“O full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife!”

• he reveals the intense mental torment and anxiety consuming him.
• metaphor of “scorpions” suggests that his thoughts are poisonous, dangerous, and constantly stinging.
• he cannot find peace while Banquo and Fleance still live.
• captures how ambition has begun to distort Macbeth’s mind, filling it with paranoia and violent intentions.
• contrast between the affectionate “dear wife” and the venomous metaphor.
• highlights the growing divide between his outward appearances and inner darkness.
• uses this moment to show how his fear of losing power pushes him further into moral corruption and emotional instability.
• Unlike earlier, where Lady Macbeth guided the violence, Macbeth now takes the lead, plotting Banquo’s murder without hesitation.
• His obsession with control and the future reflects how ambition has transformed him into someone driven by fear.
• willing to destroy anything that threatens his position.
• powerfully illustrates the psychological consequences of unchecked ambition.
• foreshadowing the increasingly brutal actions Macbeth will take to secure his crown.
• Act 3, Scene 2