Lady Macbeth — Act 3
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Who is she?
Now queen, she has gained status without peace. Macbeth increasingly excludes her from decisions, while she struggles to manage the frightening public consequences of his violence.
Actions and development
3.2: Private dissatisfaction: Admits that achieving their desire has brought no contentment.
Audience / reader: The difference between having power and enjoying it becomes unmistakable.
3.2: Exclusion: Urges cheerfulness, then asks what Macbeth intends; he withholds Banquo’s murder plan.
Audience / reader: The former planner’s question reveals lost access; the audience knows more than she does.
3.4: Managing the banquet: Explains Macbeth’s behaviour to guests and privately attacks his manhood when he sees Banquo’s ghost.
Audience / reader: Her familiar pressure fails; spectators watch royal authority falter before the court.
3.4: Ending the gathering: Dismisses the guests abruptly, abandoning the ceremonial order of their departure.
Audience / reader: A feast meant to display secure rule ends in exposed disorder and diminished confidence.
What the character says — “Naught’s had, all’s spent, / Where our desire is got without content.”
Lady Macbeth · 3.2
Method: Antithesis; rhyming couplet
Gaining the crown has cost peace. The compact opposites reveal dissatisfaction before she presents a more controlled face to Macbeth.
What the character says — “What’s done is done.”
Lady Macbeth · 3.2
Method: Repetition; declarative certainty
She tries to dismiss the past, but her preceding unhappiness makes this assurance unstable. Firm language cannot guarantee emotional control.
What the character says — “What’s to be done?”
Lady Macbeth · 3.2
Method: Interrogative; dialogue
The former organiser now seeks information. Her question marks exclusion from Macbeth’s next crime, not participation in arranging Banquo’s murder.
What the character says — “Are you a man?”
Lady Macbeth · 3.4
Method: Rhetorical question; gendered challenge
She again equates masculinity with composure. The tactic cannot master the fear of a figure she cannot see, exposing its limits.
What others say or describe — “Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck”
Macbeth to Lady Macbeth · 3.2
Method: Imperative; familiar endearment
Affection accompanies withheld information. His instruction reverses their earlier planning relationship: closeness in language no longer means shared control.
Structure and dramatic choices
Private dissatisfaction precedes public performance. The audience can judge the gap between royal display and the couple’s insecure inner life.
The ghost is staged for spectators but unseen by Lady Macbeth. Her practical explanations compete with a theatrical presence beyond her control.
Relevant context
Queenly hospitality should sustain the medieval court’s ceremony and hierarchy. Her abrupt dismissal makes disorder public rather than merely a marital problem.
Jacobean expectations of male household authority may sharpen the reversal of her earlier dominance. Exclusion does not make her innocent of the original murder.
Some spectators may fear the breakdown of royal order; others may notice the isolation of a woman whose influence depended on her husband.
Check your understanding
How does “What’s to be done?” reveal a changed relationship?
Why is the failed banquet politically significant?