Monologues, Dialogues and Language Devices
Subtext of Banquo and Macbeth exchange that
opens the act
 Macbeth’s Hallucination: Dagger Investigation
 Co-Conspirators: Macbeth and Lady Macbeth
take their hands to murder
 “Comic Relief” and Reaction to Duncan’s death:
“If a man were porter of hell-gate” vs. Macbeth,
Lady Macbeth, Banquo, and Macolm and
Donalbain
 Reports of the Supernatural: Old Man and Ross
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“Is this a dagger which I see before me, the
handle toward my hand?” (2.1)
“I have done the deed” (2.2)
“Methought I heard a voice cry ‘Sleep no
more! Macbeth does murder sleep’” (2.2)
“A little water clears us of this dead” (2.2)
“There’s daggers in men’s smiles. The near in
blood, the nearer bloody” (2.3)
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“Hold, take my sword. There’s husbandry in heaven;
Their candles are all out. Take thee that too.
A heavy summons lies like lead upon me,
And yet I would not sleep: merciful powers,
Restrain in me the cursed thoughts that nature
Gives way to in repose!
Give me my sword” (Banquo, 2.1)
How does this set the mood of the scene?
What is Banquo revealing about his feelings?
 Subtext: “Who’s there?” “A friend.”
What do they promise?
What are they really thinking about each other?
How are they different from the men we saw in Act 1?
In this soliloquy, the significance of the hallucination is
developed. With you partner, discuss the following:
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“Fatal Vision”—How does Macbeth “view” the dagger?
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“Bloody Business”—How does the dagger disclose
Macbeth’s future act?
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“Sleep” and “Death”—How does this relate to Banquo’s
earlier speech?
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Wolf analogy—What does Macbeth hope to happen?
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The Bell Toll: What is ironic about the statement?
Acting it Out Promptbook
Consider the following as you decide with your partner, how
you will act out the scene:
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Setting, props, movement, tone-volume-pace of the lines
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Lady Macbeth’s report of her role and why she did not
murder Duncan
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Macbeth’s Crisis and Lady Macbeth’s “handling” of the
scene
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The Knocking at the Gate
2.3
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Lennox’s “the night has been unruly”—nature reflects the murder
Discovery of the murder and the reactions
Macbeth’s ‘confession’—double meaning:
“Had I but died an hour before this chance, I had lived a blessed 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”/”o, yet I do repent me of my fury, that I did kill them”
2.4
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Old Man—reports of what has happened as a result—the owl defeating the hawk, Duncan’s
horses eating each other, killing of the guards, fleeing of the princes, the prepared burial of
Duncan
Close Reading: Porter’s Speech and “On Knocking at the Gate in Macbeth”
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Porter—gates of Hell and the weighing of sin—how does his speech create a framing for the
murders?
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Marking the Text—“On Knocking at the Gate in Macbeth”
Handout for Act 2 and future Acts
Mini-Word Journal—Select 2 of the best
examples of the word use in Act 2
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Speaker and Line
Paraphrase and Clarification
Conclusions
Share with your peer your two word journals