Act III, Scene vi

Somewhere in Scotland Enter LENNOX and another LORD

LENNOX My former speeches have but hit your thoughts, Which can interpret further. Only, I say, Things have been strangely borne. The gracious Duncan Was pitied of Macbeth. Marry, he was dead. And the right-valiant Banquo walk'd too late, Whom, you may say, if't please you, Fleance kill'd, For Fleance fled. Men must not walk too late. Who cannot want the thought how monstrous It was for Malcolm and for Donalbain To kill their gracious father? Damned fact! How it did grieve Macbeth! Did he not straight, In pious rage, the two delinquents tear, That were the slaves of drink and thralls of sleep? Was not that nobly done? Ay, and wisely too, For 'twould have anger'd any heart alive To hear the men deny't. So that, I say, He has borne all things well. And I do think That had he Duncan's sons under his key— As, an't please heaven, he shall not—they should find What 'twere to kill a father. So should Fleance. But, peace! For from broad words and 'cause he fail'd His presence at the tyrant's feast, I hear Macduff lives in disgrace. Sir, can you tell Where he bestows himself? LORD The son of Duncan, From whom this tyrant holds the due of birth, Lives in the English court and is receiv'd Of the most pious Edward with such grace That the malevolence of fortune nothing Takes from his high respect. Thither Macduff Is gone to pray the holy king, upon his aid To wake Northumberland and warlike Siward, That, by the help of these—with Him above To ratify the work—we may again Give to our tables meat, sleep to our nights, Free from our feasts and banquets bloody knives, Do faithful homage and receive free honors— All which we pine for now. And this report Hath so exasperate the king that he Prepares for some attempt of war.

This short scene of exposition (similar to Act II, Scene iv) provides some recapping of action and a sense of the current state of affairs in Scotland. From the dialogue between Lennox and the unnamed lord, we gather that people must speak cautiously and quietly their fears and grievances about Macbeth, because Macbeth has planted spies in many places, spies who will readily report treason and bring about swift retribution from on high. "My former speeches have but hit your thoughts, / Which can interpret further" = what I have spoken hints at what you've been thinking, and you can work out the full meaning on your own "borne" = conducted; managed "Marry" = a shortened form of the mild oath by the Virgin Mary "pitied of Macbeth" = pitied by Macbeth "walk'd too late" = Banquo traveled in the dark and so became the target of malice. "Who cannot want the thought" = who can't avoid believing "The gracious Duncan / Was pitied of Macbeth. Marry, he was dead. / And the right-valiant Banquo walk'd too late. / Whom, you may say, if't please you, Fleance kill'd, / For Fleance fled" = On the surface, Lennox's observations suggest that Macbeth is innocent of Duncan's murder, for he expressed pity for Duncan, and that Fleance is guilty of Banquo's murder, "for Fleance fled." But these lines, as well as his following observations, are weighted with verbal irony, which is to say that he does not mean what he says, that certain "facts" merely appear to be true and that there is something amiss in the relationships between effects and their supposed causes. If he speaks in this way, however, it is probably because he does not want his actual thoughts—namely, his doubts about Macbeth's motives and actions—to be relayed back to Macbeth. "pious" = holy "thralls" = captives "an't" = and it (often used as a substitute for if it) "should find / What 'twere" = would be made to know what it means "broad words" = gossip (words that go abroad) "bestows" = locates The lord who replies to Lennox speaks much less cautiously. He does not disguise his true meanings behind a "vizard" or false face of verbal irony. Rather, he makes bold his belief that Scotland's crisis will be repaired only by a revolt against Macbeth. And this lord's willingness to speak plainly seems to embolden Lennox, considering that in his ensuing contribution to the dialogue he drops his former sarcasm. "From whom this tyrant holds the due of birth" = from whom Macbeth withholds what is rightfully his (Malcolm's "due"—the throne of Scotland) "is receiv'd / Of" = is welcomed by "pious" = Note that, where the adjective is used sarcastically above, in Lennox's speech, "pious" is used honestly here. Edward, the king of England, is understood to be a genuinely "holy king." Clearly, context is important. From one perspective, a detail is understood to be foul and the opposite of what it seems to be, while from another perspective, the same detail is fair and its meaning is not hidden. "the malevolence of fortune nothing / Takes from his high respect" = the cruelty of his fortune takes nothing away from the respect that should be shown to him (Edward hosts Malcolm with great respect) "Northumberland and warlike Siward" = warrior nobles of England "with Him above / To ratify the work" = with God to bless ("ratify") their campaign (to retake the crown of Scotland from Macbeth) "Do faithful homage and receive free honors / All which we pine for now" = show honest respect ("homage"—to a king who deserves honest respect) and receive gracious ("free") honors from the king (as opposed to achieving them by the king's extortion or by a man's having to soil his self-respect), all of which we currently long ("pine") for "Hath so exasperate the king" = has so exasperated (enraged) Macbeth

LENNOX Sent he to Macduff? LORD He did. And with an absolute "Sir, not I," The cloudy messenger turns me his back, And hums, as who should say, "You'll rue the time That clogs me with this answer." LENNOX And that well might Advise him to a caution t' hold what distance His wisdom can provide. Some holy angel Fly to the court of England and unfold His message ere he come, that a swift blessing May soon return to this our suffering country Under a hand accurs'd! LORD I'll send my prayers with him. Exeunt

"absolute" = sharply challenging "'Sir, not I'" = Macduff's response to Macbeth's invitation (via the messenger) to attend the feast (the one that Macduff has "fail'd") "cloudy" = sullen; annoyed (with his face having the aspect of a storm cloud) "turns me his back" = The "me" is added for emphasis. "hums" = murmurs "as who should say" = as one who might say "'You'll rue the time / That clogs me with this answer" = you'll regret ("rue") the day you gave me this answer (an answer that Macbeth will be angry to hear, and that he will punish the messenger for bringing; Macbeth's displeasure will, therefore, burden ["clog"] the messenger) "And that well might / Advise him to a caution t' hold what distance / His wisdom can provide" = and that (the encounter with the messenger) might serve as a sign to him to be careful (to recognize that Macbeth is temperamental and prone to strike out at those whom he sees as insulting him) and to stay as far away from Macbeth as his intelligence can take him "Some holy angel / Fly" = let some holy angel fly "unfold" = reveal; tell "ere he come" = before he (Macduff) arrives "that" = so that "our suffering country / Under a hand accurs'd" = The more conventional syntax (in modern English, that is) would be our country suffering under an accursed hand. Generally this scene reveals that, among the nobles of Scotland, resentments are growing covertly against Macbeth. Specifically it tells us that Macduff is working to raise an outright and upright rebellion against Macbeth. Consider that the action of Macduff's traveling to England to invite the help of the "pious" Edward stands a strong contrast to the play's earlier invitations—that is, the invitations to evil that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have issued. Both kinds of invitations, the foul and the fair, emphasize one of the play's overarching themes (as noted with the first scene). It is the idea that "fate" is not something that merely happens to us—that it is, rather, our own choices to act that will bring about our consequences.