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Macbeth: Act 3, Scene 2 – analysis
Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth privately confess their profound misery, highlighting the isolation and paranoia that their treason has bought them.
Scene Profile – At a Glance
Location: The royal palace at Forres.
Characters: Lady Macbeth, A Servant, Macbeth.
Key Event: Lady Macbeth and Macbeth discuss their mutual misery; Macbeth hints at his plot to kill Banquo but refuses to share the details with his wife.
The Atmosphere: Melancholic, paranoid, secretive, and deeply strained.
Key Quote: "O, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife!"
Significance: Showcases the psychological toll of the murder and marks a definitive shift in their marital dynamic; Macbeth is now taking the lead in the bloodshed, deliberately excluding his wife.
Scene Summary
Lady Macbeth sends a servant to summon the King. While alone, she delivers a brief, desperate soliloquy admitting that they have gained nothing and lost everything because their new royal status has brought them no peace. When Macbeth enters, she masks her despair and chides him for brooding alone, telling him that things without remedy should be forgotten ("what's done is done"). Macbeth reveals he is equally tormented, suffering from "terrible dreams" that shake him nightly. He enviously notes that the dead King Duncan is at peace, while they are trapped in a living nightmare of paranoia.
Macbeth warns his wife to pay special attention to Banquo at the evening's banquet, instructing her to flatter him. He laments that they must "make our faces vizards to our hearts." He then complains that his mind is "full of scorpions" because Banquo and Fleance are still alive. Lady Macbeth reminds him that Banquo and Fleance will not live forever. Macbeth eagerly agrees, hinting that a "deed of dreadful note" will be done before the night is over. When she asks what he is planning, he affectionately but firmly dismisses her, telling her to "be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck" until the deed is done.
Context
The Torment of the Usurper: Shakespeare illustrates the medieval and Renaissance belief that a usurper can never find true peace. Because they have broken the divine order, they are condemned to a life of constant suspicion and fear. The crown, won through bloodshed, becomes a curse rather than a blessing.
Night and Sleep: In Act 2, Macbeth heard a voice cry that he had "murdered sleep." This scene proves that curse has come true. Both characters are suffering from severe sleep deprivation and nightmares, which in Elizabethan psychology would eventually lead to madness.
Character Focus
Lady Macbeth: The Isolated Queen
This scene marks a tragic turning point for Lady Macbeth. In Act 1, she was the "dearest partner of greatness," driving the plot and commanding her husband. Here, she is reduced to waiting for an audience with him. Her private confession ("Nought's had, all's spent") reveals her profound regret and emotional exhaustion. However, she still attempts to play the supportive wife when Macbeth enters, only to find herself firmly shut out of his new murderous plans. She has lost her power over him and is becoming increasingly isolated.
Language & Technique
Metaphor (The Snake): Macbeth says, "We have scorched the snake, not killed it." The snake represents the threats to his throne. By only "scorching" (wounding) it by killing Duncan, the snake will heal and bite them again. It shows he views violence as an ongoing necessity, not a one-off event.
Animal Imagery (Scorpions & Bats): Macbeth's mind is filled with dark, venomous, and nocturnal creatures: scorpions, bats, and the "shard-borne beetle." These creatures perfectly symbolise his toxic, stinging thoughts and his complete immersion into the dark, unnatural world of the Witches.
Concealment Motif: The theme of appearance versus reality continues. Macbeth tells his wife they must make their faces "vizards" (masks) to hide their true hearts. The irony is that he is currently wearing a mask with his own wife, hiding the reality of the assassination plot from her.
Key Quotes
Original:
Nought'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. (Lady Macbeth)
Shakespeare Retold (Modern Verse):
If nothing’s gained when time’s expired,
Unhappy, though you’ve got what you desired,
It’s better for the one whose blood’s been spilt
Than dwelling in your overwhelming guilt.
Analysis: A devastating private confession. The rhyming couplets give it the feel of a tragic proverb. She admits that achieving her ambition has left her entirely empty ("all's spent"). She envies the dead ("that which we destroy") because they are at peace, while she is trapped in a state of paranoid, "doubtful joy."
Original: We have scorched the snake, not killed it:
She'll close and be herself, whilst our poor malice
Remains in danger of her former tooth. (Macbeth)
Shakespeare Retold (Modern Verse):
We’ve slashed the snake, not killed it:
Its wounds will heal, recovering, whilst our spite
Remains in danger from its former poison.
Analysis: Macbeth uses the snake as a metaphor for the remaining threats to his crown (specifically Banquo and his heirs). He believes that stopping the violence now will only allow their enemies to regroup and strike back. It is his justification for continuing his bloody reign.
Original:
O, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife!
Thou know'st that Banquo, and his Fleance, lives. (Macbeth)
Shakespeare Retold (Modern Verse):
My mind is full of scorpions, dear wife!
You know Banquo and his son Fleance live.
Analysis: One of the most vivid metaphors in the play. The "scorpions" represent his stinging paranoia, guilt, and dark ambitions. It is a physical manifestation of his psychological torture, making the audience acutely aware of his descent into madness.
Original:
Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck,
Till thou applaud the deed. (Macbeth)
Shakespeare Retold (Modern Verse):
It’s better you don’t know of that, my darling,
Then you can clap the deed.
Analysis: Macbeth shuts his wife out of the plot. "Dearest chuck" is a term of endearment (like 'chick'), but its use here is patronising. He wants to impress her with his independent cruelty ("applaud the deed"), definitively reversing their roles from Act 1, where she was the mastermind.
Study Prompts (with suggested answers)
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Benchmark Points:
The emotional cost of the murder.
The reality of achieving their ambition.
The theme of unfulfilled desire.
Suggested Answer: Lady Macbeth means that they have sacrificed their souls, their peace of mind, and their innocence ("all's spent"), but they have gained absolutely no satisfaction or security from it ("Nought's had"). It reveals the tragic irony of their situation: getting exactly what they wanted has made them utterly miserable.
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Benchmark Points:
Envy of the dead.
Relief from worldly troubles.
The contrast with his own torment.
Suggested Answer: Macbeth now envies King Duncan. He states that Duncan is sleeping well in his grave, free from the "fitful fever" of life, immune to treason, weapons, and malice. Macbeth realises that by murdering Duncan, he actually gave the old King eternal peace, while condemning himself to a waking hell of paranoia and nightmares.
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Benchmark Points:
The snake as a symbol of threat.
The necessity of further violence.
Macbeth's ongoing insecurity.
Suggested Answer: Macbeth compares the threats to his throne to a snake. By killing Duncan, they have merely "scorched" (wounded) it. He fears the snake will heal ("close and be herself") and bite them with its "former tooth." This metaphor illustrates Macbeth's belief that his initial crime requires a continuous chain of subsequent murders to ensure his safety.
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Benchmark Points:
Lack of communication.
Role reversal.
Macbeth's newfound independence in evil.
Suggested Answer: The dynamic has completely flipped. In Act 1, Lady Macbeth was the driving force who planned the murder and bullied her husband into acting. In this scene, they are emotionally distant, suffering separately. When Macbeth hints at a new plot, he deliberately excludes her ("Be innocent of the knowledge"), showing he no longer needs her encouragement to commit atrocities.
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Benchmark Points:
Use of patronising endearment.
Masking his dark intentions.
Asserting male dominance.
Suggested Answer: "Dearest chuck" is an affectionate, informal term, but in this context, it is deeply patronising. By using a pet name, Macbeth diminishes her status from his "dearest partner of greatness" to a passive bystander. He is reasserting his traditional masculine dominance, treating her like a fragile creature who needs to be protected from the harsh realities of his political violence.