Act two, Macbeth

Act two features Macbeth’s famous dagger speech, which is full of some of the richest language and imagery in the play in my opinion. Prior to this a brief conversation takes place between Banquo and Macbeth, in which Macbeth lies to his best friend by saying ‘I think not of them’ (in reference to the witches). Despite Banquo’s naivety to Macbeth’s lie he is still suspicious ‘So I lose none in seeking to augment it’, here he is saying he will follow Macbeth as long as he doesn’t lose any honour, I interpreted this as suspicion of the way Macbeth is acting from Banquo’s view.

The tone of Macbeth’s soliloquy changes as if it is in two halves; the first half is more questioning, he questions the illusionary dagger, representing the internal questioning he is experiencing, whether to kill Duncan or not. ‘Is this a dagger which I see before me? The handle toward my hand?’ The second half seems more sinister, representing the fact that he has decided to kill Duncan. ‘Hear it not Duncan, for it is a knell that summons thee to heaven or to hell.’ Within the soliloquy Macbeth comes across as heavily and easily influenced, the language he uses hints at this. ‘heat-oppressèd brain’, the word ‘oppressèd’ implies that Macbeth is under pressure and being demoralised, as we know the source of this is Lady Macbeth. Macbeth is constantly guided throughout this scene, Lady Macbeth guides him to the murder, he personifies ‘Murder’, giving it a capital ‘M’ as if it is a person committing the murder and also blames the dagger itself, ‘thou marshallst me…’, Macbeth is constantly passing the blame, to distance himself as much as he can from the murder.

Nature plays a huge part in the play and it is in this soliloquy that nature turns, ‘nature seems dead’, Macbeth then goes on to almost glorify all the wicked things in the world as all nature, ie. The good things are ‘dead’. ‘Witchcraft celebrates’. ‘Tarquin’s ravishing strides’; what is odd here is that Macbeth likens himself to Tarquin (a rapist), when he has been persistently attempting to distance himself from his murderous thoughts, yet here is happy to associate his ‘strides’ with that of Tarquin, once again the wicked is glorified here in a contrast to nature and good in the play by describing Tarquin’s strides as ‘ravishing’. I think this is a turning point, as Macbeth has realised it is inevitable, that the murder of Duncan must take place, and to liken himself to a evil character gets him in that frame of mind and gives him that confidence that he feels he needs, but deep down knows he cannot pull off.

After the murder itself both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are jumpy and nervous, ‘hark! Peace! It was the owl that shrieked’, Lady Macbeth when on her own displays nervous habits and also cowardice ‘had he not resembled my father as I slept, I had done’t’. is this an excuse? Or the only insight we get to the feminine, vulnerable and compassionate side of Lady Macbeth? The short sharp dialogue between the two main characters represents the nerves and the tension in this act, and also an urgency to be rid of the deed. ‘I have done the deed…’ ‘…Did you not speak?’ ‘When?’ ‘Now.’ ‘As I descended?’ ‘Ay’ ‘Hark!’. However Lady Macbeth quickly re-establishes her power and dominance in the relationship, taking control of the situation and returning the daggers back to the chamber ‘my hands are of your colour, but I shame to wear a heart so white’. Lady Macbeth uses this play on Macbeth’s cowardice to get him to man up throughout the play. At this point Lady Macbeth shows no more signs of nerves or weakness ‘a little water clears us of this deed’.

Scene 3 brings some humour into the play, possibly acting as a way to keep the intended audience in suspense after the dramatic murder of Duncan. The drunken porter contemplates what would happen if the gate he is in control of was the ‘hell-gate’ and how many people he would admit. He then goes onto to debate what crimes they would have committed to get to hell. ‘English tailor come hither for stealing out of a French hose’. It is ironic that the crimes he would expect are innocent compared to that of the crime that Macbeth just committed. In this sense Macbeth is already in hell as he is behind the gates. Highlighting the evil nature of his deeds. This is also emphasised by his ability to lie so freely, ‘I’ll bring you to him’ , ‘grace is dead’, it is strange that he lies so confidently in the high pressured situation of the discovery of Duncan’s corpse, yet when he is on his own and only under pressure from his own guilt the cracks in his cowardice appear. Macbeth also goes as far as to hint at his part in the murder, when talking about how he killed the servants he says it was because of the ‘violent love’ that he felt the King, the word ‘violent’ suggests his implication in the murder.

The last two scenes are full of references to nature and how it has been breached etc, in correspondence with Macbeth’s soliloquy, ‘nature seems dead’. ‘a breach in nature’ ‘wild in nature’ ‘’Gainst nature’. As well as nature there is a distinct theme of darkness and light aka evil and good. This is highlighted in the last scene by Ross and ‘Old Man’, scene is seemingly unimportant yet it acts as a reinforcement of the evil in the play and the lack of good. ‘Dark night strangles the travelling lamp’. ‘Is’t night’s predominance or the day’s shame’

Religion is also featured in reference to the King’s death, possibly to reiterate the goodness of the King. Macduff refers to Duncan’s corpse as ‘the Lord’s anointed temple’, and goes onto to say the murderers broke into the temple and ‘stole thence the life o’the building.’