"How Would You Direct The Actors In Act 3, Scene 4 of Shakespeare's Macbeth?"

Essay by xSnuffxHigh School, 12th grade May 2004

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Shakespeare's Macbeth is a most intriguing play for it's time. Not many plays beforehand had involved the death of a king wrongfully, as it was believed that the King was chosen by God Himself, and that to kill a King is a mortal sin. Shakespeare, however, managed to fit the murder of a king, the benefits and the down falls of Macbeth's plot to rule. 's Macbeth is definitely of the horror genre.

Act 3, Scene 4, Shakespeare portrays how Banquo's ghost returns from the dead, after being murdered by men who Macbeth himself hired, to seat himself in Macbeth's place at a large banquet. The significance of this is very important, as this is the first royal banquet Macbeth has held, and to seat himself in the King's chair, is mocking Macbeth's right to the throne itself. Of course, Macbeth does not have a right to the throne, as he wrongfully murdered the former King Duncan to get it.

Then he had Banquo murdered, hopefully to have his son Fleance murdered as well, to stop Banquo's children from inheriting the throne. The plot by now, begins to grow thicker, and the ties between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are beginning to loosen as they begin to wear down under the strain of their precious secret.question is, why does Banquo return at all? He's dead, after all, but there are two choices, which both seemingly point to the same thing. Either to taunt Macbeth, to frighten him, a punishment for all the wrongs he has committed, or simply to keep his promise to Macbeth, that he would be at the feast. "Fail not our feast,", "My Lord, I will not.".way, the overall conclusion is that Banquo is there to taunt Macbeth, to haunt him. It is, in a way,