Macbeth Act 3 Scene 4 Summary

In act 3, scene 4 of Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Macbeth hosts a banquet so that he has an excuse to not be connected to the murder of Banquo. In the banquet scene, the banquet that was set up for Banquo is going on. Then one of the murderers that killed Banquo go to tell him what happened. They tell him that they successfully killed Banquo, but his son escaped. This news shocks Macbeth. After Macbeth is done talking to the Murderers, Macbeth starts to hallucinate about the ghost of Banquo sitting there. At first Macbeth doesn’t see that it is Banquo because the figure is sitting with his back towards him. Then one of the people who’s sitting next to the empty seat asks Macbeth to sit next to him at their table. No one else is able to see

In the 1971 version of the film, Macbeth is moving around like a normal person would and interacting with people. Macbeth’s actions in the first part of this scene are calm and collected, but once Macbeth sees the ghost of Banquo then that is when his actions match up with his mental state. He drops the chalice that he was holding and as the ghost comes toward him, he starts backing away from it and covering his eyes. Even though that Macbeth is in fear and his actions partially portray the emotion of fear, when watching this version of the film Macbeth did not really seem that affected by the ghost of Banquo. Macbeth also did not seem to act out any erratic behavior. In the 2010 version, Macbeth’s actions clearly resemble the actions of someone who could possibly be going through what Macbeth has been going through. While seeing the ghost of Banquo instead of just doing the normal actions that resemble fear, the Macbeth in this version trembles when he sees the ghost of Banquo and also hides behind Lady Macbeth. Macbeth yells at the ghost in this play and portrays the emotions of fear. In this version he even gets mad at the guests and even crushes a cigarette on one of their heads. One of the major differences in this version is that after these incidents, Macbeth gets really happy and even dances with his guests. Going from all of these emotions and actions so quickly resembles someone who is bipolar. In the

Although some say that the 1971 version of is better due to how it is more accurate to the time period that Macbeth was originally set in, this version does not fully show Macbeth’s erratic speech, along with the relationship status between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth, and the actions of Macbeth. The role that Patrick Stewart played as Macbeth was outstanding when it came to the erratic speech of Macbeth’s character. In this version there were many erratic moments in this scene that were created by the speech of the actor that made this scene. It is thought that in this play, Macbeth could be bipolar due to showing symptoms of bipolar. Patrick Stewart accurately portrayed how someone who would have a bipolar disorder and also having it due to the previous events that Macbeth has been through in this play. Another reason for why the 2010 version by Rupert Goold is more effective is the portrayal of the relationship between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth. In this version Lady Macbeth is more distant with Macbeth and also in this version Macbeth shows signs of being abusive and controlling towards Lady Macbeth. This signifies how in the beginning she was the one who controlled him, but now the tables have turned. Finally, the 2010 version is more accurate than the 1971 version is due to the actions of