Macbeth: Act 2, Scenes 1 + 2

C. During the first scene of Act 2, Macbeth is imagining a dagger covered in blood and basically guiding him ultimately to Duncan’s bedroom. Did Macbeth thought of the imaginative dagger with the influence of the witches’ prophecies or is just straight up witchcraft that is happening in this particular scene?

D. “Thou sure and firm-set earth,/Hear not my steps, which way they walk, for fear/Thy very stones prate of my whereabout,/And take the present horror from the time,/Which now suits with it. Whiles I threat, he lives;/Words to the heat of deeds too cold breath gives./I go, and it is done. The bell invites me./Hear it not, Duncan, for it is a knell/That summons thee to heaven or to hell” (Macbeth 25, Verses 56-65). This quotation is important to the overall point of the plot where Macbeth has to a decision that would change his life for this very moment of the play to the last words that he will ever utter. My interpretation of this scene is related to the relationship that Macbeth has with his wife. Of course, we see it in the play that Lady Macbeth basically wants to control the decision-making of Macbeth and she really wants to manipulate Macbeth in a way that she actually convinces him to go with the plan. In addition, the second scene of Act 2 shows the very moment that they think that will caught, but there many false calls here and there, but eventually Macbeth really regrets the murder of his own beloved king. Macbeth’s previous statement in scene 1 is reflected upon the destiny that he has to reach for, no matter wants the cause, even in the loss of life. Macbeth’s thinking abilities has come down to the point where he not stable and does not know if he did the right thing. The overall point is that Macbeth has been manipulative by his wife and the witches to accomplish a task that will make him to a monster in a character and a desperate beggar for forgiveness.

H. The scenery of the play at this point is strongly ties with the imagination of Roman Polanski’s movie Macbeth but, I really want to change the way he did in the movie. In the movie, instead of Lady Macbeth and Macbeth washing hands at the wall, they should actually make an attempt to destroy the evidence by removing the cloths they have and put it in the bucket with ripped clothes that are used to clean the animals or something, that way when the guards are searching through their clothes to find evidence, then there will be none.

I. Responding to Konrad’s question: “During the first scene of Act 2, Macbeth is imagining a dagger covered in blood and basically guiding him ultimately to Duncan’s bedroom. Did Macbeth thought of the imaginative dagger with the influence of the witches’ prophecies or is just straight up witchcraft that is happening in this particular scene?” I could honestly answer this question both ways. My first response was that the description of the sword “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.” must be witchcraft because of how supernatural this description is. However, looking at it another way, he can see the sword and whatever he sees but from the description he cannot touch the sword. If he couldn’t touch it, it could not have been real. The other reason for me to think it is part of his imagination is because after he commits the murder, when he is talking to Lady Macbeth, he sees things so maybe the visions from his guilt started from when he was nervous before the murder.

A. The feelings Macbeth experiences after the murder are comparable to the feelings anyone gets after they do something they know they shouldn’t have done. Macbeth feels anxiety and regret. He is nervous he will get caught and like anyone who does something bad it drives him crazy for the scene we saw after the murder.

C. Why is Lady Macbeth the dominant character in her marriage with Macbeth? Is Macbeth really just Lady Macbeth’s puppet?

C) I don’t understand Lady Macbeth at all. She is the most confusing character in this story. She is the one who makes herself look like she’s so tough and strong. She even says that she would kill her own baby if she had to. Then, once Macbeth says he doesn’t want to kill Duncan she says that she can’t do it because she’s too pure and clean. She is different every time we see her. I don’t understand why. Is it because she is trying to get into Macbeth’s head? I thought she might just be shocked by the situation she is in but I’m not quite sure. Why does Lady Macbeth keep changing her personality?
D) “To know my deed, ‘twere best not know my self.” When Macbeth says this line is when I know that he is losing himself. He says that he no longer knows who he is anymore because of what he did to Duncan. The guilt is already eating him alive and he immediately regrets killing Duncan. You know that Macbeth wishes he hadn’t when he says this line because he is a very level headed man and he says that he no longer knows who he is anymore.
E) In Act Two you begin to see Macbeth changing. His personality begins to shift. He starts losing himself once he kills Duncan. He won’t be able to live with the fact that he killed an innocent man and the guilt has already begun to destroy him. You can see a turn for the worst for Macbeth in this scene.

A. I feel that the way macbeth reacted after he committed the murder of Duncan is very easily relatable. Macbeth was pushed by his wife Lady Macbeth, to go through with the murder and immediately after he commits it you can just see by his word choice the amount of regret and guilt he was feeling at the moment. He says "I wish Duncan would awake from the knocking." He knows the consequences that he is about to face and he knows that the choice he made was very bad.
E.I feel that Macbeth's character is filled with regret and guilt through these first two scenes in Act II. He realizes what he did was very wrong and wishes to take back the action he has just committed. He was convinced by his wife to do what he did and now knows that the name of the Thane of Glamis is tainted and knows that it will not be the same. We see Lady Macbeth become a bit hypocritical in the second scene in Act II.
C. I'm not sure to where Banquo was during this scene. I feel that he just did not show up after we read about him and his son.

B. Why Banqou is talking to Macbeth in the castle at night, he says, “So I lose none in seeking to argument it, but still keep my bosom franchis’d and allegiance clear, I shall be counsell’d” (24), his basically saying he won’t make an allegiance with Macbeth if he becomes rouge. This will be important later, because Macbeth does become rouge; however, his wife manipulates the evidence against Macbeth so no one would suspect him of anything. Banqou is a bit suspicious of Macbeth though; he was with Macbeth when he got the “prediction” that he will become king, so he knows he has an incentive.

D. It’s pretty funny why Lady Macbeth doesn’t kill King Duncan. When she is alone, she talks about how she is very confident about this plan but later she says, “Had he not resembled my father as he slept, I had done’t” (26). So he basically says that king Duncan looks like her father and she couldn’t kill him. This statement conflicts with earlier statements saying that she would kill babies and things to that degree. Maybe being drunk had made her a bit less cruel, or does she doesn’t feel to confident in this plan.

C. Why does Macbeth feel so nervous and feel bad about his actions after he killed the king? He is having hallucination of daggers appearing before him and believing that he can’t say Amen anymore. He should know that if he gets caught he is basically a dead man, so he should calm down and possibly kill Banqou since he would be the only one that would suspect him of anything.