Act 3
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Enter LADY MACBETH and a
SERVANT
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LADY MACBETH and a
SERVANT enter.
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LADY MACBETH Is Banquo gone from court?
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LADY MACBETH Has Banquo left the court?
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SERVANT Ay, madam, but returns again tonight.
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SERVANT Yes, madam, but he’ll be back tonight.
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LADY MACBETH Say to the king I would attend his leisure
For a few words.
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LADY MACBETH Go tell the king I want to talk to him for a few minutes.
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SERVANT
5Madam, I will.
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SERVANT No problem, madam.
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Exit SERVANT
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The SERVANT
exits.
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LADY MACBETH Naught’s had, all’s spent,
Where our desire is got without content.
'Tis safer to be that which we destroy
Than by destruction dwell in doubtful joy.
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LADY MACBETH If you get what you want and you’re still not happy,
you’ve spent everything and gained nothing. It’s
better to be the person who gets murdered than to be the killer and
be tormented with anxiety.
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Enter MACBETH
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MACBETH enters.
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10How now, my lord! Why do you keep alone,
Of sorriest fancies your companions making,
Using those thoughts which should indeed have died
With them they think on? Things without all remedy
Should be without regard. What’s done is done.
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What’s going on, my lord? Why are you keeping to
yourself, with only your sad thoughts to keep you company? Those
thoughts should have died when you killed the men you’re
thinking about. If you can’t fix it, you shouldn’t
give it a second thought. What’s done is done.
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MACBETH
15We have scorched the snake, not killed it.
She’ll close and be herself whilst our poor malice
Remains in danger of her former tooth.
But let the frame of things disjoint, both the worlds suffer,
Ere we will eat our meal in fear, and sleep
20In the affliction of these terrible dreams
That shake us nightly. 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. Duncan is in his grave.
25After life’s fitful fever he sleeps well.
Treason has done his worst; nor steel nor poison,
Malice domestic, foreign levy, nothing
Can touch him further.
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MACBETH We have slashed the snake but not killed it. It will heal and be
as good as new, and we’ll be threatened by its fangs once
again. But the universe can fall apart, and heaven and earth
crumble, before I’ll eat my meals in fear and spend my
nights tossing and turning with these nightmares I’ve been
having. I’d rather be dead than endure this endless mental
torture and harrowing sleep deprivation. We killed those men and
sent them to rest in peace so that we could gain our own peace.
Duncan lies in his grave, through with life’s troubles, and
he’s sleeping well. We have already done the worst we can
do to him with our treason. After that, nothing can hurt him
further—not weapons, poison, rebellion, invasion, or
anything else.
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More Help
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Character List
CHARACTERS -
Macbeth: Character Analysis
CHARACTERS -
Plot Analysis
MAIN IDEAS -
Is Lady Macbeth a Villain or a Victim?
MAIN IDEAS -
Quotes by Theme
QUOTES -
Themes
MAIN IDEAS -
Review Quiz
FURTHER STUDY
