Macbeth
Scene #6 · Act III, Scene 1
After dismissing his court, Macbeth meets with two murderers whom he has previously convinced that Banquo is their enemy. He manipulates them by questioning their manhood and patience, comparing men to different breeds of dogs to suggest they can prove their worth through violence. Macbeth reveals his deep fear of Banquo's "royalty of nature" and his anguish that the witches prophesied Banquo's descendants, not his own, would be kings, making Duncan's murder seem pointless. He instructs the murderers to kill both Banquo and his son Fleance that night away from the palace, emphasizing that Fleance's death is as essential as his father's.
This moment marks Macbeth's transformation from reluctant murderer to calculating tyrant who orchestrates violence without his wife's involvement. His obsession with the witches' prophecy about Banquo's lineage reveals how ambition has evolved into paranoia—he cannot enjoy the crown he murdered for because he fears losing it to Banquo's heirs. The planned murder of Fleance, an innocent child, demonstrates Macbeth's complete moral deterioration and his futile attempt to control fate itself.
Upon my head they plac’d a fruitless crown, / And put a barren sceptre in my gripe, / Thence to be wrench’d with an unlineal hand, / No son of mine succeeding.
Act III, Scene 1 · Macbeth
It is concluded. Banquo, thy soul’s flight, / If it find heaven, must find it out tonight.
Act III, Scene 1 · Macbeth
Our fears in Banquo / Stick deep, and in his royalty of nature / Reigns that which would be fear’d: ’tis much he dares; / And, to that dauntless temper of his mind, / He hath a wisdom that doth guide his valour / To act in safety.
Act III, Scene 1 · Macbeth
Ay, in the catalogue ye go for men; / As hounds, and greyhounds, mongrels, spaniels, curs, / Shoughs, water-rugs, and demi-wolves are clept / All by the name of dogs
Act III, Scene 1 · Macbeth
So is he mine; and in such bloody distance, / That every minute of his being thrusts / Against my near’st of life;
Act III, Scene 1 · Macbeth