This scene marks a crucial turning point in the Macbeths' relationship and Macbeth's psychological journey. The power dynamic that defined their earlier scenes has completely reversed—where Lady Macbeth once dominated and manipulated her husband into action, she now finds herself offering comfort and advice to a man who has moved beyond her influence. Her attempts to counsel him with practical wisdom ("what's done cannot be undone") fall on deaf ears, as Macbeth has descended into a realm of paranoia and compulsive violence that she cannot reach.Shakespeare employs powerful imagery and metaphor to illustrate Macbeth's tormented mental state. The famous line "O, full of scorpions is my mind" creates a visceral image of psychological torment, while his description of having "scotch'd the snake, not kill'd it" reveals his understanding that Duncan's murder has not brought security but merely created new threats. The extended comparison between the dead Duncan's peace and the living Macbeth's torment develops the play's exploration of how guilt transforms the victim into the sufferer.The scene's dramatic irony intensifies as Macbeth speaks of the need to "make our faces vizards to our hearts," describing the very deception he practices on his wife. His exclusion of Lady Macbeth from his...
Scene Summary
In this pivotal scene, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth's relationship begins to reverse its earlier dynamic. Lady Macbeth attempts to comfort her tormented husband, advising him to stop dwelling on Duncan's murder since "what's done cannot be undone." However, Macbeth reveals his deep psychological suffering, describing his mind as "full of scorpions" and expressing envy for Duncan, who sleeps peacefully in death.
As they prepare for the evening's banquet, Macbeth instructs his wife to pay special attention to Banquo, while secretly planning the man's murder. When Lady Macbeth asks what will be done, Macbeth deliberately excludes her from his plans, telling her to "be innocent of the knowledge." The scene ends with Macbeth's ominous reflection on how evil deeds breed more evil, as night approaches and "things bad begun make strong themselves by ill."
"What's done cannot be undone." — Lady Macbeth (3.2.12)
"We have scotch'd the snake, not kill'd it." — Macbeth (3.2.13)
"Better be with the dead, / Whom we, to gain our peace, have sent to peace, / Than on the torture of the mind to lie / In restless ecstasy." — Macbeth (3.2.19-22)
"Duncan is in his grave; / After life's fitful fever he sleeps well." — Macbeth (3.2.22-23)
"O, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife!" — Macbeth (3.2.36)
"Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck." — Macbeth (3.2.45)
"Light thickens; and the crow / Makes wing to the rooky wood." — Macbeth (3.2.50-51)
"Good things of day begin to droop and drowse; / While night's black agents to their preys do rouse." — Macbeth (3.2.52-53)
"Things bad begun make strong themselves by ill." — Macbeth (3.2.55)
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