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Significance of the Porter scene in
Macbeth
In Macbeth, the act II scene iii is famously known as the porter scene and it is strategically
placed between the murder of king Duncan and its discovery . The porter scene starts with
the moment of light comedy that increases the intensity and serves to heighten the thrilling
suspense of the tragedy . There are a lot of debates about this scene and its significance.
Whether Shakespeare wrote this scene or not is debatable.
In the play , after committing the murder of the king by Macbeth ,at the next scene the
Porter appears in the play , making some kind of comedy in the minds of audiences that
takes an important part for the development of the play . At the initial part of the scene , the
drunken Porter comes to the castle of Macbeth and he complains that his job is worse than
the Porter of hell. And he engages in a piece of stand up comedy with the audience in which
he imagines himself the beleaguered servant of hell , opening and closing the damned gate
of the hell . He imagines three Sinners have arrived in the gate one by one and he opens
the door . He also gives the description of their sins. The first two examples he uses of the
Farmer and the Equivocator have specific religious and historical connotations. The first
sinner is the farmer . A few months before Macbeth was played before the English king
James I , the infamous Gunpowder plot ( aim of which was to murder the king ) took place .
The conspirators including Guy Fawkes have been encouraged by a catholic convert called
John Garnett whose nickname is the Farmer . And the Equivocator has practiced lying in
the court about one's religion by employing ambiguous language that is known as the
equivocation. And the third sinnes is a trailer who has stolen a French hose . After all of this
the Porter has started to feel that the hot place like hell is turning to cold and at the end after
some conversation with Macduff the Porter leaves the stage . Some of the critics say the
Porter scene is irrelevant. On the other hand , some critics debate that it has a crucial
function in the play .
The primary function of the Porter scene is the comic relief . Shakespeare follows the outline
of Greek tragedy although Shakespearean tragedy has some kind of new like the comic
relief . Comic relief is a part of the play in which some special characters play a little bit of
comedy on the stage and it is wisely placed between two horrible scenes . In the play , the
murder of King Duncan and its discovery are two horrible scenes and the Porter scene is
set between these scenes to make some breathing space for the audience . On the other
hand , it increases the intensity and thrilling suspense in the mind of the audience.
Another important significance of the Porter scene is it creates the atmosphere of hell at
Inverness . The Porter tells the Farmer when he comes -
" Come in time - have napkins enough about you , here you'll sweat for't "
Through the observation of Porter , he represents that Inverness is too hot like hell . And it is
a sign that Inverness as well as Scotland is turned into hell is given through the porter
scene . Moreover , this scene also represents Macbeth's fate . The Sins of those sinners

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whom the drunken Porter imagines are the reflection of Macbeth's crime . The first sinner
has tried to kill the English king James I and similarly Macbeth has already killed the king
however it is not revealed yet .
Macbeth : " I have done the deed "
In the same way , likewise the Equivocator , Macbeth equivocates with the king . In front of
King Duncan he shows his loyalty and thankfulness to the king . On the other side, he also
shows his evil thoughts, so his behavior is considered as an equivocation . And his
equivocation is noticed in his words -
Macbeth : "False face must hide what false heart doth know "
Identically , like the English trailer Macbeth accuses the sons of King Duncan as the
murderers and steals the throne of Scotland from them . The porter scene has an important
role to dramatize the play such as the porter scene makes some free space for the
audience to take relief. Similarly , through the space the protagonists characters such as
Macbeth and Lady Macbeth get some space for rest and wear the "night gown".
Meanwhile , Macbeth clears his bloody hand .
"A little water clears us of this deed "
So without the space , there will be some kind of chaos in the audience which disrupts the
intensity and suspense of the murder . This scene reflects the themes of the play . In this
scene , the imagination of the drunken Porter deals with the themes of murder , conspiracy ,
equivocation , sin , punishment . Similarly , we find the theme of murder and conspiracy of
Macbeth in the play . Due to this , Macbeth commits the sins and at the end he gets
punishment. The equivocation is observed in Macbeth's character and also in the words of
the witches . So it will be justified to say that the porter scene deals with all kinds of themes
which are spread out in the entire play . Dramatic irony is an essential thing of a tragedy .
This scene creates the irony . We have noticed the irony in the entire Porter s1
cene .
Unknowingly , the drunken Porter gives us the image of conspiracy against the king and
murder of the king through his imagination, meanwhile Macbeth has already committed the
murder of King Duncan which is an irony .
Some critics say at that time , there were all kinds of people in the audience( lower to higher
class ) coming to the theater to enjoy the plays . So the authorities of theater interpolated
the porter scene to entertain those illiterate and lower class's people by the confusing and
ambiguous language of the drunken Porter . And some say the Porter is not any kind of
comedy in spite of the fact that it is a tragic moment due to it being a comparison of
Macbeth's fate and a sign of the consequences of Macbeth. So, at the end part of the porter
scene when he leaves the stage he says -
"Anon anon . I pray you , remember the porter "
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Through these words , the porter leaves an impact on the audience . His words are very
much relevant and he tells us to remember all things of the scene and its significance. As
well as , through his farewell words he tells us to be prepared for the next scene .
Anyway the porter also provides some continuity of subject matter by likening Macbeth’s
castle to hell, varying the topical references and vulgar descriptions of drunkenness and its
effects with more fantastical, supernatural material.