncans body. For example, while Lennox offers a lengthy speech about the wild
weather of the previous night, Macbeths only response is a terse Twas

a rough night (2.3.57). And when

Lennox asks Macbeth, Goes the King hence today? Macbeth almost gives away his knowledge that Duncan is
dead (2.3.49). He does, answers Macbeth, before he realizes that his answer is incriminating and changes it
to: [H]e did appoint so (2.3.49).
Once Duncans body is discovered, it is as though a switch has been flipped within Macbeth. He springs into
action with a clear eye toward his purpose, seizing control of the nobles and becoming King of Scotland.
Interestingly, Shakespeare does not show us the scene in which Macbeth is made king. Just as he denied us the
scene of Duncans murder, he now skips over its most direct consequence, Macbeths election. The news is
conveyed secondhand through the characters of Ross, Macduff, and the old man.
Although Macbeth seems to gain confidence as Act 2, scene 3, progresses, other characters subtly cast suspicion
on him. When Malcolm asks about his fathers killer, Lennox replies, Those of his chamber, as it seemed, had
donet (2.3.98). Lennoxs insertion of as it seemed highlights the suspect nature of the crime scenes
appearance. Banquo, also, expresses his wariness of Macbeths argument that the chamberlains were the
murderers. He says: let us meet / And question this most bloody piece of work, / To know it further (2.3.123
125). By far, though, the most distrusting character is Macduff, who, up until this point in the play, has been a
fairly unobtrusive character. He asks Macbeth why he killed the chamberlains, and later expresses his suspicion
to Ross and the old man. His decision to return home to Fife rather than travel to Scone to see Macbeths
coronation is an open display of opposition. Thus, in a few swift strokes, the play establishes Macduff as
Macbeths eventual nemesis. Malcolm, of course, is the rightful king, but he lacks Macduffs initiative and
sense of purpose, a fact illustrated by his willingness to flee rather than assert his royal rights. In order to regain
the throne, he will need the aid of the more assertive Macduffand it is Macduff, not Malcolm, who assumes
the responsibility for Macbeths death.

The conversation between Ross and the old man at the beginning of Act 2, scene 4, tells the audience about a
number of unnatural occurrences in the weather and the behavior of animals, which cast a menacing shadow
over Macbeths ascension to the throne. In Shakespeares tragedies (Julius Caesar, King Lear, and Hamlet, in
particular), terrible supernatural occurrences often betoken wicked behavior on the part of the characters and
tragic consequences for the state. The storms that accompany the witches appearances and Duncans murder are
more than mere atmospheric disturbances; they are symbols of the connection between moral, natural, and
political developments in the universe of Shakespeares plays. By killing Duncan, Macbeth unleashes a kind of
primal chaos upon the realm of Scotland, in which the old order of benevolent king and loyal subjects is
replaced by a darker relationship between a tyrant and his victims.
Summary: Act 3, scene 1
In the royal palace at Forres, Banquo paces and thinks about the coronation of Macbeth and the prophecies of
the weird sisters. The witches foretold that Macbeth would be king and that Banquos line would eventually sit
on the throne. If the first prophecy came true, Banquo thinks, feeling the stirring of ambition, why not the
second? Macbeth enters, attired as king. He is followed by Lady Macbeth, now his queen, and the court.
Macbeth and Lady Macbeth ask Banquo to attend the feast they will host that night. Banquo accepts their
invitation and says that he plans to go for a ride on his horse for the afternoon. Macbeth mentions that they
should discuss the problem of Malcolm and Donalbain. The brothers have fled from Scotland and may be
plotting against his crown.
Banquo departs, and Macbeth dismisses his court. He is left alone in the hall with a single servant, to whom he
speaks about some men who have come to see him. Macbeth asks if the men are still waiting and orders that
they be fetched. Once the servant has gone, Macbeth begins a soliloquy. He muses on the subject of Banquo,
reflecting that his old friend is the only man in Scotland whom he fears. He notes that if the witches prophecy
is true, his will be a fruitless crown, by which he means that he will not have an heir (3.1.62). The murder of
Duncan, which weighs so heavily on his conscience, may have simply cleared the way for Banquos sons to
overthrow Macbeths own family.
The servant reenters with Macbeths two visitors. Macbeth reminds the two men, who are murderers he has
hired, of a conversation he had with them the day before, in which he chronicled the wrongs Banquo had done
them in the past. He asks if they are angry and manly enough to take revenge on Banquo. They reply that they
are, and Macbeth accepts their promise that they will murder his former friend. Macbeth reminds the murderers
that Fleance must be killed along with his father and tells them to wait within the castle for his command.
Summary: Act 3, scene 2
Elsewhere in the castle, Lady Macbeth expresses despair and sends a servant to fetch her husband. Macbeth
enters and tells his wife that he too is discontented, saying that his mind is full of scorpions (3.2.37). He feels
that the business that they began by killing Duncan is not yet complete because there are still threats to the
throne that must be eliminated. Macbeth tells his wife that he has planned a deed of dreadful note for Banquo
and Fleance and urges her to be jovial and kind to Banquo during the evenings feast, in order to lure their next
victim into a false sense of security (3.2.45).
Summary: Act 3, scene 3
It is dusk, and the two murderers, now joined by a third, linger in a wooded park outside the palace. Banquo and
Fleance approach on their horses and dismount. They light a torch, and the murderers set upon them. The
murderers kill Banquo, who dies urging his son to flee and to avenge his death. One of the murderers
extinguishes the torch, and in the darkness Fleance escapes. The murderers leave with Banquos body to find
Macbeth and tell him what has happened.
Analysis: Act 3, scenes 13
After his first confrontation with the witches, Macbeth worried that he would have to commit a murder to gain
the Scottish crown. He seems to have gotten used to the idea, as by this point the body count has risen to
alarming levels. Now that the first part of the witches prophecy has come true, Macbeth feels that he must kill
his friend Banquo and the young Fleance in order to prevent the second part from becoming realized. But, as
Fleances survival suggests, there can be no escape from the witches prophecies.
Macbeth and his wife seem to have traded roles. As he talks to the murderers, Macbeth adopts the same rhetoric
that Lady Macbeth used to convince him to murder in Act 1, scene 7. He questions their manhood in order to

make them angry, and their desire to murder Banquo and Fleance grows out of their desire to prove themselves
to be men. In the scene with Lady Macbeth that follows, Macbeth again echoes her previous comments. She
told him earlier that he must look like the innocent flower, / But be the serpent undert (1.5.6364). Now he is
the one reminding her to mask her unease, as he says that they must make [their] faces visors to [their] hearts, /
Disguising what they are (3.2.3536). Yet, despite his displays of fearlessness, Macbeth is undeniably beset
with guilt and doubt, which he expresses in his reference to the scorpions in his mind and in his declaration
that in killing Banquo they have scorched the snake, not killed it (3.2.15).
While her husband grows bolder, Lady Macbeth begins to despairNaughts had; alls spent, she says
(3.2.6). It is difficult to believe that the woman who now attempts to talk her husband out of committing more
murders is the same Lady Macbeth who earlier spurred her husband on to slaughter. Just as he begins to echo
her earlier statements, she references his. Whats done is done (3.2.14), she says wishfully, echoing her
husbands use of done in Act 1, scene 7, where he said: If it were done when tis done, then twere well / It
were done quickly (1.7.12). But as husband and wife begin to realize, nothing is done whatsoever; their
sense of closure is an illusion.
Both characters seem shocked and dismayed that possessing the crown has not rid them of trouble or brought
them happiness. The language that they use is fraught with imagery suggestive of suspicion, paranoia, and inner
turmoil, like Macbeths evocative full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife (3.2.37). Each murder Macbeth
commits or commissions is intended to bring him security and contentment, but the deeper his arms sink in
blood, the more violent and horrified he becomes.
By the start of Act 3, the plays main themethe repercussions of acting on ambition without moral constraint
has been articulated and explored. The play now builds inexorably toward its end. Unlike Hamlet, in which
the plot seems open to multiple possibilities up to the final scene, Macbeths action seems to develop inevitably.
We know that there is nothing to stop Macbeths murder spree except his own death, and it is for that death that
the audience now waits. Only with Macbeths demise, we realize, can any kind of moral order be restored to
Scotland.
Summary: Act 3, scene 4
Onstage stands a table heaped with a feast. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth enter as king and queen, followed by
their court, whom they bid welcome. As Macbeth walks among the company, the first murderer appears at the
doorway. Macbeth speaks to him for a moment, learning that Banquo is dead and that Fleance has escaped. The
news of Fleances escape angers Macbethif only Fleance had died, he muses, his throne would have been
secure. Instead, the worm thats fled / Hath nature that in time will venom breed (3.4.2829).
Returning to his guests, Macbeth goes to sit at the head of the royal table but finds Banquos ghost sitting in his
chair. Horror-struck, Macbeth speaks to the ghost, which is invisible to the rest of the company. Lady Macbeth
makes excuses for her husband, saying that he occasionally has such visions and that the guests should simply
ignore his behavior. Then she speaks to Macbeth, questioning his manhood and urging him to snap out of his
trance. The ghost disappears, and Macbeth recovers, telling his company: I have a strange infirmity which is
nothing / To those that know me (3.4.8586). As he offers a toast to company, however, Banquos specter
reappears and shocks Macbeth into further reckless outbursts. Continuing to make excuses for her husband,
Lady Macbeth sends the alarmed guests out of the room as the ghost vanishes again.
Macbeth mutters that blood will have blood and tells Lady Macbeth that he has heard from a servant-spy that
Macduff intends to keep away from court, behavior that verges on treason (3.4.121). He says that he will visit
the witches again tomorrow in the hopes of learning more about the future and about who may be plotting
against him. He resolves to do whatever is necessary to keep his throne, declaring: I am in blood / Stepped in
so far that, should I wade no more, / Returning were as tedious as go oer (3.4.135137). Lady Macbeth says
that he needs sleep, and they retire to their bed.
Summary: Act 3, scene 5
Upon the stormy heath, the witches meet with Hecate, the goddess of witchcraft. Hecate scolds them for
meddling in the business of Macbeth without consulting her but declares that she will take over as supervisor of
the mischief. She says that when Macbeth comes the next day, as they know he will, they must summon visions
and spirits whose messages will fill him with a false sense of security and draw him on to his confusion
(3.5.29). Hecate vanishes, and the witches go to prepare their charms.
Summary: Act 3, scene 6

That night, somewhere in Scotland, Lennox walks with another lord, discussing what has happened to the
kingdom. Banquos murder has been officially blamed on Fleance, who has fled. Nevertheless, both men
suspect Macbeth, whom they call a tyrant, in the murders of Duncan and Banquo. The lord tells Lennox that
Macduff has gone to England, where he will join Malcolm in pleading with Englands King Edward for aid.
News of these plots has prompted Macbeth to prepare for war. Lennox and the lord express their hope that
Malcolm and Macduff will be successful and that their actions can save Scotland from Macbeth.
Analysis: Act 3, scenes 46
Throughout Macbeth, as in many of Shakespeares tragedies, the supernatural and the unnatural appear in
grotesque form as harbingers of wickedness, moral corruption, and downfall. Here, the appearance of Banquos
silent ghost, the reappearance of the witches, and the introduction of the goddess Hecate all symbolize the
corruption of Scotlands political and moral health. In place of the dramatization of Macbeths acts of
despotism, Shakespeare uses the scenes involving supernatural elements to increase the audiences sense of
foreboding and ill omen. When Macbeths political transgressions are revealed, Scotlands dire situation
immediately registers, because the transgressions of state have been predicted by the disturbances in nature. In
Macbeths moral landscape, loyalty, honor, and virtue serve either as weak or nonexistent constraints against
ambition and the lust for power. In the physical landscape that surrounds him, the normal rules of nature serve
as weak constraints against the grotesqueries of the witches and the horrific ghost of Banquo.
The banquet is simultaneously the high point of Macbeths reign and the beginning of his downfall. Macbeths
bizarre behavior puzzles and disturbs his subjects, confirming their impression that he is mentally troubled.
Despite the tentativeness and guilt she displayed in the previous scene, Lady Macbeth here appears surefooted
and stronger than her husband, but even her attempts to explain away her husbands hallucination are
ineffective when paired with the evidence of his behavior. The contrast between this scene and the one in which
Duncans body was discovered is strikingwhereas Macbeth was once cold-blooded and surefooted, he now
allows his anxieties and visions to get the best of him.
It is unclear whether Banquos ghost really sits in Macbeths chair or whether the spirits presence is only a
hallucination inspired by guilt. Macbeth, of course, is thick with supernatural events and characters, so there is
no reason to discount the possibility that a ghost actually stalks the halls. Some of the apparitions that appear in
the play, such as the floating dagger in Act 2, scene 1, and the unwashable blood that Lady Macbeth perceives
on her hands in Act 4, appear to be more psychological than supernatural in origin, but even this is uncertain.
These recurring apparitions or hallucinations reflect the sense of metaphysical dread that consumes the royal
couple as they feel the fateful force of their deeds coming back to haunt them.
Given the role that Banquos character plays in Macbeth, it is appropriate that he and not Duncan should haunt
Macbeth. Like Macbeth, Banquo heard the witches prophecies and entertained ambitions. But, unlike Macbeth,
Banquo took no criminal action. His actions stand as a rebuke to Macbeths behavior and represent a path not
taken, one in which ambition need not beget bloodshed. In Holinsheds Chronicles, the history that served as the
source for Shakespeares Macbeth, Banquo was Macbeths accomplice in Duncans murder. Shakespeare most
likely changed Banquos role from villain to moral pillar because Shakespeares patron, King James I of
England, was believed to be Banquos descendant.
Shakespeare also portrays the historical figure of King Edward the Confessor, to whom Malcolm and Macduff
have gone to receive help combating Macbeth. Edward is presented as the complete opposite of the evil, corrupt
Macbeth. By including mention of England and Scotlands cooperation in the play, Shakespeare emphasizes that
the bond between the two countries, renewed in his time by Jamess kingship, is a long-standing one. At the
same time, the fact that Macbeths opposition coalesces in England is at once a suggestion that Scotland has
become too thoroughly corrupted to resist Macbeth and a self-congratulatory nod to Shakespeares English
audience.
Summary: Act 4, scene 1
In a dark cavern, a bubbling cauldron hisses and spits, and the three witches suddenly appear onstage. They
circle the cauldron, chanting spells and adding bizarre ingredients to their steweye of newt and toe of frog, /
Wool of bat and tongue of dog (4.1.1415). Hecate materializes and compliments the witches on their work.
One of the witches then chants: By the pricking of my thumbs, / Something wicked this way comes (4.1.61
62). In fulfillment of the witchs prediction, Macbeth enters. He asks the witches to reveal the truth of their
prophecies to him. To answer his questions, they summon horrible apparitions, each of which offers a prediction
to allay Macbeths fears. First, a floating head warns him to beware Macduff; Macbeth says that he has already

guessed as much. Then a bloody child appears and tells him that none of woman born / shall harm Macbeth
(4.1.9697). Next, a crowned child holding a tree tells him that he is safe until Birnam Wood moves to
Dunsinane Hill. Finally, a procession of eight crowned kings walks by, the last carrying a mirror. Banquos
ghost walks at the end of the line. Macbeth demands to know the meaning of this final vision, but the witches
perform a mad dance and then vanish. Lennox enters and tells Macbeth that Macduff has fled to England.
Macbeth resolves to send murderers to capture Macduffs castle and to kill Macduffs wife and children.
Summary: Act 4, scene 2
At Macduffs castle, Lady Macduff accosts Ross, demanding to know why her husband has fled. She feels
betrayed. Ross insists that she trust her husbands judgment and then regretfully departs. Once he is gone, Lady
Macduff tells her son that his father is dead, but the little boy perceptively argues that he is not. Suddenly, a
messenger hurries in, warning Lady Macduff that she is in danger and urging her to flee. Lady Macduff protests,
arguing that she has done no wrong. A group of murderers then enters. When one of them denounces Macduff,
Macduffs son calls the murderer a liar, and the murderer stabs him. Lady Macduff turns and runs, and the pack
of killers chases after her.
Summary: Act 4, scene 3
Outside King Edwards palace, Malcolm speaks with Macduff, telling him that he does not trust him since he
has left his family in Scotland and may be secretly working for Macbeth. To determine whether Macduff is
trustworthy, Malcolm rambles on about his own vices. He admits that he wonders whether he is fit to be king,
since he claims to be lustful, greedy, and violent. At first, Macduff politely disagrees with his future king, but
eventually Macduff cannot keep himself from crying out, O Scotland, Scotland! (4.3.101). Macduffs loyalty
to Scotland leads him to agree that Malcolm is not fit to govern Scotland and perhaps not even to live. In giving
voice to his disparagement, Macduff has passed Malcolms test of loyalty. Malcolm then retracts the lies he has
put forth about his supposed shortcomings and embraces Macduff as an ally. A doctor appears briefly and
mentions that a crew of wretched souls waits for King Edward so they may be cured (4.3.142). When the
doctor leaves, Malcolm explains to Macduff that King Edward has a miraculous power to cure disease.
Ross enters. He has just arrived from Scotland, and tells Macduff that his wife and children are well. He urges
Malcolm to return to his country, listing the woes that have befallen Scotland since Macbeth took the crown.
Malcolm says that he will return with ten thousand soldiers lent him by the English king. Then, breaking down,
Ross confesses to Macduff that Macbeth has murdered his wife and children. Macduff is crushed with grief.
Malcolm urges him to turn his grief to anger, and Macduff assures him that he will inflict revenge upon
Macbeth.
Analysis: Act 4, scenes 13
The witches are vaguely absurd figures, with their rhymes and beards and capering, but they are also clearly
sinister, possessing a great deal of power over events. Are they simply independent agents playing
mischievously and cruelly with human events? Or are the weird sisters agents of fate, betokening the
inevitable? The word weird descends etymologically from the Anglo-Saxon word wyrd, which means fate or
doom, and the three witches bear a striking resemblance to the Fates, female characters in both Norse and
Greek mythology. Perhaps their prophecies are constructed to wreak havoc in the minds of the hearers, so that
they become self-fulfilling. It is doubtful, for instance, that Macbeth would have killed Duncan if not for his
meeting with the witches. On the other hand, the sisters prophecies may be accurate readings of the future.
After all, when Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane at the plays end, the soldiers bearing the branches have not
heard of the prophecy.
Whatever the nature of the witches prophecies, their sheer inscrutability is as important as any reading of their
motivations and natures. The witches stand outside the limits of human comprehension. They seem to represent
the part of human beings in which ambition and sin originatean incomprehensible and unconscious part of the
human psyche. In this sense, they almost seem to belong to a Christian framework, as supernatural
embodiments of the Christian concept of original sin. Indeed, many critics have argued that Macbeth, a
remarkably simple story of temptation, fall, and retribution, is the most explicitly Christian of Shakespeares
great tragedies. If so, however, it is a dark Christianity, one more concerned with the bloody consequences of
sin than with grace or divine love. Perhaps it would be better to say that Macbeth is the most orderly and just of
the tragedies, insofar as evil deeds lead first to psychological torment and then to destruction. The nihilism of
King Lear, in which the very idea of divine justice seems laughable, is absent in Macbethdivine justice,
whether Christian or not, is a palpable force hounding Macbeth toward his inevitable end.

The witches prophecies allow Macbeth, whose sense of doom is mounting, to tell himself that everything may
yet be well. For the audience, which lacks Macbeths misguided confidence, the strange apparitions act as
symbols that foreshadow the way the prophecies will be fulfilled. The armored head suggests war or rebellion, a
telling image when connected to the apparitions warning about Macduff. The bloody child obliquely refers to
Macduffs birth by cesarean sectionhe is not of woman bornattaching a clear irony to a comment that
Macbeth takes at face value. The crowned child is Malcolm. He carries a tree, just as his soldiers will later carry
tree branches from Birnam Wood to Dunsinane. Finally, the procession of kings reveals the future line of kings,
all descended from Banquo. Some of those kings carry two balls and three scepters, the royal insignia of Great
Britainalluding to the fact that James I, Shakespeares patron, claimed descent from the historical Banquo.
The mirror carried by the last figure may have been meant to reflect King James, sitting in the audience, to
himself.
The murder of Lady Macduff and her young son in Act 4, scene 2, marks the moment in which Macbeth
descends into utter madness, killing neither for political gain nor to silence an enemy, but simply out of a
furious desire to do harm. As Malcolm and Macduff reason in Act 4, scene 3, Macbeths is the worst possible
method of kingship. It is a political approach without moral legitimacy because it is not founded on loyalty to
the state. Their conversation reflects an important theme in the playthe nature of true kingship, which is
embodied by Duncan and King Edward, as opposed to the tyranny of Macbeth. In the end, a true king seems to
be one motivated by love of his kingdom more than by pure self-interest. In a sense, both Malcolm and Macduff
share this virtuethe love they hold for Scotland unites them in opposition to Macbeth, and grants their attempt
to seize power a moral legitimacy that Macbeths lacked.
Macduff and Malcolm are allies, but Macduff also serves as a teacher to Malcolm. Malcolm believes himself to
be crafty and intuitive, as his test of Macduff shows. Yet, he has a perverted idea of manhood that is in line with
Macbeths. When Ross brings word of Lady Macduffs murder, Malcolm tells Macduff: Dispute it like a man
(4.3.221). Macduff answers, I shall do so, / But I must also feel it as a man (4.3.222223). Macduff shows
that manhood comprises more than aggression and murder; allowing oneself to be sensitive and to feel grief is
also necessary. This is an important lesson for Malcolm to learn if he is to be a judicious, honest, and
compassionate king. When, in Act 5, scene 11, Malcolm voices his sorrow for Siwards son, he demonstrates
that he has taken Macduffs instruction to heart.