Act 3 Scene 4 The Banquet Scene The banquet Essay

The banquet, Macbeth is preparing, highly important to him. It is a chance to show the thanes he is strong and in control, he is very capable of being king. Macbeth needs the banquet to be a success, to show off to the thanes, but when it goes horribly wrong, Macbeth fears that his reputation has. In this scene, Macbeth’s reactions and behaviour are very varied. At first, when the thanes arrive, he is the merry host and welcomes everybody with open arms. However, when they sit to eat, his role changes from host to murderer and then as a victim to Banquo’s ghost. His behaviour diverges as he moves from his host role to his cold-hearted murderer role and finally to his chaotic, mad victim role, when he sees Banquo’s ghost. Macbeth’s changes in behaviour creates tension, especially during the time where Banquo’s ghost arrives, as you wonder, if he’ll let slip any of the murders. Macbeth’s behaviour obviously differs, as at one point he is a calm-well-mannered host, â€Å"Our self will mingle with society and play the humble Host†, then he transformed into an evil bloody-thirsty villain, â€Å"Yet he’s good that did the like for Fleance; If thou didst it, thou art the nonpareil†, and afterwards to a person, clearly unwell, as he has the hallucination of Banquo’s ghost, which concerns the guests, â€Å"Thou canst not say I did it; never shake Thy gory locks at me!† Lady Macbeth tries to protect Macbeth and take control of the party, by diverting attention away and covering his actions with lies, â€Å"The fit is momentary; upon a thought He will again be well.† She changes the subject to try and stop him from thinking about the ghost, and also stop the thanes from thinking that Macbeth is guilty of something, as Lady Macbeth is afraid that Macbeth will let something out about the murder, â€Å"Think of this, good peers, But as a thing of custom. ‘Tis no other, Only it spoils the pleasure of the time.† Lady Macbeth takes control by leading the party and becoming the hostess finally ending the party and telling the thanes to leave when she realises Macbeth is in danger of loosing control, â€Å"Stand not upon the order of your going, But go at once† By the end of the scene, we realise that Macbeth, really is strong and determined and how he is going to make this work, â€Å"I am in blood Steeped in so far that should I wade no more† It is clear that Macbeth is in control at this point. He intends to see the witches again for some security, that he will stay king, â€Å"-to the weird sisters. More shall they speak.† The power of control has gone back to Macbeth. When Macbeth says, â€Å"†¦stepped in so far†¦Ã¢â‚¬ , he is saying how he has already committing two murders, why stop now. If anyone should get in his way, he won’t be afraid to kill them. On stage, I would show Macbeth and the thanes on a long table, and behind Macbeth would be a pillar. This would be so that the murderer is unseen and Macbeth doesn’t look too suspicious. The murder would be obviously visible to the audience, but not so to the thanes. When Macbeth speaks to the thanes, there will be full lighting, but when the murderer speaks to Macbeth, the thanes freeze and the lights dim on them and a spotlight focuses on Macbeth. Once they have finished their dialogue, the thanes start celebrating and acquainting again and the lighting comes back up. To present the ghost of Banquo, on stage, the first thing I would do is make-up. It would be pale, to create that he is dead. When Banquo’s ghost is on stage, the normal lights would be on, but an extra spotlight would make the make-up shine and give that ‘not human’ effect. His clothing would be what he died in, but more new, clean and tidy