After carefully re-reading Act 3:1-3, please comment on the following question. In answering the question, please use textual evidence (precise textual evidence!!) to back up your response.
And the question is... "Why could the murder of Banquo (and the banquet that follows)be considered the climax of this play?"
19 comments:
When Banquo is killed in Act III his son is able to flee. This moment is when Macbeth finally realizes his inability to defeat the predictions of the witches. Ever after this point Macbeth is no longer struggling to find himself, but rather he is struggling now to simply survive.
Below is a perfect example of Macbeth's climax, at least in the characters case.
"Then comes my fit again: I had else been perfect,
Whole as the marble, founded as the rock,
As broad and general as the casing air:
But now I am cabin'd, cribb'd, confined, bound in
To saucy doubts and fears. But Banquo's safe?"
This quote is also a prime example of how I disagree with this scene being the climax. Though here Macbeth certainly does change I believe his real change occurred with Duncan's death.
". . . Present fears
Are less than horrible imaginings:
My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical,
Shakes so my single state of man that function
Is smother'd in surmise, and nothing is
But what is not."
This quote shows exactly how much knowledge he has gained from his murder of Duncan, and though Fleance's escape is noteworthy and the appearance of a ghost is something of a hint at Shakespeare's decision on which should be climax I still believe that the masterful soliloquy helps to even the playing ground between whether Duncan's death or Banquo's is the climax of the play.
Also, another question arises if you believe that Banquo's death triggers the climax. Firstly is Fleanc's fleeing the climax, or is Macbeth's hearing the news of it? Secondly, couldn't his attack on the castle Macduff be such a change in Macbeth to be noteworthy, mostly because he finally realizes that he must listen to the hags one of who's prophecy was "Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! beware Macduff;
Beware the thane of Fife . . ."
This is the point where Macbeth truly shows a drastic transformation in his character because at this point, greed had certainly taken control of him. This is evident in Macbeth's soliloquy when he says "for them [Banquo's son] the gracious Duncan have I murdered, put rancors in the vessel of my peace only for them... to make them kings, the seeds of Banquo kings," in which his bitterness toward his friend is portrayed.
This is also a point where Macbeth's and Lady Macbeth's influence on each other is switched. Prior to Act 3, it was Lady Macbeth who mostly told Macbeth what to do and admonishing him for the things he was afraid to do, asking, "Art thou afeard to be the same in thine own act and valor as thou art in desire?" Beginning from Act 3, Macbeth makes decisions for himself, which go beyond Lady Macbeth's prior greed. This can be considered the climax of the play because it is a point where Macbeth has become a totally new person, a murderer, and the rest of the disasters will continue to follow, which can be seen as the resolution, leading to the ultimate fall of Macbeth. Like Lady Macbeth has called the spirits to unsex her, Macbeth calls "Come, seeling night, scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day ..." and so on, showing the climax of his loss of rationality and humanity. There is no turning back.
Lastly, when Banquo dies, his son Fleance is able to run away, and this can certainly be seen as the climax because this forshadows the fall of Macbeth, that he is not completely in control of his own fate and the prophecy made by the weird sisters. The following murders that Macbeth commits can be, again, seen as the resolution of the play that lead to Lady Macbeth's death and the tragic death of Macbeth.
Although the murder of Banquo (and the banquet that follows) can be considered the climax of this play, there are actually many others scenes that could be considered the climax as well. These are when Macbeth murders Duncan and becomes king or even when Macduff ultimately kills Macbeth. They're all considered scenes of climax because there obviously isn't a turning point in any murder scenario. However, upon examining the specific murder of Banquo, this could be seen as the climax of the play because not only has another murder occurred on behalf of Macbeth, but it's also when Macbeth has finally gone mad with this murder business. The past hallucinations were enough to get by with, but now as the ghost of Banquo appears, Macbeth has lost his mind and is in complete fear. This is shown in the lines: "The time has been That, when the brains were out, the man would die, And there an end. But now they rise again With twenty mortal murders on their crowns And push us from our stools. This is more strange Than such a murder is." According to these lines, he's become fully aware of the fact that the dead had come to haunt him for his evil deeds.
This scene is also frightening to Lady Macbeth who is devastated by what Macbeth is saying – which could be detrimental to their disguises as innocent people. She goes on to say, “This is the very painting of your fear. This is the air-drawn dagger which you said Led you to Duncan.” This is important for her to say because it truly is “the very painting of [his] fear”. Later, when Macbeth states, “You make me strange Even to the disposition that I owe, When now I think you can behold such sights, And keep the natural ruby of your cheeks, When mine is blanched with fear”, Lady Macbeth is shocked and expresses her shock when she asks the guests to leave after Ross had asked what sorts of things he was seeing.
All in all, this scene is one of the most important scenes when evaluating the process of Macbeth’s character change. It is evident throughout the story that Macbeth’s harmartia is the struggle he has with his ambition, which leads to his loss of discernment and ultimately leads to his greatest fall – death.
The climax of a story is defined as “a point of highest tension ...in which the solution is given,” a point of no turning back. When reading act three scenes one to three, textual evidence does suggest that the murder of Banquo can be the climax of Macbeth.
- Leading up to the murder of Banquo, we are able to witness gradual internal transformation Macbeth goes through (He is first reluctant to kill his friend and later is fully determined to remove Banquo.)
- In act 3 scene 1 lines 51-76, we see Macbeth fearing Banquo for his integrity and the prophecy of the witches. (Banquo’s son becoming the future king.) This is the beginning of Macbeth’s plan to murder Banquo to ensure his throne.
- As the story continues, Macbeth’s fear and nervousness intensifies. (Act 3 Scene 2 Lines 20-25.) This again refers back to the idea of Macbeth’s character changing completely from before being doubtful and cautious to being bold and murderous.
- It is during these three scenes when Macbeth has finally crossed the line of being obsessed with the idea of retaining the throne. Now, he is more than determined to do anything to keep his crown and to eliminate anything that comes in between.
Act 3. sc. 4 Line 168 "I am in blood // Stepped in so far that, should I wade no more, // Returning were as tedious as go o'er. // Strange things I have in head, that will to hand, // Which must be acted ere they may be scanned." This line by Macbeth demonstrates the climactic nature of this scene. Macbeth has realized that he has come too far to turn back, and he is going to consult the Weird Sisters the next day in order to know about his future and make sure things go his way.
Although Macbeth regretted his actions after the murder of Duncan, he feels no regret after killing Banquo. Instead he is paranoid enough to see a ghost of Banquo, showing that Macbeth's frail mind is determined he has done the right thing. Thus the murder of Banquo and the banquet that follows could be considered the climax of Macbeth.
The climax is considered the highest point of story. So I ask myself, is the murder of Banquo the "highest point of the story"? Maybe. There are many high, dramatic points in this play that it is difficult to differenciate them. But from how I interpret this scene, I don't think the murder of Banquo is the climax of this play, because the REAL "point of no return" for Macbeth was when he killed King Duncan. Murdering Banquo was just another "step" Macbeth took to keep his thrown; one other problem left to be handled and solved. It was the "falling action" of Macbeth's problems (well kind of...). It seems to me that Fleance, Banquo's son, esacaping is just another conflict Macbeth needs to solve.
Also, usually it is during the climax when the protagonist's character or life changes. Duncan's murder is the turning point for Macbeth because it causes Macbeth to be capable of killing Banquo, his close friend. We can see that it is not the murder of Banquo that changed Macbeth, but his first murder of Duncan that changed him. Before Banquo was killed, Macbeth expressed the words "scorched", "malice", "suffer", "danger", "terrile", "dead", "torture", "poison", and many more in his soliloquoy (when talking with Lady Macbeth), which shows how the mood of this play is already different because Macbeth is already transformed into a "evil" person filled with greed.
..."shows how the mood of this play is different because Macbeth has already transformed into a "evil" person filled with greed"
(Oops, grammer mistake...srry Mrs. Lav, I'm sure there's more, but I just changed this because it sounded really weird...:S)
Well, it could be considered as a climax because it is the point of no return in many ways.
First, we see a definite change is Macbeth's character. Early on in the play, Macbeth was largely dependent on Lady Macbeth to carry out the plan to murder Duncan. He was nervous and hesitant about killing Duncan that he even thought of ditching the whole plan. However, in these scenes we see Macbeth taking charge over his plan to murder Banquo and Fleance. This quote,
"Come seeling night,
Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day
And with thy bloody and invisible hand
Cancel and tear to pieces that bond
Which keeps me pale."
shows the definite change of character in Macbeth. Interestingly, this quote is quite similar to Lady Macbeth's "unsex me" speech. At this point, we start to see Macbeth's and Lady Macbeth's characters become the opposite of what they were like before. Macbeth, who was timid and hesitant about murdering, is now taking initiative in murdering Banquo and Fleance. Lady Macbeth, who was bold and even ruthless about murdering Duncan, was now becoming more and more fragile. This change in characters affect Lady Macbeth in a drastic way: it eventually drives her to be tormented by her past deeds and to kill herself. The change in character of Macbeth leads to his demise. Therefore, these scenes could be cosidered the climax of the play.
Second, the fleeing of Fleance is a foreshadowing of the fall of Macbeth. Up until now, Macbeth thought he had control over his fate and the prophecy. That is why he first thought of killing Duncan and formulated a series of plans to "make" the prophecy true. The fleeing of Fleance marks the beginning of Macbeth's fall, because this is the first time (aside from when he forgot to put the knife back in Duncan's room) his plan did not go as he planned, and Macbeth is definitely scared by it:
"Then comes my fit again: I had else been perfect,
Whole as the marble, founded as the rock,
As broad and general as the casing air:
But now I am cabin'd, cribb'd, confined, bound in
To saucy doubts and fears."
This shows Macbeth's loss of control over his destiny and the prophecy. In a way, this was expected to happen because the Weird Sisters never mentioned anything about what will happen after Macbeth became the king, and they did mention that Banquo will never be the king. This is where fate takes back control of the lives of all the characters of the play.
Third, the appearance of the Ghost from the dead and its seating in Macbeth's seat, symbolizes and foreshadows that Macbeth will have to pay a price for his actions. Seeing that it is a ghost with a bloody face, we can see that the price will be Macbeth's death.
And lastly, Banquo was a foil to Macbeth's character; he had moral values and was loyal to the king, whereas, Macbeth was disloyal and was a murderer. Murdering such a character indicates that there is no sense of balance between the characters of the play anymore. And the play truly becomes chaotic starting from this point. Macbeth becomes a tyrant towards the end of the play killing everyone who poses a threat to him, and in the end, balance and peace is reattained with Macbeth's death.
I'm actually interested in Blake's response. He said that Macbeth's murder of Duncan was the climax. It is definitely a point of no return for Duncan, but I think it is not the climax for a number of reasons.
First, the actual killing of Duncan is not shown in the text. We assume that the murder took place sometime between when he went up the stairs and when he came back with blood all over him. I think Shakespeare deliberately left this scene out so that it won't be perceived as the climax.
Second, the murder of Duncan was implicitly prophecized by the Weird Sisters. Duncan was very much alive at the time the prophecies were made, and he had a successor already in place. So, really, the logical way of Macbeth becoming the king was to murder him. The fact that Macbeth formulated a plan to kill Duncan and that it went according to plan shows that Macbeth thought that he had some control over his fate. And sure enough, in starting from Act 3, fate comes crashing down and Macbeth, ultimately gets killed in the end.
Anyway, that's what I thought.
Banquo’s death can be considered as a climax of this play because it is clear that Macbeth exhibits a change in his personality and determination slightly after the assassination. Even after he killed Duncan, Macbeth was shocked and felt guilty about the murder. However, Macbeth does not display any sense of guilt when he kills Banquo. He even specifically orders to kill Fleance. He develops suspicions towards Banquo and compares themselves to Caesar and Mark Antony. Also, it states, “Only for them, and mine eternal jewel given to the common enemy of man make them kings, the seeds of Banquo kings. Rather than so, come fate into the list, and champion me to th’utterance…” He is very fearful of Banquo and sure that Banquo’s sons will take over his crown.
Also, when Banquo dies, Macbeth directly compares Banquo as “serpent.” In a biblical perspective, serpents are like devils and considering that Shakespeare had some Christian background, this directly shows Macbeth’s feelings towards Banquo. After Banquo’s death, Macbeth becomes so paranoid thinking that he has to secure his crown because Fleance is still alive. Macbeth is willing to kill anyone who gets on his ways. Also, after Banquo’s assassination, he begins to see ghosts again. Macbeth’s response to these ghosts clearly show that he is living in a fear of losing his crown and is determined to secure his crown from anyone.
For several reasons the murder of Banquo (and the banquet that follows) is considered the climax of Macbeth. First, before the murder Macbeth says this line to Lady Macbeth; Things bad begun make strong themselves by ill, which foreshadows what will happen to Macbeth. Also when Banquo gets killed he says this line to Fleance his son, “Someday you can get revenge.” This is another foreshadow of the plot of the play. We all know these line manifests as the story unfolds. A climax is a part of a plot that alters everything. The murder of Banquo did exactly that. After killing Banquo, Macbeth quickly adapts his evil side and kills many more. Knowing that Macbeth had such a hard time with his first murder (killing the king), we know that it is actually the murder of Banquo that triggered his bad deeds. This change of thought and action made it hard for Lady Macbeth to spend time with Macbeth, and the burden and guilt of the murders Macbeth commits pushes Lady Macbeth to the point where she kills herself.
“But now I'm all tangled up with doubts and fears.” This line foreshadows all the hallucinations and atrocities it is about to unravel in Macbeth’s life. In the banquet as Macbeth sees the ghost of Banquo, Shakespeare made it clear to his audience Macbeth’s fragile mental state and paranoia. All of these things are reasons why Banquo (and the banquet that follows) is considered the climax of Macbeth.
In english class, climax on the plot chart was the top of the hill. This means that it was a part where the main character goes through a change. This change creates a point of no return and is the part of the play where there is the highest intensity of action. Considering this definition, I think that the murder of Banquo can indeed be argued to be the climax. Even though there were other murder scenes prior to this one, those did not clearly portray Macbeth’s change. The murder of Duncan was planned by Lady Macbeth, she took lead and Macbeth was unsure about it. However, in act 3, when Macbeth plans Banquo’s death, it is he who comes up with the idea. He has turned evil and deceptive. This is evident in the lines 130-134 in act 3, scene 1: “know Banquo was your enemy. So is he mine, and in such bloody distance that every minute of his being thrusts against my near’st of life.” Macbeth has turned into a murderer, unafraid to kill: “Fleance, his son, that keeps him company, whose absence is no less material to me than is his father’s, must embrace the fate of that dark hour.” Moreover, we can see Macbeth’s change more clearly when Macbeth talks to Lady Macbeth. The switching of roles and character can be noticed. In Duncan’s murder, Lady Macbeth used strong word with dark tones, but in this act, Macbeth uses words such as “we have SCORCHED the SNAKE, not KILLED it. Better be with the Dead…than on the TORTURE of the mind to lie in RESTLESS ECSTASY.”
Also, when Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth that Banquo and Fleance are still alive, she tells him that they will eventually, naturally die, “But in them nature’s copy’s not eterne.” However, Macbeth is not comforted by this and tells her “there shall be done a deed of dreadful note.” He then calls the dark spirits to be with him, “Come, seeling night, scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day and with they bloody and invisible hand cancel and tear to pieces that great bond which keeps me pale.” Macbeth has gone through such a change into a murderer that he has past the point of no return. Therefore, this scene can definitely be argued to be a climax.
The murder of Banquo could be conisdered the climax of the play because it is really a point of no return where Macbeth makes a decision that changes his life forever. Although there are many murders in this play, the murder of Banquo is really the first murder that shows the descent of Macbeth and his change in character. he becomes so absorbed with killing others and doing anything to achieve this as it haunts him in his sleeping "in the affliction of these terrible dreams." he confessed that he would "better be with the dead" than fret for all is to come as he talks of duncan which shows his restlessness in trying to deal with the fate handed to him by the witches. "i am in blood stepped in so far should i wade no more returning were as tedious as go o'er" also shows how far he's come and what a dilemma he has puthimself in by killing and that to go back is as hard as going forward. Therefore Banquo's murder could be seen as the climax of the play because although it is earlier on in the play it is almost the peak at whcih all the rest of the murders follow as they flow in a shallow slope down to the resolution.
Although I wouldn’t consider the murder of Banquo and the banquet that follows the climax of this play, I can understand why some people would consider it the climax. It is this scene where the friendship of Banquo and Macbeth comes to an end. The reader knows that their friendship is over when he or she reads about Macbeth plotting the murder of Banquo and his son, Fleance, with the murderers. Macbeth asks the murderers if “both of [them] know Banquo as [their] enemy.” After the murderers responded, Macbeth goes on to say “so he is mine.” Eventually, the murderers kill Banquo although they fail to kill his son. This is the point where some people would argue is the climax as this is the point of no return – the point of no return for their friendship. Until this point, Macbeth still had the chance to save his relationship with Banquo, but Macbeth blew it. Additionally, it can be seen as the climax because it causes Macbeth to see hallucinations of Banquo’s ghost. Macbeth argues that “the table’s full” when it isn’t in act 3 scene 4. This in turn will cause the people at the banquet to question Macbeth and his ability to lead them. Macbeth’s physical power diminishes. Thus, the murder can be seen as the act that starts Macbeth’s downfall psychologically and physically.
When I was looking up climax I found that the greek word actually means "ladder" or "staircase". In someway this relates to Macbeth's constant ascent into this new character of hatred and an unfulfilled want to get more and more out of what the witches told him at the beginning of the play. At any point though, as on a staircase, Macbeth could have gone back and saved himself his fate at the end of the play. I believe though that at the point where he kills Banquo, his friend from the beginning, he has arrived at a point of no return and truly the top of the ladder or at the climax of the play.
You can see this change in Macbeth's character as he begins to blame the witchs for a misleading prophecy by stating, "Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown and put a barren scepter in my grip, thence to be wrenched with an unlineal han, no son of mine succeeding." He speaks of Banquo is such a different manner then he did from the beginning of the play therefore adding to this change in his character.
Also, his reaction of death and murder have changed greatly. When he killed Duncan he was in a different state almost away from his own existence. At this point in the play though he willingly calls the murderers to him as he is more concerned about getting his part of the prophecy and letting nothing get in his way.
At the end of this section there are multiple lines about blood and how he is seeped in it and there is nerely no way of escaping what he has gotten himself into. However there is another line where he seems to accept what he has become by saying, "It will have blood, they say; blood will have blood." So much blood has been shed that blood will have blood and these acts will continue..and Macbeth will never be satisfied.
We can argue that it is a climax of the play because there is point of no return of the character. However, we can argue that it is not a climax because normally climax occurs towards the end of the play and in Macbeth, the main character gets killed towards the end of the play which can be considered as climax. We can also argue that the murder of Duncan can be considered as climax of the play since that is where the start of changes occurs. In my opinion, climax of the play Macbeth, is the murder of Duncan because it is that incident that changed everything. After killing Duncan, Macbeth was shocked and regretful that he killed his king but after killing Duncan, killing became an easy thing for Macbeth where he killed more and more people in the play without the feelings of regret or fear.
On the other hand, we can definitely argue that Act 3: 1-3 is the climax for following reasons. First of all, in Act 3, sc 4 line 152 “ It will have blood, they say; blood will have blood.” It foreshadows that there will be more killings and blood spread which means “Macbeth’s destruction”. Also, in line 168, “ I am in blood Stepped in sp far that, should I wade no more, Returning were as tedious go’er.” Shows that Macbeth is transforming and there is no point of return after killing Banquo because he has come too far. Thus, he will visit the witches to see his future later on and this also shows that Macbeth is seeking the extreme measure to solve the problems. Therefore, it can be argued that this is the climax of the play where Macbeth has no point of return.
The point of no return or the climax in this book is after the murder of Banquo. Though Macbeth had already killed Duncan with his wife's assistance,he feels regret and remorse after his hideous action. he feels so guilty he even came back with the knife and refused to go back to the room to put it back and stick to the plan he had with his wife. However, after the murder of Banquo he feels no regret at all and from here on goes on a killing spree on whoever opposed his ideas or looked like a threat to him. he took on the ways of a dictator and became more oppressive. characterization of Macbeth also changes after this murder, which also proves this is the climate of the story, Macbeth who was characterized earlier as the "good" guy,loyal,patriotic,and deserving of honor transforms to this selfish,greedy, apathetic power-monger who was willing to do anything to keep the throne.
the murder of Banquo is definitely the turning point for Macbeth, and thus for the play. this is illustrated most powerfully (in my humble opinion) in his order to muder Fleance. the manner in which Macbeth words this request ("And with him, to leave no rubs nor botches in the work... no less material to me than his father's) is very dry. to say such about children, a universal subject of protection, is quite revealing about how far he is descending. i mean, people who harass children are generally agreed to be the worst of the worst.
also, Macbeth in killing Banquo is murdering a comrade. the two have fought in battle together, which indicates a bond that is not necessarily social, but deeper: trust. thus,to betray a fellow soldier is more than immoral, it is dishonoring. considering that Macbeth himself regards Banquo as 'royal in nature,' the treachery is almost evil a good man who is confident in him.
this murder as the tipping point is further revealed in Macbeth's visions of Banquo's ghost; his guilt returning to haunt him into frantic insanity.
“We have scorched the snake, not killed it,” says Macbeth in Act 3, Scene 2, Line 15. Even up until now Macbeth is undergoing a transformation, and the plot is under rising action. With the death of Duncan, it seems that all is well for Macbeth, yet the prophecies made for Banquo haunts the mind of Macbeth. Unable to escape paranoia, Macbeth is dragged into a dark world, and he looks to killing once again. Then, the transformation Macbeth goes through is finally complete in the fourth scene (or Macbeth reaches a point of no return). It is when Banquo is killed and Macbeth has completely lost control of himself. “More shall they[the witches] speak, for now I am bent to know by the worst means the worst,” says Macbeth in Act 3, Scene 4, Line 166-167. Like an addict under the control of a substance, Macbeth looks to the witches once again for a prophecy. Even after knowing that the witches’ original prophecies have caused Macbeth to commit such heinous crimes, Macbeth wishes to look to their abilities to foresee the future. This can be marked as the final turning point for Macbeth. After his disastrous banquet, Macbeth is finally seeking the guidance of the evil, thus pulling himself to the lowest of the lowest. At this point, it’s a landslide for Macbeth. Now, nothing good can come out from his future. Hungry for power and security, Macbeth has finally turned into a monster that will give no chance for any power struggle, and he will do anything—even take countless lives—to make sure he is king.
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