Macbeth: Act II
Dana Steketee and Nancy Li
Scene I Quotes
Macbeth: “Now o’er the one half-world
nature seems dead, and wicked dreams
abuse the curtained sleep.”
Interpretation: This passage is saying that
the half the world is asleep and therefore
Macbeth can kill without anyone noticing.
He acknowledges that he is about to
shatter the peace with his wicked
ambitions.
Scene I Quotes (con.)
Macbeth: “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.”
Explanation: The church
bell represents two
things; the bell tolled
when Duncan was
murdered, and Duncan’s
fate of going to heaven or
hell (hence it being a
church bell).
Scene II
Macbeth: “Still it cried 'Sleep no more!' to all the
house: Glamis hath murder'd sleep, and
therefore Cawdor shall sleep no more; Macbeth
shall sleep no more.‘”
Interpretation: A voice inside Macbeth’s head is
crying to the whole house that Macbeth (Thane
of Glamis, and Cawdor) had disrupted sleep with
his sin of murdering Duncan while Duncan was
asleep; therefore Macbeth himself should not be
allowed to sleep.
Scene II (con.)
Lady Macbeth: “My hands are of your colour; but
I shame to wear a heart so white.”
Interpretation: Macbeth is too afraid to go back
to the murder scene and so Lady Macbeth goes
and frames the guards. When she returns, she
almost boasts, saying she has also stained her
hands with blood and that she would be
ashamed to be as cowardly as Macbeth.
Scene II (con.)
Porter: Faith, sir, we were
carousing till the second
cock; and drink, sir, is a
great provoker of three
things.”
Interpretation: The porter is
talking to Macduff about
how he was drunk and up
all night until 3:00 a.m.
Picture: This is a Vodka
bottle (whisky) which shows
how much the porter had to
drink that early morning.
Scene III
Macduff: “O horror, horror, horror! Tongue nor
heart cannot conceive nor name thee!”
Interpretation: Macduff just found Duncan’s
body and has come back to Macbeth and
Lennox to inform them of the horrible act.
Scene III (con.)
Macduff: “Confusion now hath
his masterpiece: most
sacrilegious murder hath broke
ope the Lord’s anointed temple
and stole thence the life o’ th’
building.”
Interpretation: Macduff is
comparing Duncan to a church.
A church is a holy place and
back then many people believed
that the king was also holy.
Therefore by killing the king,
someone has committed a sin
as great as breaking into a
church.
Picture: The picture shows a
church with its roof about to
collapse, but like how Duncan’s
body was ruined.
Scene III (con.)
Macduff: “’Tis not for you
to hear what I can speak:
the repetition in a woman’s
ear would murder as it
fell.”
Interpretation: Macduff is
warning Lady Macbeth that
the news of a murder is
too strong for such a
fragile woman’s ears to
hear.
Picture: This is a picture
representing the difference
between men and women,
yin and yang. Macduff
believes that a woman is
too weak to listen to such
a strong statement.
Scene IV
Lennox: “Their hands and
faces were all badged with
blood; so were their daggers,
which unwiped we found upon
their pillows.”
Interpretation: Lennox reports
that the daggers that killed
King Duncan were on the
guards pillows, still with his
blood on them. It seems Lady
Macbeth’s cover up was
successful.
Scene IV (con.)
Donalbain: “Where we are, there’s daggers in
men’s smiles; the near in blood, the nearer
bloody.”
Interpretation: “There are many deceivers who
smile at us but still plot to murder us. The ones
closest to us would most likely be the ones to
do it.”
Picture: This shows how smiles
don’t always show a person’s
true intentions.