Macbeth Act II, Scene 1,2

Macbeth Act II, Scene 1,2

The Act II opens up with Macbeth heading to the bedchamber of Duncan, to commit what he and his wife have been planning. The author deliberately sets the mood to be really dark, gloomy and depressed, probably to imply what will happen soon. While heading to the room, Macbeth encounters Banquo, who started talking about his dream, where he met the weird sisters. However, they decided to meet again later on to settle on his dreams and part for now. In my opinion, Macbeth probably would have been bothered by this conversation, because Banquo’s dreams even more strongly show that all this is meant to be, decided by the Fortune.

In this scene, we can easily spot Macbeth going crazy over time through his monologue. He finds out that while he can see a dagger he cannot physically feel it. In other words, he is experiencing a hallucination of a dagger heading to the King, which he gets mad about. This may be a behavior caused by the great guiltiness and consciousness of this murder he is going to commit, and extreme stress underneath it.

On the next scene, the tension of the story intensifies and reaches the climax. This is most obviously shown by the most precise and short sentences of the conversations. These short, choppy sentences can be effective in displaying great tension.

The main event happens in this scene when Macbeth finally kills Duncan after Lady Macbeth reappears and drugs the guards of the King’s chamber. On the way back, Macbeth meets Lady Macbeth. Here, this scene most evidently demonstrates the exchange of roles between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, the topic that was dealt with in depth, in Act I.

After the murder, Macbeth is in great shock, especially conscious of what his vile hands have done. He feels so guilty and insecure that Macbeth says “Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor / Shall sleep no more, Macbeth shall sleep no more!” which means, Macbeth felt guilty all over again, telling himself that he will never be able to rest easy in his sleep. Also, the fact that Macbeth left his dagger at Duncan’s room suggests that he was so scared and nervous right after the deed that he became manic to make such a big mistake.

On the other hand, the powerful lady, Lady Macbeth, not only drugs the guards of the King’s chamber, but also says that she would have committed the murder herself. Moreover, when Macbeth was in shock and couldn’t get out of the misery, Lady Macbeth harshly criticizes the weakness of Macbeth. And when Lady Macbeth realized that Macbeth left his dagger at Duncan’s chamber, she simply went into the King’s room again so boldly, calmly smeared the blood onto the King’s servant, and took the dagger out. Another evidence of Lady Macbeth being a “man” is shown when she says “the sleeping, and the dead, / Are but as pictures; ‘tis the eye of childhood / That fears a painted devil.” In other words, Macbeth shouldn’t be scared of blood of death, because they’re merely the paint that completes the picture of death.

Seen by her behaviors and words, it is obvious that Lady Macbeth is such a thorough and vicious “man,” and that the role of male and female have changed between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.

The Scene 2 ends with somebody knocking on Macbeth’s door, which increases the tension all over again.