You all know your places, so please have a seat. From the highest rank to the lowest, I give you a hearty welcome.
Thanks to your majesty.
I will sit among you and act as the humble host. Our hostess will stay in her seat of honor, but when the time is right, she will welcome you also.
Sir, welcome all our friends for me; for they’re welcome in my heart.
Who told you to join us?
Macbeth.
There’s no reason not to trust him, he was given exactly the same orders we were to do the same thing.
Has Banquo left the court?
Yes, madam, but he’s coming back tonight.
Tell the king I’d like to speak to him when he has a moment.
I will, Madam.
Now you have it all, Macbeth. You’re king, Lord of Cawdor, and Lord of Glamis. Everything the witches promised, yet I’m afraid you might have engaged in foul play for it. But they said your children would not be kings, and that instead I would be the father to many kings. If they really spoke the truth – as it seems clear they did from your case, Macbeth – perhaps what they said about me will come true as well. But hush, I better be quiet!
I can remember the last seventy years well. In all that time I’ve seen my share of terrible times and strange things, but last night’s violence made them all seem trivial.
Good old man, you see the heavens threatening us because they are outraged by what’s happened here on earth. According to the clock it’s daytime, and yet darkness seems to be strangling the sun. Is it because of the night’s strength, or the day's shame, that we see darkness bury the earth when it should be blessed by daylight?
Here’s a lot of knocking. If a man were porter of the gate to Hell, he’d have a lot of key-turning to do.
Knock, knock, knock! Who is it, in the devil’s name? Oh, here’s a farmer who hoarded goods, and then hanged himself when the market fell. Come right in. Make sure you have enough handkerchiefs, you’re going to get sweaty in here.
What made them drunk made me brave, what made them unconscious has set me on fire. Listen! Shhh! It was an owl that just shrieked like a night watchman, delivering a cruel message of death. He’s doing it, the doors are open and the drunk servants are making a mockery of their responsibilities with their snoring. The drugs I put in their drink were so strong that they seem as dead as alive.
[Inside] Who's there? What!
How’s the night going, son?
The moon’s gone down. I haven’t heard the clock.
And the moon goes down about midnight.
I think it’s later than that, father.
If it would be over once the deed is done, then it would be best to do it quickly. If the murder could somehow gather up and control its own consequences, and Duncan’s death would grant me the success I look for, then right now I would risk whatever happens to me in the afterlife. But for deeds like these, there are repercussions here in this life. We set an example by our bloody deeds, and that teaches others to do the same to us. This type of justice would have us drink our own poison.
This castle is in a pleasant place; the air smells sweet and appealing to my fine senses.
You can tell that summer bird, the martin, likes it here as well by the many nests in the palace walls. There is no place in the castle without a nest full of chicks. I’ve noticed these birds like to stay and mate in places where the air is delicate. [Enter Lady Macbeth]
