Act Two: Macbeth
2.1 – pathetic fallacy: weather matches the mood, evil and
foreboding
- “Dagger Soliloquy” – hallucination, disturbed emotional
state, false appearance of dagger, beckons him to kill
- bell tolls Duncan’s murder
2.2 – soliloquy of Lady Macbeth’s inner thoughts re:
murder (incapable of killing Duncan herself – looks like
Father)
- emotional state, both before and after the murder, is
agitated and confused
- Macbeth is concerned that he won’t be able to sleep,
because of his guilt (conscience)
- sleep motif in play (dreams/hallucinations)
- hyperbole: exaggeration, “Neptune’s oceans” cannot
“wash the blood off” even though L. Macbeth feels that “A
little water clears us of this deed.”
- “blood” seeps into every action – brain
2.3: comic relief: drunken porter, speaks of equivocation
(doubt, unsure – connected with Gunpowder plot)
- Pathetic fallacy – “night has been unruly” “Twas a rough
night” (understatement)
- “discovery scene” – contrast of calm/quiet/worried about
noises and the full alarm
- oxymorons and paradoxes in Macbeth’s response –
contradiction of his emotional state/false appearance
- Duncan’s sons flee and are suspects “daggers in men’s
smiles”
2.4: nature is out of joint
- Nemesis character (arch rival) – Macduff – won’t go to
Scone to watch Macbeth take up the Scottish crown
1. Explain the role of pathetic fallacy in Act 2. (3)
2. “Macbeth doth murder sleep” - Did Macbeth dream
before he committed murder? Will he dream now?
Does he dream in colour? Is the mention of dreams
purely metaphoric? How does this relate to your own
experiences with dreaming? Using references from
this Act, discuss your opinions of Macbeth and his
dreams. (6)
3. Bloom calls this play a “phantasmagoria of murder
and imagination.” It is this “play” of imagination that
so interested Freud. What specific aspects of Act 2
would Freud have found fascinating? Explain your
points with direct references from Act 2. (6)