This brief scene is, along with 4.2, the most physically violent in the play. The two murderers, now joined mysteriously by a third, wait for their victims, who enter by the flicker of a torch. The presence of the third murderer has aroused much speculation, with Macbeth himself, or Ross, or the very figure of Destiny proposed. Alternately, Macbeth may feel the need for a spy on his henchmen (and we will learn in the next scene that in every demesne the guilt-wracked Macbeth “keep[s] a servant feed” [3.4.131-132]). The number of assassins and the second murderer’s call of “a light, a light!” invoke memories of the three witches and their expectant “A drum, a drum; | Macbeth doth come” (1.3.28-29). These images are juxtaposed by others poignantly reminding us of the pleasant customs of everyday life. But for the intervention of Macbeth and fate, these men too might have “gain[ed] the timely inn” (8) and served a trustworthy lord. But their fate lies elsewhere. (In an amusing aside, the minute part of the third murderer was taken by HRH Prince Edward, the youngest son of Queen Elizabeth II, in a performance at Haddo Hourse, Aberdeenshire, in the summer of 1991. The Marchioness of Aberdeen and Temair, the chatelaine of Haddo, invited the present-day Duke of Fife and Thanes of Glamis and Cawdor to attend. Perhaps mindful of the reputation of the “Scottish play” or remembering the fate of their ancestors or mistrusting the talents of the Third Murderer, they did not arrive!)
Like the rain that Banquo expects (19), the murderers’ blows rain down on Banquo. As he falls, Banquo urges Fleance away to safety and revenge. As Braunmuller’s detailed note points out, in the Third Murder’s report that “the son has fled” (24), Shakespeare plants a double pun: the son (Fleance) who flees is also the sun, the light of day, which darkened Scotland will lament. The Second Murderer, more astute than his companions, recognizes that “We have lost best half of our affair” (25). The slaughter of Banquo and the escape of Fleance provoke the climax of the play and lead us again to speculate on the power of fate and the terribleness of Macbeth’s desires and actions. Is this murder somehow worse than the first? Or just different dramatically? Here Macbeth works independently of his queen, using paid thugs to do dirty work against his friend and against Banquo’s son and heir. Ironically, this murder may be worse, too, because it is botched. This second murder also seems to confirm a pattern; and as it is more physically demonstrated to us (and as we know Banquo as a character much better than Duncan), its consequences are more physically and emotionally manifested. “Duncan is in his grave. . . [and] sleeps well” (3.2.22-23); Banquo, however, will rise up in dreadful rebuke, and Fleance haunts the doubt-filled future. Voyager ÿPalex ÿŸVoyager ŸÙPalex Ù˜Palex ˜˘Palex ˘¸Palex ¸Palex Palex Palex Palex Palex
