The Third Murderer appears almost out of thin air when there were originally only two murderers hired by Macbeth. The Third Murder could only be Macbeth because he’s knowledgeable of Banquo’s trail patterns, the only other person that knows about the murder, and his paranoia led him to need to see and look over the murder of Banquo and Fleance.
Macbeth is the only one who knows about the murder besides the murderers based off what we as the reader have seen in the text. Macbeth wanted to keep his involvement of the murder of Banquo and Fleance so secretive that he didn’t even make a plan with Lady Macbeth like he did with the murder of Duncan. Macbeth goes even further as to not tell Lady Macbeth and only wave the idea of killing Banquo and Fleance in her face without ever actually telling her anything as seen when he says, “Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck, Till thou applaud the deed. Come, seeling night, Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day, And with thy bloody and invisible hand,” (III.ii.50-53). Macbeth is the only other person who knows about the murder.
One of the things the Third Murderer says is, “Almost a mile; but he does usually—So all men do—from hence to the place gate Make it their walk.” (III.iii.17-19). The Third Murderer has clear knowledge of Banquo and Fleance’s route beyond that of the other murderers. If the murderer indeed was Macbeth then Shakespeare, being the genius he is, would leave hints within the script for the readers or viewers to pick up on. Having the Third Murderer being aware of the trail Banquo and Fleance is taking is just one of these many hints. The Third Murderer feels free to put it out there without any hesitation that he was sent by Macbeth when questioned by the First Murderer. If the Third Murderer has no issue exposing Macbeth in such a way then the Third Murderer is obviously just trying to quickly gain the trust of the other murderers in order to avoid any unneeded conflict. This is just Macbeth trying to quickly gain the murderers trust in order to get right into the action without further questions. It’s so dark that Fleance escapes unnoticed when the torch light is put out so we can conclude that a possibly cloaked Macbeth would be unrecognizable to the murderers further proving this theory.
Macbeth needs to see Banquo and Fleance die for his own sanity. Macbeth has changed since the murder of Duncan and is now paranoid and has not been eating or sleeping well. He sees Banquo as just another hurdle that needs to be overcome in order to obtain his goal of a non-Fleance led throne. Macbeth has had a lot time to himself since being crowned and has much to say about Banquo, “To be thus is nothing; But to be safely thus.--Our fears in Banquo Stick deep; and in his royalty of nature Reigns that which would be fear'd: 'tis much he dares; And, to that dauntless temper of his mind,” (III.i.52-55). This confirms that Macbeth sees Banquo as a major threat that needs to be dealt with and overseeing his murder is the perfect way to reassure his insecurities that his spot on the throne is going to be just fine. Macbeth was the Third Murderer due to his paranoia, knowledge of Banquo, and he’s the only other person who knows about the murder.
Critique:
I thought Cameron Burgess' post on how the Third Murder could have been Macbeth's Attendant was very well thought out and brought up some interesting points like how a servant would be one of the only people to actually take note of Banquo and Fleance's traveling patterns as royalty would see no reason to do so. With that being said, I feel some of his points could easily be debunked in support of the "Macbeth is the Third Murderer" Theory. Macbeth is also aware of Banquo's traveling patterns because they talked about it in the first scene of act three (plus they're good buddies) and Banquo would not be able to recognize any of the murderers regardless because of how dark it was during his murder. It would not matter if Banquo recognized anyone anyways because he would not live to tell the tale leaving no risk to Macbeth if he were to be there.
