Scene 1

• setting: royal palace at Forres
• Banquo contemplates about the witches‘ prophecy and its connection to Macbeth‘s coronation
• he assumes that since the first prophecy about Macbeth becoming king came true, then the second one about his children sitting on the throne should come true as well
• Macbeth enters as king with Lady Macbeth and his court
• they invite Banquo to the feast that will take place that evening
• Banquo accepts and tells them about his plan to go for a horse ride in the afternoon
• Macbeth raises the subject about Malcolm and Donalbain‘s escape and their potential conspiracy against the crown
• everybody except for Macbeth and a servant leave, Macbeth is informed that there are some men waiting for him
• they are to be fetched and Macbeth soliloquizes over the fact that Banqou is an old friend of him and also, the only man in Scotland whom he is afraid of
• thinking about the prophecy, he comes to the conclusion that he won‘t have any children to carry on his reign
• hence, Macbeth has just cleared the way for Banquo‘s children to become the future kings of Scotland
• the servant returns with the two men that Macbeth has hired as murders
• Macbeth reminds them of all the mistakes that Banquo has made with regard to the two of them and asks them if they are manly enough to take revenge on Banquo
• they promise to murder Banquo and Macbeth asks them to murder Banquo‘s son Fleance as well

Scene 2

• Lady Macbeth is by some reason desperate and sends a servant to get her husband
• Macbeth enters, claiming that he is discontent and that his mind is full of scorpions
• he explains that with killing Duncan, their business is not yet complete and that they have to murder Banquo and Fleance as well
• also, he asks her to be cheerful and kind to Banquo at the feast in order for him to think himself safe

Scene 3

• setting: a tree-covered park outside the palace, dusk
• the two murderers are joined by a third and wait for their victims
• Banquo and Fleance appear on their horses and light a torch when the murderers come after them
• they kill Banquo and with his last words, he urges his son to flee - he manages to escape
• the murderers leave in order to tell Macbeth what happened and take Banquo‘s body with them

Function Scene 1-3

• Macbeth has grown used to committing murder in order to achieve his goals and he does not even care about murdering his oldest friend and his son
• however, Fleance‘s survival hints towards the fact that the witches‘ prophecy will come true no matter what
• Macbeth has traded roles with his wife
  
  • he uses the same rhetoric that his wife used in order to convince him to murdering king Duncan
  • questions the murderers‘ manhood and thus spurs their thirst for revenge
  • in the scene with Lady Macbeth, he reminds her of looking innocent and of pretending as if nothing is wrong
  • still, he cannot eliminate his doubts and guilty thoughts which are characterized by the scorpions in his mind
  • Lady Macbeth takes on her husband‘s role and despairs about the murders, telling her husband that "what‘s done is done" (Act III, Scene 2, 13), using her husband‘s words from Act I, Scene 7
• although Macbeth and his wife are now king and queen of Scotland, they are not happy
  
  • their language consists of many elements mirroring inner conflicts and paranoia (the scorpions in Macbeth‘s mind)
  • the more people are killed, the more troubled, violent and terrified Macbeth will be
• introduction of another theme: repercussions of acting on ambition without moral constraint

Scene 4

• setting: inside Macbeth‘s castle, a table is covered with food
• Macbeth and his wife greet their court and Macbeth sees the first murderer and approaches him, learning that Fleance was able to escape and that Banquo is dead
• Macbeth is upset over the fact that Fleance escaped because that way, his regency is still insecure
• when he returns to sit at the table, Macbeth finds the ghost of Banquo sitting on his seat
• Macbeth is aghast and tries to speak to the ghost who is invisible to all the other people
• Lady Macbeth is embarrassed about her husband‘s behavior - she asks the guests to ignore him and explains that he is used to having such visions
• she also urges her husband to stop his behavior and questions his manhood again
• when the ghost disappears, Macbeth relaxes and tells his guests that his disease is normal to those who know him
• however, Banquo‘s ghost reappears and Macbeth continues having further outbursts
• excusing her husband, Lady Macbeth sends the guests away and the ghost disappears again
• Macbeth talks to his wife about the fact that Macduff plans on staying away from court which is equal to treason
• in order to know more about his future and potential enemies, Macbeth explains that he wants to meet the witches again the next day
• he exclaims that he will keep the throne, no matter what he will need to do
• Lady Macbeth is somewhat reserved, claiming that her husband needs sleep and they both go to bed

Scene 5

• setting: a stormy heath
• the three witches meet with Hecate, the Greek goddess of witchcraft
• Hecate is upset with them because they intervened with Macbeth‘s destiny without consulting her first
• she will now take over and supervise the mischief
• since they all know that Macbeth will come to them the very next day, Hecate urges them that they must summon visions and spirits whose messages will fill him with a false sense of security
• Hecate disappeares and the witches go on with preparing their spells

Scene 6

• setting: somewhere in Scotland
• Lenox takes a walk with a lord, contemplating about what has happened to the kingdom
• people assume that Banquo has been killed by Fleance, yet Lenox and the lord suggest that it was Macbeth whom they believe to be a tyrant and whom they also believe to have killed Duncan
• the lord informs Lenox about Macduff‘s joining with Malcolm in order to ask England‘s king Edward for help
• as Macbeth knows about this plot as well, he prepares for war
• Lenox and the lord strongly hope that Malcolm and Macduff will succeed in their quest to save Scotland from Macbeth

Function Scenes 4-6

• reappearance of supernatural and unnatural forces that are linked to wickedness and downfall
  
  • Banquo‘s silent ghost that is only visible to Macbeth and whose presence might just be a guilt-inspired hallucination
  • the witches reappear and prepare their spells
  • the goddess Hecate is introduced
  • those three elements represent the corruption of Scotland‘s political and moral health
  • they also function as elements of foreboding
• the feast as Macbeth‘s high point of reign and at the same time, its downfall
  
  • Macbeth behaves very strangely and confuses his subjects, also confirming their belief that he might be mentally ill
  • Lady Macbeth appears now more confident than her husband
  • they switch roles again, and Macbeth appears to be driven by anxiety