In the final scene of Act III, Lennox is speaking to another Scottish lord about recent events in Scotland. The reader should note that Lennox is speaking sarcastically or ironically. Lennox seems to indicate that he accepts Macbeth’s lies that (1) Fleance killed his father Banquo (line 6), that (2) Malcolm and Donalbain killed their father, King Duncan (line 10), and that (3) Macbeth killed the servants who had been guarding Duncan because Macbeth felt such strong grief and anger (line 12). But Lennox does not believe any of these lies, and he refers to Macbeth directly as a “tyrant” toward the end of his speech (line 22). Lennox also notes that Macduff now “lives in disgrace” (23). Macbeth has declared Macduff to be his enemy.
The other lord tells Lennox that Macduff has gone to England to ask Edward the Confessor (the King of England in the mid-eleventh century) and Malcolm (the son of King Duncan) to come to Scotland and help that country depose (remove) their tyrannical king. Thus, history will partially repeat itself. In Act I there is a rebellion in Scotland, and the rebels are aided by the forces of Norway. In Act V there is a rebellion in Scotland, and the rebels will be aided by the forces of England. But there are two major differences: (1) in Act I the rebels are depicted as dishonorable and the king is honorable, whereas in Act V the rebels are honorable and the king is dishonorable. (2) The king wins in Act I, but the king loses in Act V. But in both Act I and Act V, the side that is depicted as being honorable wins. In terms of structure, the play works well. The play begins and ends with rebellions and moves from Honor to Dishonor and then back to Honor again.