2.2.1

Act 2

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Act 2, Scenes 1-2

Here's a summary of what happens in Act 2, Scenes 1 and 2:

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Act 2, Scene 1

  • Banquo and his son, Fleance, are outside Macbeth’s castle.
  • Macbeth enters. Banquo tells him that he dreamt of the three witches. Macbeth says that he doesn’t ever think about them.
  • Macbeth is left alone and speaks his soliloquy (speech to himself). He can see an apparition (ghostly image) of a dagger in front of him: ‘Is this a dagger which I see before me, / The handle toward my hand?’ He isn’t sure if it is a sign from fate or a sign that he’s confused.
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Analysis - the 'dagger'

  • At this moment, Macbeth imagines he can see a dagger floating in front of him. This is the dagger he will use to kill King Duncan.
  • He imagines that he can see Duncan’s blood on the dagger.
  • This represents the guilt that Macbeth feels. This dagger will also pierce his mind and his character. Once he commits the murder, his actions cannot be undone and he will live with the image for the rest of his life.
  • This first hallucination could signal the final moment of Macbeth as the loyal friend, and the first moment of him as a ruthless murderer.
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Act 2, Scene 2

  • Lady Macbeth has drugged the guards and feels bold after drinking the same alcohol.
  • Macbeth comes in holding two bloody daggers and tells Lady Macbeth that he has killed King Duncan: ‘I have done the deed’.
  • Macbeth seems disturbed. He looks at the blood on his hands and says ‘This is a sorry sight’.
  • He thought he heard a voice say ‘Sleep no more: / Macbeth does murder sleep’. Sleep is a symbol of peace. Macbeth says that he will never feel peaceful again. Lady Macbeth suggests that it is weakness to talk like this - that it is ‘brain-sickly’.
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Act 2, Scene 2 (continued)

  • Lady Macbeth is angry at Macbeth for bringing the bloody daggers with him. She calls him a coward (‘Infirm of purpose!’).
  • She returns the daggers to the murder scene and smears the servants in blood so that they look guilty.
  • When Lady Macbeth returns, her hands are now red with blood. She says she doesn’t feel guilty: ‘My hands are of your colour, but I shame / To wear a heart so white.’
  • There is a knocking outside and they go to bed.

Act 2, Scenes 3-4

Here's a summary of what happens in Act 2, Scenes 3 and 4.

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Act 2, Scene 3

  • The scene begins with a drunken porter – he is woken by a knocking sound. Macduff, the Thane of Fife, and Lennox, another Thane, arrive to see King Duncan.
  • Macduff goes to find and wake King Duncan.
  • Lennox talks about the conditions of the previous night. He says they were very ‘unruly’ with storms.
    • Pathetic fallacy (when the weather reflects the mood of the play) is used to show Macbeth’s anxiety and uncertainty when he killed King Duncan. The wild weather reflects Macbeth’s unhappiness and guilt.
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Act 2, Scene 3 (continued)

  • Macduff returns in shock: ‘O horror, horror, horror’.
  • Macduff sounds the alarm for murder and treason.
  • Malcolm and Donalbain wake up. Macbeth tells them their father died.
  • Lennox tells them that the guards were covered in blood. Macbeth says that he killed them because he was angry at what they had done.
  • The thanes decide to meet up to take action. Malcolm and Donalbain flee instead – Malcolm goes to England and Donalbain goes to Ireland. They believe they are under threat because Donalbain says, ‘There’s daggers in men’s smiles’.
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Act 2, Scene 4

  • Ross speaks to an old man about all of the unnatural things that have been happening that night.
  • Macduff enters. He tells them that the king’s sons have fled. This makes them seem suspicious.
  • Ross says that it's likely that Macbeth will become king. Macduff tells him that Macbeth has already been named as King Duncan’s successor.

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