TEXT:
ACT II
SCENE I. Court of Macbeth's castle.
Enter BANQUO, and FLEANCE bearing a torch before him
BANQUO
How goes the night, boy?
FLEANCE
The moon is down; I have not heard the clock.
BANQUO
And she goes down at twelve.
FLEANCE
I take't, 'tis later, sir.
BANQUO
Hold, take my sword. There's husbandry in heaven;
Their candles are all out. Take thee that too.
A heavy summons lies like lead upon me,
And yet I would not sleep: merciful powers,
Restrain in me the cursed thoughts that nature
Gives way to in repose!
Enter MACBETH, and a Servant with a torch
Give me my sword.
Who's there?
MACBETH
A friend.
BANQUO
What, sir, not yet at rest? The king's a-bed:
He hath been in unusual pleasure, and
Sent forth great largess to your offices.
This diamond he greets your wife withal,
By the name of most kind hostess; and shut up
In measureless content.
MACBETH
Being unprepared,
Our will became the servant to defect;
Which else should free have wrought.
BANQUO
All's well.
I dreamt last night of the three weird sisters:
To you they have showed some truth.
MACBETH
I think not of them:
Yet, when we can entreat an hour to serve,
We would spend it in some words upon that business,
If you would grant the time.
BANQUO
At your kind'st leisure.
MACBETH
If you shall cleave to my consent, when 'tis,
It shall make honour for you.
BANQUO
So I lose none
In seeking to augment it, but still keep
My bosom franchised and allegiance clear,
I shall be counselled.
MACBETH
Good repose the while!
BANQUO
Thanks, sir: the like to you.
Exeunt BANQUO and FLEANCE
NOTES:
Banquo
Banquo’s position in history is a little dubious. At best we might call him a semi-historical figure - since he really only came into the spotlight in Holinshed’s Chronicles, published in the 1580s. It was another historian, Frederic von Bossen, who further expanded his history, and that of his son, Fleance. The claim of King James to being his descendant - which Shakespeare certainly plays on in the way he write this play - is perhaps more romantic than factual.
Clocks
Shakespeare was the first to coin the phrase “watch the clock” - in Sonnet 57 - and his plays make frequent (and often anachronistic) references to time. If you’d like a deep dive into the various ways that time was measured in his day, click here for a lovely page from the BBC.
Largesse
Duncan has clearly been generous to Macbeth’s household. It’s not quite a tip, so much as a generous recognition of the hosts’ (and their employees’) generosity.
Diamonds
I mentioned in this episode that diamonds had a slightly different cultural significance in Shakespeare’s time than they do today - that of warding off evil, like an amulet, or something precious. It wasn’t a religious thing, but their brightness and purity were considered powerful as a means of protection. So, there is a looming irony in Duncan giving Lady Macbeth a diamond. For a father more in-depth look at this, see “Shakespeare and the Lore of Precious Stones” by Abby Jane Dubman Hansen, in the 1977 Shakespeare Issue of College Literature.