Macbeth Act 2

1. Macbeth Act 2 Kylie, Molly, Lindsay, Alyssa

2. The Re-huminzation of Lady Macbeth Scene 1: ( Lines 15-20) "What sir, not yet at rest? The King's abed/ He hath been in unusual pleasure, and/ Sent forth great largeness to your offices/ This diamond he greets your wife withal/ By name of most kind hostess, and shut up/ In measureless content. Lady Macbeth does not appear in this scene, but she is ironically given a diamond from Duncan because of her wonderful hospitality, even though she's plotting to assassinate him a. Specifically an example of dramatic irony.

3. Scene 2 (When she is actually present) (Lines 1-11) Shows that she is attempting to begin her plan, but is very nervous. However, she quickly banishes this unnerving feeling by mocking the drunk guards. " That which hath made them drunk hath made me bold/ What hath quenched them hath given me fire/ Hark! - Peace/ It was the owl that shrieked, the fatal bellman/ Which gives the stern'st good-night. He is about it/ The doors are open, and the surfeited grooms/ Do mock their charge with snores. I have drugged their possets/ That death and nature do contend about them/ Whether they live or die."

4. ( Lines 13-17) - Still paranoid - "Has he not resembled my father as he slept, I had done't" a. even though she wants to cast away her ability to nurture and be a man's man, she still has a touch of humanity left. Alack, I am afraid they have awaked/ And 'tis done. Th'attempt and not the deed/ Confounds us. Hark!- I laid their daggers ready;/ He could not miss 'em. Had he not resembled/ My father as he slept, I had done't ".

5. Line 18 - When Macbeth comes back with the bloody daggers she then gladly call him her husband. a. Giving him back a bit of his manhood Lines (28-29) -Dialogue between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. a. Macbeth's guilt juxtaposes her ease Macbeth: This is a sorry sight Lady Macbeth: A foolish thought, to say a sorry thought.

6. Lines (28-46) -Dialogue between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. a. Macbeth's guilt juxtaposes her ease b. The guilt is more of a realization that he has officially strayed from God, but she does not care about religious sanctity. c. Her faith in God and herself were willingly given up to complete this deed. Her faith is now with chance/ the spirits.

7. (Lines 58-64 and Lines 68-73( read later)) a. Quickly takes back the compliments she gave him and calls him a coward. b. By taking the daggers, she officially i. unsexes herself ii. Takes responsibility for Duncan's death, a man who looks like her father. iii. Loses her humanity

8. Scene 3: (Lines 96-99) Macduff: "O gentle Lady/ Tis not for you to hear what I can speak/ The repetition in a woman's ear/ Would murder as it fell" - Shows how well her feminine facade is holding up. - Completely juxtaposes her actual character.

9. Manhood "Whiles I threat, he lives: Words to the heat of deeds too cold breath gives." (2:1:61-62) In Macbeth's soliloquy, he acknowledges that his threatening words have no affect on Duncan. The more he speaks, the more time he takes to go through with his heated words while his courage lessens. Macbeth must take action before he talks himself out of it. "That which hath made them drunk hath made me bold. What hath quenched them hath given me fire." (2:2:1-2) Lady Macbeth feels a sense of "strength" or "masculinity" as her plan unfolds. She feels powerful as she makes her victims weak.

10. MACBETH Still it cried, “Sleep no more!” to all the house. “Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor Shall sleep no more. Macbeth shall sleep no more.” LADY MACBETH Who was it that thus cried? Why, worthy thane, You do unbend your noble strength to think So brainsickly of things. Go get some water, And wash this filthy witness from your hand. Why did you bring these daggers from the place? They must lie there. Go carry them and smear The sleepy grooms with blood. MACBETH I'll go no more: I am afraid to think what I have done; Look on ’t again I dare not. LADY MACBETH Infirm of purpose! Give me the daggers. The sleeping and the dead Are but as pictures. 'Tis the eye of childhood That fears a painted devil. If he do bleed, I’ll gild the faces of the grooms withal, For it must seem their guilt. (2:2:39-55) ......... LADY MACBETH My hands are of your color, but I shame To wear a heart so white. (2:2:62-63) Macbeth's guilty conscience is getting to him as he thinks he hears people calling for revenge on him. But Lady Mac questions his manhood when she tells him that his strength becomes weak when he thinks of such foolish things. Macbeth admits to being afraid of returning to the scene to put the bloody daggers with the drugged guards and Lady mac exclaims his weakness once again. She then compares him (his manhood) to a child afraid of a pretend/painted devil. When Lady Mac returns from putting the daggers back, she tells Macbeth that she would be ashamed if her heart was so pale and weak. Comparing her strong heart to his feeble heart.

11. Presence of The Witches - "All’s well. I dreamt last night of the three weird sisters: To you they have showed some truth." "I think not of them. Yet, when we can entreat an hour to serve, We would spend it in some words upon that business, If you would grant the time." The witches seem to be influencing those who surround Macbeth, i.e; Lady Macbeth and in this case, Banquo. The intentions of the witches may be to affect Macbeth's family and friends in order to influence his decision making, which is not directly his own - "Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee. I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible To feeling as to sight? Or art thou but A dagger of the mind, a false creation, Proceeding from the eat-oppressèd brain? I see thee yet, in form as palpable As this which now I draw." Whether Macbeth is directly being influenced by the Witches at this point in time, or the internal pressure from his need to be all powerful has driven him mad into hallucinations, the witches are seemingly responsible. - "Witchcraft celebrates Pale Hecate’s offerings, and withered murder, Alarumed by his sentinel, the wolf, Whose howl’s his watch, thus with his stealthy pace, With Tarquin’s ravishing strides, towards his design Moves like a ghost." The idea that Macbeth is being "led" or "guided" in the direction that leads him to murder Duncan insinuates that he is being led by an evil force, which would undoubtedly be the weird sisters. As Macbeth's wavering determination to follow through with the murder has already been proven, his current confidence would be surprising if it was self-induced.

12. Witches Continued "The bell is telling me to do it." This quote implies that Macbeth still is losing confidence, and therefore holding onto an incremental part of his humanity, but this influence overpowers him, as he still commits murder.

13. Monarchy - "You’re not asleep yet, sir? The king’s in bed. He’s been in an unusually good mood and has granted many gifts to your household and servants. This diamond is a present from him to your wife for her boundless hospitality." Showering the Macbeth's with wonderful gifts and a positive attitude may not be in Macbeth's favor. Since Macbeth and Lady Macbeth seemingly have a tension between them, and Macbeth is not able to offer her much, Macbeth has more incentive to want to become king because the king is providing Macbeth and his wife with things Macbeth could not provide on his own, such as lavish diamonds. Shakespeare seems to favor democracy in this case, because he depicts hierarchy to always be a vile competition and a constant power struggle. Divine rule seems to be something of worship and therefore explains the motive behind Macbeth's need to kill. also may explain the jealousy felt by the weird sisters projected through Macbeth.

14. Dehumanization of Macbeth Scene 1: -Already becoming more emotionless and disinterested in his distraction. (Not sleeping, not thinking about the witches) -Macbeth's soliloquy -Questions reality vs. hallucination -"heat-oppressèd brain" - he doesn't feel like his normal self -"Now o'er the one half-world/Nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse/The curtained sleep" - negative, dehumanized, doesn't care -Still emotional ("fear" "horror") but personal feelings are rare.

15. Dehumanization of Macbeth Scene 2: -Macbeth enters the scene with bloody daggers and only says "I have done the deed. Didst thou not hear a noise?" -"(looking at his hands) This is a sorry sight." - No real remorse, almost stating it factually. -"But wherefore could not I pronounce 'Amen'?/I had most need of blessing, and 'Amen'/Stuck in my throat." - Some lasting emotion trying to come through. -Dehumanization encouraged by Lady Macbeth: "These deeds must not be thought/After these ways. So, it will make us mad." -"I'll go no more:/I am afraid to think what I have done;/Look on’t again I dare not." - Trying to suppress his thoughts -Begins to show remorse in an extreme: -"Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood/Clean from my hand?" -"To know my deed, ’twere best not know myself"

16. Dehumanization of Macbeth Scene 3 -Feigns innocence, no noticeable signs of nervousness -"Had I but died an hour before this chance,/I had lived a blessèd 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." -Committed to see his plan through.