Reading journal act 3

Act 3 Scene 1

This scene makes Macbeth look very two-faced as at the beginning he is talking to Banquo and inviting him to the feast which he is holding in the afternoon. He also discusses his plans and wishes him a safe journey on his horses however, once Banquo has left Macbeth talks to the men who he is about to set out to kill him and his son. When Macbeth tells Banquo ' i wish you and your horses swift and sure foot' this is rather ironic as he knows they won't be safe as he is sending men after them. Towards the end of the scene Macbeth seems to begin to talk alot about spirits and souls, ' Banquo, thy souls flight, if it find heaven, must find it out tonight.' In some ways this statement could be to make himself feel better as he says 'if he finds heaven' so he may be thinking that Banquo has a chance of going to hell maybe he is trying to convince himself that Banquo deserves it.

Act 3 Scene 2

In this scene the power seems to swap between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. it appears that Macbeth is now in power as he is planning to kill Banquo and has not told Lady Macbeth about it. 'Be innocent of the knowledge' he isn't telling Lady Macbeth and in some ways this can make the audience believe that maybe Macbeth is the one who is planning all of these evil deeds not Lady Macbeth which it seemed in Act 2 when they set out to kill Duncan. However, in this scene Lady Macbeth does seem to be the one with the most self-control as Macbeth is not letting go of the murder Lady Macbeth acts as if she does not care.

Act 3 Scene 3

This scene features the 1st murder which happens to Banquo. Macbeth at first sends 2 people to kill of Banquo and his son but at the last minute decides to send someone else to help them, this shows that he is making sure that nothing can go wrong and that Banquo and his son are definitely murdered. This fact and also as it's one of Macbeth's good friends and is such a violent murder shows the audience how far gone Macbeth is and also what he is willing to sacrifice to stay at the top. You can also see the moment in this scene when Banquo realises that it is Macbeth who has sent them to kill him as he says 'o, treachery!' and he knows that it is because of the threat he and his son hold to Macbeth. Also when the second murderer says at the end 'we have lost best half of our affair' Macbeth has told them that he needs Fleance dead as he is the real threat he is just killing Banquo to cover his back and ensure that he can't have anymore children.

Act 3 Scene 4

This is the scene where the rest of the cast except Lady Macbeth gets to see Macbeth go crazy. Its the feast dinner and he begins to see Banquos ghost 'our graves must send those that we bury back.' You can tell that he is finally getting a real conscience and that the murder is playing on his mind. I think he didn't do the murder himself as he knew it would be to hard and also i think that he thought it wouldn't necessarily be his fault as it wasn't his hand that did it but this shows that it is actually effecting him more. This scene seems to be showing everything get on top of Macbeth and him finaly turning completely crazy. It also shows Lady Macbeth regaining her power as the stable one of the two covvering up for Macbeth at the feast and taking him outside to talk some sense into him.