Macbeth Act 2 Scene 2

Macbeth Act 2 Scene 2

1. L.Macbeth: "I laid their daggers ready; he could not miss 'em. Had he not resembled My father as he slept, I had done't"

   • tried to kill Duncan, but couldn't
     • Patriarchal society - fathers have all the power
       • she cant get rid of her father
         • Shakespeare criticising patriarchal society - women have no power
         • Shakespeare criticising L.Macbeth - women should keep their place
           • unnatural to kill Father - shouldn't do it

2. Macbeth: "Methought I heard a voice cry 'Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep', the innocent sleep, Sleep that knits up the ravell'd sleeve of care"

   • when he kills Duncan, he murders his female self
   • imagines that he murdered sleep
     • repetition of sleep - shows it has started to take contorl of his mind
   • Sleep begins third line - Trochaic stress - shows his mental state - wicked
   • sleep is personified as a caring women - suggests that he has killed his restorative presence and female self
   • Ironic
     • He seems haunted by the death after it happens and L.Macbeth scolds him
       • Although he kills Duncan to make his wife queen, he destroys L.Macbeth and leads to her sleepwalking and haunted with the blood on her fingers
     • Macbeth gives her the fate she doesn't want (insanity) by giving her the fate she does want (Queen)

3. L.Macbeth: "Give me the daggers: the sleeping and the dead"

   • Iambic pentameter stresses "me", "the" and "the"
     • Dead isn't stressed - death of Duncan isnt important
   • Emphasises "me" - persuaded him to put her in charge - L.macbeth must become masculine
   • "'tis the eye of childhood That fears a painted devil."
     • scolds Macbeth for being scared - acting like a child
       • says he is worrying to much about religion "Devil"
         • ironically at the end of the play, it is L.Macbeth that worries about her soul when she is sleep-walking, and it is Macbeth who doesn't care at all about Religion
   • "sleeping and the dead are but as pictures"
     • saying Duncan is nothing more than an image now
       • ironic because L.Macbeth doesn't want to kill Duncan as he look slike her father
   • Makes l.Macbeth seem worse
     • rejecting God, kills people - belittled idea of hell by likening it to a childhood fear
       • Shakespeare ensures it is clear at the end of the play she will go to hell - christian audience demands that punishment
     • she is rejecting her patriarchal role - becoming more masculine

4. Macbeth: "Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather The multitudinous seas incrnadine, Making the green one red.

   • Pre-christian god
     • Macbeth seems to have lost his Christian faith
       • kills Duncan as he doesn't believe in a divine punishment from God
   • Macbeth may see life as a tradedgy - like the romans
     • cant see a way of escaping his tradegy - knows he will have a tragic end - kills Duncan for short term benefit
   • common to build grand statues of Neptune in a fountain at Shakespeare's time
     • rejects Christianity
       • marks him as a deviant in his society who deserves to be punished
       • however, Shakespeare might be asking us to question the role of God
         • if we live out tragic fates- we aren't living a life of free will as promised in the Bible
           • if you accept the idea of fate- it is difficult to also believe in Christianity
   • breaks Iambic Pentameter - symbolises his mind is beginning to crumble due to his actions
     • Shakespeare showing that you will go insane if you commit Regicide

5. L.Macbeth: "My hands are of your colour; but I shame To wear a heart so white"

   • "white" - links to milk of human kindness
   • she would be ashamed to be so cowardly
   • Prophetic - she ends up with a white heart that feels guilty for killing Duncan
     • commits suicide, sleep-walking
     • ironic - macbeth doesn't feel any guilt at the end - no white heart
       • Macbeth only ever feels guilty for Killing Macduff's family
         • However at this point in the play he does feel guilty for Duncan - Banquo's ghost
       • Contrast - macbeth may choose to die because he loses all emotions while L.Macbeth kills herself because she has too many emotions
   • "wear a heart" - Comes from jousting
     • emblem from lady in the crowd - fighting for the honour of a lady
     • accusing Macbeth of giving her a heart - Macbeth is being to feminine
       • she would be ashamed to accept a heart from a womanly man
     • audience gets the reference
       • they would reject her as she is undermining the patrairchal society

6. Macbeth: "To know my deed, 'twere best not know myself"

   • Macbeth ends the scene - proof of guilt - wishes he could undo it
   • No mention of hell
     • he is actually worried about what he has learned about hiself - "twere best not know myself"
       • doesnt want to learn this
         • his bloodlust will lead to him killing Duncan
           • realises his harmatia his his bloodlust - no going back