Analysis of Act 2 Scene 2 of Macbeth
Act 2, scene 2, in the play of Macbeth, is a fairly significant scene, in which to mark the changes of the two characters, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Their minds and feelings are portrayed in this scene. It helps to show the role, which they play and to what degree they have been affected by the witches' prophecies.
Act 2, Scene 2, takes place in the home of Macbeth as a result to the murder of Duncan. It is interesting that Shakespeare chose to have the murder of Duncan taking place offstage. This scene is also significant in ways to show the reactions of the two characters to their crime and sin. The murder of Duncan possibly took place off stage to cause...show more content...
The scene begins with Lady Macbeth by herself.
In this line Lady Macbeth is saying that she has the energy and courage inspired by liquor to cope with what she has done to cause the murder of Duncan.
She appears to be in a very uneasy and hesitant state, claiming to be bold and courageous yet jumps to the sound of an owl. Owls, are birds of night, and are recognised as ill omens. The owl is compared to a bellman, which is a person recognised as to ring the bell before an execution. It is possible; that Shakespeare meant Duncan to be killed at this exact point as in the previous scene Macbeth is on his way to kill Duncan.
Lady Macbeth says "He is about it", using the term "it" to relate to the murder. It is as if she's too scared to say the word. It seems as if the word "it" is more comforting to her than "murder" to help her feel slightly more relaxed at knowing what she and her husband Macbeth have done.
As Macbeth enters the room the tension and nervousness is immediately noticeable. From the use of dashes, we can see that the speech is very
" What hath quenched them hath given me fire "
broken up. This shows the nerves of the two characters and we see hesitation in their speech. Lady Macbeth claims that she would have done the deed if Duncan had not looked like her father whilst sleeping. This shows weaknesses in her character;
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Blindness Has Consequences
MACBETH – FINAL ESSAY
ENG 3U
When a character in a tragedy fails to see what they really are, or who other people around them really are, tragedy, normally consisting of death results. In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare many characters fail to see the truth that is themselves, or another person. The play reads, "I think not of them:
Yet when we can entreat an hour to serve, We would spend it in some words upon that business
If you would grant me the time."
(Act II, I, 25–28)
This quote stated by Macbeth shows blindness in a simple way. He like most of the other characters in this play is blind to his character which is expressed in this statement. Macbeth attempts to say he has no interest in the...show more content...
This is shown many times throughout the play; she thinks she can do everything that is needed to be done with killing Duncan, because she is not a "coward" but when it comes to her making the attempt to do so she chickens out because she finds Duncan to resemble her father to much when he is sleeping. She tells Macbeth everything will be fine as long as he doesn't show his fear. She does not understand that she has a much stronger conscience then she is aware of. The play reads, "Only look up clear; / To alter favour ever is to fear: / Leave all the rest to me."
(Act I, v, 79–81) This statement is very important because it shows that Lady Macbeth is very confident in herself. She is saying that Macbeth just needs to stand there and look pretty, and sell himself to everyone mean while she will plan out everything else, involving this horrid murder. Much later in the novel she starts to feel very guilty for the murder of Duncan, and eventually falls ill, ridden in guilt. Lady Macbeth has mentally wired herself to act as though nothing will get through to her, it is like she is an iron wall, she thinks nothing can get through, but in reality, the wall is nonexistent, and her conscience is very strong, it is just not present at the necessary times. As well as Lady Macbeth's blindness to her conscience and guilt, she is blind to the consequences that come with doing
The Guilt of Lady Macbeth Shakespeare's "Macbeth" holds many hidden themes within its already exuberant plot. The first of these surrounds the murder of Duncan and the role that both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth himself played. However, the true guilt of the murder can fall on either character. Although Macbeth physically committed the crime, it was Lady Macbeth that pushed him to his limits of rational thought and essentially made fun of him to lower his esteem. With Macbeth's defenses down, it was an easy task for Lady Macbeth to influence Duncan's murder and make up an excuse as to why she could not do it herself. The guilt of Duncan's murder can be placed firmly on the head on Lady Macbeth. Lady...show more content...
The correlation to the dress of the day is very interesting, as men would be in colorful, exuberant and tight outfits, resembling women's wear. This reduced the esteemed masculinity for some males, and Macbeth is obviously feeling similar emotions, though his dress is more ancient. It is more the feeling conveyed by an actor that the audience would receive. This almost comic irony becomes important in the following scenes, as Lady Macbeth winds up to sucker Macbeth into killing Duncan so that he may be king and she may be queen. In addition, her attacks on his manliness reflect her character, as a man is playing it. In essence, a man, playing a woman, is making fun of the incapacity of the penis of a man dressed like a woman. Lady Macbeth has seen Macbeth's weakness, his lack of manliness. She is too afraid to commit the murder of Duncan, and must assure Macbeth that it is his duty. She accomplished this goal by making fun of him and arousing his jealousy instincts. What beast was't, then, That made you break this enterprise to me? When you durst do it, then you were a man; And, to be more than what you were, you would Be so much more the man. Nor time nor place Did then adhere, and yet you would make both: They have made themselves, and that their fitness now Does unmake you. I have given suck, and know How tender
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The play, Macbeth, Macbeth and his wife kill the king of Scotland so Macbeth can become king. As a result, of the witches since they told him about the prophecy and how he would become king. He eventually does more evil things which fills Lady Macbeth with guilt. She ends up killing herself and Macbeth ends up dying. In the play, there are numerous of themes that you can see and examples that you can find. There are five themes that we have discussed in class which are ambition, guilt, things are not what they seem, fate versus free will, and nature versus the unnatural.
One of the five themes in Macbeth that we discussed is ambition. I believe the meaning of ambition is the desire to do something whether it is bad or good. In addition, I...show more content...
The killing of his family is his motivation for him to kill Macbeth because he wants to get revenge. Furthermore, ambition is desire of doing something that is good or bad like revenge. Also, when Malcolm heard what happened to Macduff's family and how Scotland has become after being ruled by Macbeth, it made him want to kill Macbeth.
Another theme in Macbeth is guilt. I believe that guilt is feeling bad for something that you have done to someone or something. In addition, guilt can destroy you and/or eat at you. It could even drive you to do something like it did to Macduff. Macduff went to England and left his family behind so that he could get Malcolm to come back and be king. When he left to get Malcolm, Macbeth killed his entire family. He felt guilty for living his family alone in Scotland without protection. Similarly to ambition, his guilt drove him to kill Macbeth. Another example of guilt is Lady Macbeth sleeping walking towards the end of the play. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth killed the king of Scotland (Duncan) and she is feeling guilty for what she has done. Also, she doesn't like what her husband has done like killing Macduff's whole family. She feels as if she was responsible for that. In a result of that she ends up sleep walking and eventually killing herself because she couldn't live with the guilt anymore. The guilt of killing Duncan literally ate at Lady Macbeth and destroyed her to the point of suicide. Macbeth feels guilty for killing Duncan.
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The Downfall of a Tyrant
Shakespeare wrote Macbeth in 1606, during the reign of James I, who was James IV of Scotland before he became the King of England. James I, was a sponsor of Shakespeare's theatre, so it is clear that Shakespeare's work was affected by James I's sensitivities. Murder and intrigue was a part of the Scottish Reign when James was growing, and in fact, James's father was murdered when he was just a baby. Macbeth tells the story of a Scottish general who, through prophecies received from three witches and manipulations of his wife, believed that he would become the King of Scotland. He murders King Duncan and grabs the throne to satisfy the burning ambition of his subconscious. Power did not bring him peace or comfort;...show more content...
Just to emphasize the suggested supernatural relationship further, the witches took help from Satan and Demon to make their magic work. The unnatural abilities like conjuring evil potions in Act 4 Scene 1 "Round about the cauldron go."of the witches would not have gone far if it was not for the very natural burning ambition of Lady Macbeth in alluring Macbeth to murder the king. The King of Scotland was well liked by the people of Scotland but Lady of the house was naturally devilish, accepting all means to achieve her goal.
The three witches happen to be the first characters to be introduced in Macbeth and were one of the main cause of the title character's evil and unpredicted actions. Shakespeare used the stereotype about witches being ugly and wise women yielding evil powers and described them as the 'Three Weird Sisters.' They play the role of informants who convey a message to Macbeth, which eventually caused him to kill King Duncan as well as the Macduff and Banquo's families. Their key skill, in fact, was to penetrate Macbeth's troubled subconscious, which already contained a demonic desire for power and the throne. The witches just supplied the simple trigger; they have predicted that he would become the Thane of Cawdor and the King.
Witches speak in a form of verses with rhyming couplets, where
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"Macbeth" a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, portrays, how the main character Macbeth, transforms from a war hero, to a murdering villain. Macbeth starts out as the thane of Glamis and steadily rises to become King of Scotland. The higher Macbeth rose on his road of power the more corrupt and evil he became. The character change of Macbeth ignites the whole theme of the play. Macbeth is shown as a vigorous war hero in the opening scene. "And fortune, on his damned quarrel smiling showed like a rebel's whore. But all's too weak for brave Macbeth." (1.2 16.18) The captain expressing the braveness of great Macbeth in Scotland's battle with the invading Norway hordes. It didn't take long for the people of...show more content...
Macbeth decides that he wont murder the king. Lady Macbeth's determination to become queen influences Macbeth's decision.
"If it were done when tis done, then twere it be done quickly" (1.7 1–2) Macbeth is toying with the notion to murder King Duncan. Macbeth would not be satisfied until he ruled all Scotland! An idea turned into a priority, Macbeth wasn't thinking of killing the king he was sure of it. "Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand...."(2.1 42–43) Macbeth's vision turned out to be a false creation of the mind that led macbeth to believe that fate was telling him to kill King Duncan.
Near the end of the play Macbeths true evilness comes out. Macbeth paranoia leads him to believe that everyone is out to get him. " So is he mine, and in such bloody distance that every minute of his thrusts against my hear'st life" (3.1 128–130) Macbeth grows suspicious of Banquo. The witch's predictions of Banquo's kids becoming king engulfed all thoughts in Macbeth's head. "I'll make assurance double sure." (4.1 93) Macbeth is making sure Banquo and his son fleance are murdered. Macbeth felt the it was best to hire murders to handle fleance and Banquo. Macbeth is overcome with evil. "From this moment the very firstling of my heart shall be the firstling of my mind" (4.1 165–168) Macbeth's mind no
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Every person possesses certain amounts of certain qualities to be a great leader. Some of those qualities are kindness, willingness and bravery. In Macbeth there are many characters in positions of power that may or may not withhold the qualities of a good leader. The king Duncan in my opinion withheld all the qualities to be a great leader.Macbeth on the other hand at one time had the qualities but then, when put into a position of power turned sour. Not very many people posses the qualities that are needed to be an amazing leader and can keep the qualities in a position of power. There are specific qualities for a good leader such as: honesty, loyalty, determined, motivational, dependable, self–controlled and broad ...show more content... He shows he was dependable by never retreating when situations got tough. Most of all Duncan was self–controlled and did not look to anyone else for their opinion. Duncan never let anyone persuade him from doing what he thought was right. Duncan was a true leader and withholds all the qualities to formulate him as the ultimate leader. Macbeth had all the right qualities that a virtuous leader and from a glance you would think that no one could be as great as Macbeth. Macbeth in the beginning showed all the qualities of a leader. He was honourable because he fought for his country with all he had. He was not a coward because he had all his wounds on his front which means that he never turned his back and tried to get away. When shown an opportunity for a position of power, Macbeth turned cold and turned on his own country. The biggest quality that Macbeth does not posse is he is not self–controlled, if Macbeth was self–controlled he would not have killed Duncan but his wife convinced him that it was the right thing to do and the only way to become king himself. Macbeth hated traitors and killed them ruthlessly but then he became one himself. By the end Macbeth was not a good leader at all, he was barely a leader. He was motivated, but motivated in the wrong way, he killing innocent people to keep his position of power. Macbeth is not broad minded, he never saw any ones side but his own. Macbeth at this stage in the game is not a good leader! An