Transcript Macbeth Act 2

Macbeth Act 2
Kylie, Molly, Lindsay, Alyssa
The Re-huminzation of Lady
Macbeth
Scene 1: ( Lines 15-20)
"What sir, not yet at rest? The King's abed/ He hath
been in unusual pleasure, and/ Sent forth great
largeness to your offices/ This diamond he greets
your wife withal/ By name of most kind hostess, and
shut up/ In measureless content.
Lady Macbeth does not appear in this scene, but she is
ironically given a diamond from Duncan because of
her wonderful hospitality, even though she's plotting
to assassinate him
a. Specifically an example of dramatic irony.
Scene 2 (When she is
actually present)
(Lines 1-11)
Shows that she is
attempting to begin her
plan, but is very
nervous. However, she
quickly banishes this
unnerving feeling by
mocking the drunk
guards.
" That which hath made them drunk
hath made me bold/ What hath
quenched them hath given me
fire/ Hark! - Peace/ It was the
owl that shrieked, the fatal
bellman/ Which gives the
stern'st good-night. He is about
it/ The doors are open, and the
surfeited grooms/ Do mock
their charge with snores. I have
drugged their possets/ That
death and nature do contend
about them/ Whether they live
or die."
( Lines 13-17)
- Still paranoid
- "Has he not resembled
my father as he slept, I
had done't"
a. even though she
wants to cast away her
ability to nurture and be
a man's man, she still
has a touch of
humanity left.
Alack, I am afraid they
have awaked/ And 'tis
done. Th'attempt and
not the deed/
Confounds us. Hark!- I
laid their daggers
ready;/ He could not
miss 'em. Had he not
resembled/ My father
as he slept, I had
done't ".
Line 18
- When Macbeth comes
back with the bloody
daggers she then
gladly call him her
husband.
a. Giving him back a bit
of his manhood
Lines (28-29)
-Dialogue between
Macbeth and Lady
Macbeth.
a. Macbeth's guilt
Macbeth: This is a sorry
sight
Lady Macbeth:
A foolish thought, to say a
sorry thought.
Lines (28-46)
-Dialogue between Macbeth and Lady
Macbeth.
a. Macbeth's guilt juxtaposes her ease
b. The guilt is more of a realization that he
has officially strayed from God, but she
does not care about religious sanctity.
c. Her faith in God and herself were
willingly given up to complete this deed.
Her faith is now with chance/ the spirits.
(Lines 58-64 and Lines 68-73( read later))
a. Quickly takes back the compliments
she gave him and calls him a coward.
b. By taking the daggers, she officially
i. unsexes herself
ii. Takes responsibility for Duncan's
death, a man who looks like her father.
iii. Loses her humanity
Scene 3:
(Lines 96-99)
Macduff: "O gentle Lady/ Tis not for you to
hear what I can speak/ The repetition in a
woman's ear/ Would murder as it fell"
- Shows how well her feminine facade is
holding up.
- Completely juxtaposes her actual character.
Manhood
"Whiles I threat, he lives:
Words to the heat of deeds too cold breath gives." (2:1:61-62)
In Macbeth's soliloquy, he acknowledges that his threatening words
have no affect on Duncan. The more he speaks, the more time he
takes to go through with his heated words while his courage
lessens. Macbeth must take action before he talks himself out of it.
"That which hath made them drunk hath made me bold. What hath
quenched them hath given me fire." (2:2:1-2)
Lady Macbeth feels a sense of "strength" or "masculinity" as her
plan unfolds. She feels powerful as she makes her victims weak.
MACBETH
Still it cried, “Sleep no more!” to all the house.
“Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor
Shall sleep no more. Macbeth shall sleep no more.”
LADY MACBETH
Who was it that thus cried? Why, worthy thane,
You do unbend your noble strength to think
So brainsickly of things. Go get some water,
And wash this filthy witness from your hand.
Why did you bring these daggers from the place?
They must lie there. Go carry them and smear
The sleepy grooms with blood.
MACBETH
I'll go no more:
I am afraid to think what I have done;
Look on ’t again I dare not.
LADY MACBETH
Infirm of purpose!
Give me the daggers. The sleeping and the dead
Are but as pictures. 'Tis the eye of childhood
That fears a painted devil. If he do bleed,
I’ll gild the faces of the grooms withal,
For it must seem their guilt.
(2:2:39-55)
.........
LADY MACBETH
My hands are of your color, but I shame
To wear a heart so white. (2:2:62-63)
Macbeth's guilty conscience is getting to him as
he thinks he hears people calling for revenge on
him. But Lady Mac questions his manhood when
she tells him that his strength becomes weak
when he thinks of such foolish things.
Macbeth admits to being afraid of returning to the
scene to put the bloody daggers with the drugged
guards and Lady mac exclaims his weakness
once again.
She then compares him (his manhood) to a child
afraid of a pretend/painted devil.
When Lady Mac returns from putting the daggers
back, she tells Macbeth that she would be
ashamed if her heart was so pale and weak.
Comparing her strong heart to his feeble heart.
Presence of The Witches
- "All’s well. I dreamt last night of the three weird sisters: To you they have showed some truth."
"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 the time."
The witches seem to be influencing those who surround Macbeth, i.e; Lady Macbeth and in this
case, Banquo. The intentions of the witches may be to affect Macbeth's family and friends
in order to influence his decision making, which is not directly his own
- "Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.
I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible To feeling as to
sight? Or art thou but A dagger of the mind, a false creation, Proceeding from the eatoppressèd brain? I see thee yet, in form as palpable As this which now I draw."
Whether Macbeth is directly being influenced by the Witches at this point in time, or the
internal pressure from his need to be all powerful has driven him mad into hallucinations,
the witches are seemingly responsible.
- "Witchcraft celebrates Pale Hecate’s offerings, and withered murder, Alarumed by his sentinel,
the wolf, Whose howl’s his watch, thus with his stealthy pace, With Tarquin’s ravishing
strides, towards his design Moves like a ghost."
The idea that Macbeth is being "led" or "guided" in the direction that leads him to murder
Duncan insinuates that he is being led by an evil force, which would undoubtedly be the
weird sisters. As Macbeth's wavering determination to follow through with the murder has
already been proven, his current confidence would be surprising if it was self-induced.
Witches Continued
"The bell is telling me to do it."
This quote implies that Macbeth still is losing confidence, and therefore
holding onto an incremental part of his humanity, but this influence
overpowers him, as he still commits murder.
Monarchy
- "You’re not asleep yet, sir? The king’s in bed. He’s been in an unusually good mood and has
granted many gifts to your household and servants. This diamond is a present from him to
your wife for her boundless hospitality."
Showering the Macbeth's with wonderful gifts and a positive attitude may not be in
Macbeth's favor. Since Macbeth and Lady Macbeth seemingly have a tension between
them, and Macbeth is not able to offer her much, Macbeth has more incentive to want to
become king because the king is providing Macbeth and his wife with things Macbeth could
not provide on his own, such as lavish diamonds. Shakespeare seems to favor democracy
in this case, because he depicts hierarchy to always be a vile competition and a constant
power struggle.
Divine rule seems to be something of worship and therefore explains the motive behind
Macbeth's need to kill. also may explain the jealousy felt by the weird sisters projected
through Macbeth.
Dehumanization of Macbeth
Scene 1:
-Already becoming more emotionless and disinterested
in his distraction. (Not sleeping, not thinking about
the witches)
-Macbeth's soliloquy
-Questions reality vs. hallucination
-"heat-oppressèd brain" - he doesn't feel like his normal self
-"Now o'er the one half-world/Nature seems dead, and wicked
dreams abuse/The curtained sleep" - negative, dehumanized,
doesn't care
-Still emotional ("fear" "horror") but personal feelings are rare.
Dehumanization of Macbeth
Scene 2:
-Macbeth enters the scene with bloody daggers and only says "I have
done the deed. Didst thou not hear a noise?"
-"(looking at his hands) This is a sorry sight." - No real remorse, almost
stating it factually.
-"But wherefore could not I pronounce 'Amen'?/I had most need of
blessing, and 'Amen'/Stuck in my throat." - Some lasting emotion
trying to come through.
-Dehumanization encouraged by Lady Macbeth: "These deeds must
not be thought/After these ways. So, it will make us mad."
-"I'll go no more:/I am afraid to think what I have done;/Look on’t again I
dare not." - Trying to suppress his thoughts
-Begins to show remorse in an extreme:
-"Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood/Clean from my hand?"
-"To know my deed, ’twere best not know myself"
Dehumanization of Macbeth
Scene 3
-Feigns innocence, no noticeable signs of nervousness
-"Had I but died an hour before this chance,/I had lived a
blessèd time, for from this instant/There’s nothing
serious in mortality./All is but toys. Renown and
grace is dead./The wine of life is drawn, and the
mere lees/Is left this vault to brag of."
-Committed to see his plan through.