Macbeth: Act 2
pp. 343Literary Terms, Elements, & Techniques to Know:
Blank verse
Iamb
Trochaic Foot
Anapestic Foot
Prose
Comic relief
Fatal Flaw
Scene 1:
1. For clarity of meaning, some lines of blank verse do not require a pause at the end.
Review ll. 12-17: which lines do not require a pause?
2. Reading Check: Where and when do Macbeth and Banquo meet? (comprehension)
3. In Macbeth’s soliloquy in ll. 33-61, what does he see?
What conclusion can you draw from this vision?
At what point does he seem to recover from his hallucination? How do you know?
4. How does Shakespeare use the soliloquy to give a voice to Macbeth’s internal
conflict? (spiral review)
Scene 2:
1. Consider ll. 1-13. How has Lady Macbeth contributed to the murder plot?
Why did she not do the deed herself?
2. What mood do lines 15-20 create?
3. As Macbeth listens carefully to the two sleepers, he is unable to respond to the
blessing spoken by one of them. Why does this have significance for him? (motivation)
4. Review lines 34-38. What qualities does Macbeth ascribe to sleep?
What does he mean by the metaphor, “Glamis hath murdered sleep. . . “?
5. Reading check: Why are Macbeth & Lady Macbeth frightened at the end of Scene 2?
Scene 3:
1. How does the shift from verse to prose in scene 3 and the Porter’s remarks affect the
mood?
2. Why is the Porter’s reaction to the knocking so different from that of Macbeth & Lady
Macbeth? (motivation)
3. In what ways does Shakespeare utilize comedy/comic relief in this scene with the
Porter?
4. To what gate does the porter compare the gate of Macbeth’s castle? How might this
be unwittingly appropriate?
5. Why does the dialogue change back to verse from prose in ll. 43, 44?
6. What signs, omens, and portents are there in ll. 55-62?
7. Analyzing Blank Verse: Read ll. 75-81. Where should you not pause at the end of
lines?
8. What comparison does Macduff make between sleep & death?
9. In l. 96, what does Macbeth mean by “The wine of life”? (spiral review)
10. What is Macbeth’s motivation with the various speeches he makes on page 351?
11. Paraphrase Macbeth’s words in ll. 92-7.
12. According to Lennox, what evidence proves that the guards killed Duncan?
How would this be different today? (modern-day science link)
13. What do Macbeth’s words in ll. 98-100 mean? (interpret)
14. What was Macbeth’s “reaction to the murder”? Why?
15. Lady Macbeth faints at the news. Opinion: Real or faked? Why?
16. What is the biggest concern of Duncan’s sons in ll. 120-6 & 136-47? (motivation)
17. What is the significance of Banquo’s words in ll. 127-33? What might you predict
as a result? (cause/effect)
18. What two recent events might have made Banquo think someone would have a
reason for killing the king? (making connections)
19. What is the strategy planned by Malcolm & Donalbain? Why?
Scene 4:
1. Scan line 23:
Those that Macbeth hath slain.
Is it iambic pentameter? If not, what is it?
2. In ll. 8-9, Ross notes that it is dark out, when it should be light. What is the
significance/symbolism?
3. The old man says, “’Tis unnatural,/Even like the deed that’s done.” What does this
indicate? (interpret)
4. Based on ll. 22-30, what is now believed to have been the plot behind the murder?
Why?
CONCLUSION:
1. In what way do the strange occurrences in Scene 4 relate to the Elizabethan notion of
an orderly and interconnected universe? (historical connection)
2. What question does Ross ask that indicates he doubts the grooms committed the
murder? Explain. (analyze)
3. (making judgments) Is a political assassination like the one Macbeth commits ever
justifiable? Why? Why not?
Name ___________________________
Directions: Examine the following metaphors in the context of Macbeth. Identify the
speaker, the listener, and the meaning of each metaphor.
Act 2, Scene 1:
Lines 4 & 5: “There’s husbandry in heaven. Their candles are all out.”
Speaker: ______________________ Listener: _________________________
Meaning: _______________________________________________________
Act 2 Scene 2:
Line 3: “fatal bellman”
Speaker: ______________________ Listener: _________________________
Meaning: _______________________________________________________
Line 39: “Chief nourisher in life’s feast”
Speaker: ______________________ Listener: _________________________
Meaning: _______________________________________________________
Lines 52,53: “. . .The sleeping and the dead are but as pictures.”
Speaker: ______________________ Listener: _________________________
Meaning: _______________________________________________________
Act 2 Scene 3:
Lines 1-17: Consider all of the metaphors in the porter’s opening speech. . .
Speaker: ______________________ Listener: _________________________
Meaning: _______________________________________________________
Lines 61, 62: “Most sacrilegious murder hath broke ope/ The Lord’s anointed temple”
Speaker: ______________________ Listener: _________________________
Meaning: _______________________________________________________
Lines 92 & 93: “The spring, the head, the fountain of your blood/ Is stopped; the very
source of it is stopped.”
Speaker: ______________________ Listener: _________________________
Meaning: _______________________________________________________
Act 2, Scene 4
Lines 33 & 34: “The sacred storehouse of his predecessors/ And guardian of their bones.
Speaker: ______________________ Listener: _________________________
Meaning: _______________________________________________________
Line 38: “Lest our old robes sit easier than our new!”
Speaker: ______________________ Listener: _________________________
Meaning: _______________________________________________________