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What happens in Act 3, Scenes 4–6 of Macbeth?
In Scene 4 of Act 3, Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost at a royal banquet and becomes so frightened that Lady Macbeth clears everyone else from the room. Macbeth decides he needs to talk to the witches again to learn more about his future. In Scene 5, the witches meet with Hecate, who tells them to fill Macbeth with a false sense of security when he comes to see them. In Scene 6, Lennox learns that Macduff has gone to England to meet with Duncan’s son Malcolm and to ask King Edward of England for help.
Read our Summary & Analysis of Act 3, Scenes 4–6. (3-minute read)
What do hallucinations signify in Macbeth?
Hallucinations—including Banquo’s ghost sitting in a chair at Macbeth’s celebratory feast in Act 3, Scene 4—seem mainly to remind Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, and us in the audience of the couple’s guilt and their responsibility for the spiraling chaos and disorder in Scotland.
Read more about Hallucinations as a Motif in Macbeth. (1-minute read)
Are any important characters introduced in Act 3, Scenes 4–6 of Macbeth?
In Scene 5, the three witches meet with Hecate, who shares a name with the Greek goddess of witchcraft (pronounced heh-kuh-tee and sometimes spelled Hekate). It isn’t known if Shakespeare meant this character to be that entity, since the depiction here does not directly match the figure in Greek mythology. What is clear is that she is very much the boss of the three witches, and one they should fear. Even though she works with the witches to bring about Macbeth’s downfall, it is important that Hecate repeatedly emphasizes that Macbeth’s own sense of invincibility is the true cause of his ruin.
Read our in-depth Character Analysis of Hecate. (2-minute read)
Was witchcraft a popular topic when Macbeth was written?
Yes, witchcraft was an important topic in public discourse in England and in Europe in the 17th century, and Macbeth mirrors this fascination. The 1604 Witchcraft Act, which reflected anxieties about the power and influence of women, had been adopted shortly before the play was first performed. It has been suggested that King James I and his well-known interest in witchcraft were partly why Shakespeare included so much of it in Macbeth.
Read our brief essay about Witchcraft in Shakespeare’s England. (3-minute read)
