Act Two

SCENE ONE: a bell^s rings

First scene consists of three dialogues – Banquo & Fleance, Banquo & Macbeth, and Macbeth’s soliloquy

‘The moon is down’ and the sky’s ‘candles are all out’ – the lightness of the ‘pleasant seat’ that greeted Duncan has been replaced by ominous darkness

If Banquo’s family are to assume the crown, is the innocent Fleance another obstacle? – killing adults is not especially shocking considering the world of the play, but murdering lil’ Fleance is especially immoral

‘Give me my sword’ – the ‘oh it’s just my buddy’ that follows is another example of dramatic irony

‘If you shall cleave to my consent, when 'tis, it shall make honour for you’ – Macbeth tries to get Banquo on his side, albeit obscurely – Banquo would be no party to this hypothetical, wishing to ‘keep my bosom franchised’

Macbeth sees a dagger either in the heat of the moment (‘heat-oppressed brain’) or through some supernatural vision - he is turned almost to madness by the imminent deed

‘Dagger of the mind, a false creation’ – more deception viz. his own senses lying to him (‘mine eyes are made the fools o' the other senses’)

The dagger shows a powerful imagination – one that torments him throughout the play

The structure in the soliloquy emphasises the swings from lucidity to mental disturbance

Macbeth’s successive mentions of satanic and evil people (i.e. Hecate and Tarquin) enhances the eerie atmosphere of the speech, personifying himself as ‘old man murder’

Macbeth’s concern is whether or not people will hear him (‘hear not my steps’) – an insignificant issue compared to his earlier worries about whether or not to do it – this confirms he is now fully committed

SCENE TWO: from dread to regret

‘That which hath made them drunk hath made me bold’ – she needs wine to fortify herself (is she weak?)

Lady Macbeth’s swift changes of thought and speech foreshadow the sleepwalking scene

‘Had he not resembled my father as he slept, I had done't’ – she is not entirely inhumane, just wicked

Rapid and fragmented dialogue emphasises the urgency and fear in both characters

Macbeth is talking wildly – even his wife can’t follow him (‘what do you mean?’)

He is clearly disturbed by his actions (‘Glamis hath murdered sleep and therefore Cawdor shall sleep no more’)

The knocking may be partly that of their conscience (cf. ‘it is the beating of his hideous heart!’ #tbt), but it is actually Macduff at the gate (who, with his entry, will bring about Macbeth’s downfall – truly the knocking of justice)

‘A little water clears us of this deed’ – unlike her husband (who is ‘in blood stepped in so far’), she does not see the big picture of their actions)

‘Wake Duncan … I would thou couldst!’ – a line of genuine remorse and regret

SCENE THREE: beyond absolution

Porter speech – a moment of light comedy (albeit rather flat today) which heightens the suspense - Henry Garnet, executed for complicity in the Gunpowder Plot, was nicknamed ‘farmer’ and was criticised for his use of equivocation

‘The night has been unruly’ – Lennox catalogues the unusual, apocalyptical events

Macbeth vents his true feelings and laments his own ruined life, knowing his company will not understand the full meaning of his words (‘Had I but died an hour before this chance, I had lived a blessed time’)

‘The wine of life is drawn … his gashed stabs looked like a breach in nature’ – Macbeth only talks of the murder with metaphors – he can’t bear to reflect on the gory truth

‘Those of his chamber, as it seem'd, had done it’ – perhaps Lennox doubts Macbeth’s version of events

Macbeth descends further from his original point of virtue by killing the guards – he’s done it now boi

‘Wherefore did you so’ – is Macduff already suspicious?

Lady Macbeth’s collapse could be feigned for fear that her husband’s powerful and revealing speech may culminate in an admission of guilt

‘Let us meet, and question this most bloody piece of work’ – Banquo suspects ‘undivulged’ intentions  

Donalbain may suspect Macbeth (‘there’s daggers in men’s smiles’ i.e. those that welcomed Duncan)

Macbeth does not seem to have any allies – foreboding what sort of rule his reign will bring

The princes’ flight is a fortunate accident – one that shifts suspicion from Macbeth and leads to his crowning

SCENE FOUR: an opponent of the king

‘A falcon, towering in her pride of place, was by a mousing owl hawk'd at and kill'd’ – metaphor for Duncan (the falcon) being unseated and killed by Macbeth (the owl i.e. a bird associated with death and dark imagery) - Macbeth’s soaring ambition has again upset the natural order of things with the disruption of the natural line to the monarchy (or food chain)

Duncan’s horses are resorting to cannibalism (‘tis said they eat each other’) – nature itself has turned dark i.e. normality is again destroyed

‘Then 'tis most like the sovereignty will fall upon Macbeth’ – with Malcolm and Donalbain gone, Macbeth is Duncan’s nearest surviving relative

Macduff is going ‘to Fife’ and not to the coronation, suggesting that he doesn’t support Macbeth’s claim to the throne – he is entering an attitude of opposition to the new king

‘Lest our old robes sit easier than our new!’ – Macduff fears things may turn out badly under the new ruler

‘Good o.f bad, and friends of foe’ – another paradoxical line (cf. ‘fair is foul’) – represents the confusing world and the deception which is rife in it