On Act III

Banquo is sharp, immediately suspecting his friend. Unfortunately not sharp enough to escape his killers. But the fact that he knew (sort of) that the murderer was Macbeth and was unafraid to suspect his own friend seems to tell us either that he was intelligent, or realistic, or cynical. Also, neither he nor Macbeth seem to have ever really valued each other's friendship, as Banquo quite coolly ponders the idea that Macbeth is a murderer and Macbeth quite coolly ponders the idea of killing Banquo (obviously this coolness is banished later at the feast). I mean, I just find it a little strange that neither of them are too troubled with their thoughts about the other...


An interesting point in this act for me centers around what Macbeth said in Scene 4 to his wife: "I am in blood stepped in so far that, should I wade no more, Returning were as tedious as go o'er." Macbeth is beginning to rationalize/excuse his sins - you know, I've already done this much, there's no point going back now. For Macbeth, apparently, it's all or nothing. I think Shakespeare is showing us the internal change in him and the level it has reached at this point in the play. Macbeth is now openly and freely talking of murdering others with his wife and seems to have done away with all his earlier fears and doubts.

And a question about the scene with Hecate - the footnote said it was probably written by another author... so it wasn't part of Shakespeare's original manuscript but was added later on by someone else?