Macbeth, Act 3 Scene 5 runs 36 lines of dialogue, spoken by 2 speakers. That is shorter than the play’s average scene length of about 85 lines. This scene is part of Act 3 of Macbeth.
Full Dialogue
First Witch ♀
Why, how now, Hecate! you look angerly.
Hecate ♀
Have I not reason, beldams as you are,
Saucy and overbold? How did you dare
To trade and traffic with Macbeth
In riddles and affairs of death;
And I, the mistress of your charms,
The close contriver of all harms,
Was never call'd to bear my part,
Or show the glory of our art?
And, which is worse, all you have done
Hath been but for a wayward son,
Spiteful and wrathful, who, as others do,
Loves for his own ends, not for you.
But make amends now: get you gone,
And at the pit of Acheron
Meet me i' the morning: thither he
Will come to know his destiny:
Your vessels and your spells provide,
Your charms and every thing beside.
I am for the air; this night I'll spend
Unto a dismal and a fatal end:
Great business must be wrought ere noon:
Upon the corner of the moon
There hangs a vaporous drop profound;
I'll catch it ere it come to ground:
And that distill'd by magic sleights
Shall raise such artificial sprites
As by the strength of their illusion
Shall draw him on to his confusion:
He shall spurn fate, scorn death, and bear
He hopes 'bove wisdom, grace and fear:
And you all know, security
Is mortals' chiefest enemy.
Hark! I am call'd; my little spirit, see,
Sits in a foggy cloud, and stays for me.
Saucy and overbold? How did you dare
To trade and traffic with Macbeth
In riddles and affairs of death;
And I, the mistress of your charms,
The close contriver of all harms,
Was never call'd to bear my part,
Or show the glory of our art?
And, which is worse, all you have done
Hath been but for a wayward son,
Spiteful and wrathful, who, as others do,
Loves for his own ends, not for you.
But make amends now: get you gone,
And at the pit of Acheron
Meet me i' the morning: thither he
Will come to know his destiny:
Your vessels and your spells provide,
Your charms and every thing beside.
I am for the air; this night I'll spend
Unto a dismal and a fatal end:
Great business must be wrought ere noon:
Upon the corner of the moon
There hangs a vaporous drop profound;
I'll catch it ere it come to ground:
And that distill'd by magic sleights
Shall raise such artificial sprites
As by the strength of their illusion
Shall draw him on to his confusion:
He shall spurn fate, scorn death, and bear
He hopes 'bove wisdom, grace and fear:
And you all know, security
Is mortals' chiefest enemy.
Hark! I am call'd; my little spirit, see,
Sits in a foggy cloud, and stays for me.
First Witch ♀
Come, let's make haste; she'll soon be back again.
36 lines rendered verbatim from the dialogue corpus.
Who’s On Stage
Speaking characters in this scene
| Character | Lines | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Hecate | 34 | 94.4% |
| First Witch | 2 | 5.6% |
Line distribution
The top speaker in this scene delivers 34 lines, while the scene’s average per speaker is about 18 lines.
Total speakers on stage
2 named characters speak in this scene.
Scene in Context
Position within Act 3
This is Scene 5 of 6 in Act 3 of Macbeth.
Scene length vs. play average
At 36 lines, this scene is shorter than the Macbeth average scene in Macbeth (~85 lines).
Adjacent scenes
Previous: Act 3 Scene 4 · Next: Act 3 Scene 6