Banquo's Loss Of Control In Macbeth

In this part, Macbeth has just seen Banquo’s ghost appear and loses his composure. Lady Macbeth attempts to assure him that Banquo is not present, and the guests look on with confusion. This moment represents the manifestation of Macbeth’s guilt, as well as his increasing level of paranoia and fear. As the play progresses, Macbeth transitions from being able to tell right from wrong to not having a conscience--he has lost ownership of his own mental state. At the beginning, he feels guilty towards his actions but his mental state gets progressively weaker until he is no longer able to feel shame. Lady Macbeth attempts to enforces order by shaking Macbeth out of his trance This scene is full of tension and emotion; the insane, fearful, and paranoid nature of Macbeth should complement Lady Macbeth’s distress and confusion. The overall theme here is the loss of control.

This takes place inside Macbeth’s dining room inside his castle in Scotland. Macbeth should be sitting at the head of the table in a fancy elevated armchair, similar to a throne. He is at the

upstage center and faces the audience, with Lady Macbeth standing behind him, positioned slightly to his side. The rest of the guests should be scattered along the borders of the center stage, facing each other, talking quietly. Banquo’s ghost sits at the downstage center and faces Macbeth. He is dressed in tattered clothes and has blood all over his body--symbolic of the guilt Macbeth feels. Banquo’s ghost is visible to the audience because his presence indicates how Macbeth cannot even convince himself that he is hallucinating.There should be dim lighting and the spotlight should be focused on Macbeth. The mood should be eerie. In this part, the characters remain mostly stationary.
Lady Macbeth is frustrated and puzzled about Macbeth’s strange behavior. She attempts to remedy this situation by controlling it and bringing order. However, she cannot regulate Macbeth’s actions, nor his visions. For that reason, she feels that she is not in power anymore. By the end, she begins to realize that she is losing control and begins to feel slightly panicked. As she speaks, she should try to restore the situation to normal by being overbearing and commanding.She gradually gets more panicked when she realizes the situation is spiraling out of her control and has to restrain her temper at certain times when she is rebuking Macbeth.
This moment begins with Lady Macbeth addressing the guests by saying, “Sit, worthy friends” (3.4.54).

She steps in front of Macbeth and puts on a fake, nervous smile. She attempts to divert the attention from Macbeth’s previous outburst by displaying confidence and speaking with an authoritative tone. Lady Macbeth emphasizes the words “Feed, and regard him not” (3.4.59) with a steely tone, almost daring the guests to defy her. She commands them to continue on with the dinner. Meanwhile, Macbeth stares forward with a scared expression and remains silent.

At the line, “Are you a man?” (3.4.59), Lady Macbeth turns around and whispers angrily to Macbeth. She attempts to make this move stealthy to not draw attention. She forces him to turn around to look at her and furiously shakes his shoulder. He widens his eyes and whimpers, “Ay, and a bold one…” (3.4.60-61). He is paralyzed, still mesmerized by Banquo’s

ghost.
Lady Macbeth throws her arms in the air and exclaims, “O proper stuff!” (3.4.62). She realizes that she has spoken loudly then immediately lowers her voice and angrily says, with gritted teeth, “This is the very painting of your fear.” (3.4.62). The way she speaks this should convey the sense that she fears the guests will pay more attention to Macbeth’s odd behavior. She continues to speak faster and faster and gradually “unintentionally” elevates her voice, to represent her anger and annoyance. This attracts the attention of the guests, who stop their chatter and stare at the two closely. At the line “Shame itself!” (3.4.67), she shakes her head in disgust. She is frustrated because she cannot control Macbeth.
As Macbeth speaks, he should become increasingly agitated and fearful, gesturing frantically and breathing heavily. His actions should almost be haphazard and reflect the fear he feels. He should not be able to control his actions, which symbolizes how he has lost control of his own mind and cannot distinguish what is real from what is imagined and good from bad. He is unaware that this image of Banquo is formed by his own guilt and does not acknowledge Lady Macbeth’s reasoning, showing that he is in a world of his own.
Macbeth then leaps out of his seat and points forward. He furiously shakes Lady Macbeth and defensively pleads, “Prithee see there!” (3.4.69) to convince her that Banquo’s ghost is present. At the line “Why, what care I?” (3.4.71), he lowers his hand and begins to shake. His voice gets shaky and he becomes increasingly agitated. His body begins to twitch at certain moments. The entire time, his eyes are fixated on Banquo’s ghost. While this is happening, the guests are shocked by Macbeth’s sudden outburst. He should be presented as insane and uncontrollable. At the end of his speech, the lights flicker and Banquo’s ghost vanishes. Macbeth is startled. He immediately pushes his chair back and jumps a little. Macbeth acts extremely confused, looks around, shakes his head, and then rubs his eyes.
Lady Macbeth scoffs at him and laughs nervously. She mocks his foolishness. Macbeth, however is adamant that he saw Banquo’s ghost. He stares at the ground with a furrowed brow and slowly shakes his head in confusion. Lady Macbeth responds with “Fie, for shame!” (3.4.76) and scorns him again. She is embarrassed for her own sake and his; the guests are sitting at the table with confused expressions, watching Macbeth.
Macbeth suddenly looks up and mumbles that what just happened was stranger than a murder, for a dead man was just able to come back to life. He is starting to realize that nothing is as it seems; fair is foul and foul is fair. Macbeth is scared of what is to come and is unsure whether Banquo will reappear or not. Lady Macbeth and the guests look at Macbeth with confused, concerned gazes.