Aim: How is the tone, mood and theme in Macbeth illuminated by the symbols in Act II, scene ii, while contributing to the work as a whole?
Do Now: We read Act II, Scene ii of Macbeth today. Noah voiced Macbeth and Emily voiced Lady Macbeth.
A brief recap of Act II, scene ii is provided below. In addition, an interactive video will be provided at the end of this short summary in case you need more information.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPjtWm3VIvQ (another version of Act II Scene II of Macbeth)
Act 2 Scene 2 | Macbeth | 2018 | Royal Shakespeare Company
Lady Macbeth states how all the doors and the opportunity to kill King Duncan is unlocked. The drug-laced alcohol given to the chamberlains and guards have all knocked them out completely, leaving Duncan unguarded and prone to attack. While Duncan was busy killing King Duncan, there was an owl that let out a shriek. In the book it is referred to as a “fatal bellman”, which can be seen as a death messenger, in the way how the owl is delivering news that Duncan’s time is over. Lady Macbeth describes how she could’ve killed King Duncan, but stopped herself after how much he reminded her of her own dad sleeping.
After Duncan completed the murder, two of the guards woke up, one of them screaming “Murder!” and another laughing in their sleep. As soon as they woke up, they said their “Amen” and went back to sleep. Macbeth tried to say this too but could not, due to the fact that he just committed a sin/crime. In addition, Macbeth was hallucinating, and he heard the following line:
“Sleep no more! Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor shall sleep no more. Macbeth shall sleep no more.”
This quote says that Macbeth cannot sleep because he murdered an innocent person while sleeping, in turn murdering his own ability to sleep. Lady Macbeth just realized Macbeth came back with two bloody daggers in his hand when he was supposed to leave it with the chamberlains and smear Duncan’s blood over their faces to frame them of this crime. Lady Macbeth offers to do this job. While Lady Macbeth does this job, Macbeth hears an ominous knocking. He thinks that the people are catching up to him now and are here to bust him. Macbeth says:
“Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?”
This is Macbeth begging desperately for his sins to be quickly cleared so no one catches up to his murder. Lady Macbeth comes back with the job of framing the chamberlains done and they both go back to their chamber. The knocks are more persistent and they leave the scene to clear any suspicion on them.
“My hands are of your color, but I shame to wear a heart so white.”
Quick summary of Act II, scene ii- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KjCBNZnXVY&ab_channel=CourseHero
Ms. Peterson asked us a simple question: Why are all the actors in Shakespeares’ plays called the “king's men”? Well, this is because Shakespeare changed the acting company to “King’s Men”. In addition, our peer, Angel, knew that Shakespeare making the king get killed in a play was a really bad influence to commoners and peasants as these plays were seen all around the world. It was not only royalty that went, everyone went, commoners went ,and they did not want to influence bad ideas. Throughout all of Shakespeare plays, kings and high power, those plays never are reenacted on stage, “long live the king”.
An owl shrieks at the same time Macbeth kills Duncan; shrieking is not natural from an owl in nature. Milana mentioned how an owl signifies night/darkness which can be closely associated with evil behavior. The owl is a deathbell for Duncan, where it is hooting simultaneously.. an ominous, major omen.
Lady Macbeth is seen and perceived by people in this chapter as “weak”. Angel said that she was a little anxious and nervous about waiting for Macbeth’s return, compared to when she was being brave and convincing Macbeth to kill Duncan. Marianna mentioned how in the beginning, you could see Lady Macbeth calling Macbeth a coward for having mixed feelings about killing the king. However, in Line 16, Lady Macbeth stated that if the king did not look like her father, she wouldn't kill him. This all leaves us with a question in mind: Lady Macbeth didn't kill Duncan, so what makes her right to call Macbeth a coward?
In order to figure out Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s behavior after the murder, you have to keep track of dialogue. They both are really nervous, paranoid, and possibly hallucinating. The reason why Macbeth was so shocked after he killed Duncan was because he heard Donalbain and Malcolm. One of them screamed “Murder!” and one of them laughed. Someone said murder, did I get caught?
Macbeth’s subconsciousness feels guilty and he's hallucinating, and when you’re guilty you can start to hear things. A separate voice in our mind screams to us danger, you are going to get in trouble.
Macbeth murdering Duncan is a prime example of irony. He, who is murdered innocently in sleep by Macbeth. Now, as a result, Macbeth cant sleep because he murdered a sleeping innocent person, murdering his own ability to sleep and his character as a whole (your whole life changes after you murder someone).
Two bloody daggers killed the king. Macbeth carries two bloody daggers back to a room in plain sight which is a very suspicious and dangerous thing to do. How are you going to cover the crime? Lady Macbeth's plan was foiled because the plan was originally to hold the drunken guards accountable for the murder by leaving the two daggers with them. She then continues the plan of framing them on her own.
Many hyperboles and allusions are presented in Macbeth, specifically the one where it talks about Neptune’s ocean, “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?”. This allusion, said by Macbeth alludes to Neptune, the Roman God of the sea. He also asks for all the world's water to cleanse his hands, which are covered in Duncan's blood. There is also another usage of literary devices, “My hands are of your color, but I shame to wear a heart so white” which shows how when Lady Macbeth finishes the deed of putting the daggers back and smearing the blood on chamberlins, she’s just as covered “white” as macbeth. This means that she's just as guilty now. At the end of this scene they wash their hands with water, which makes water an important symbol and motif in Duncan’s murder.
Keep an eye out and notice for a second, what kind of man was Macbeth at the start?
Noble and honorable —---> Wicked and twisted by his ambitions
https://time.com/3816212/brain-murder-morality/
(Here’s an article I found while researching what happens in the brain when people kill)
Reflection
Today, I learned about tone, mood, theme, and literary devices such as allusions can enhance the reading experience of Macbeth as a whole. In Act II, scene ii, the story completely shifted its gears and changed the way the story will continue on. A huge event in the plot took place, Macbeth killing King Duncan. This event felt inevitable, as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have been eyeing on this perfect opportunity to get a chance and strike, as well as introducing new plot conflicts. Conflicts are strengthened, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have conflicts with themselves as they are trying to get over the sin they have just committed. The conflicts with their inner selves really come through at this chapter and this is captured via. literary devices (illusion) when Macbeth begs Neptune, God of the Sea, to purify him of his wrongdoings and remove the blood on his hands. The tone and mood of the story has gotten more ominous and darker after the killing, as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are both paranoid that someone is on to them, due to the knocking of the door. Macbeth also hears strange voices, where the voice says that he cannot sleep anymore, which is conveyed in a spooky and mysterious tone. The mood of the story gets way darker and spookier when the chamberlains scream “Murder” in their sleep right after Macbeth kills Duncan. How scared would you be after you hear murder, after you literally murdered someone? This lesson connected literary devices, mood, and tone together to prove how deep and intricate Macbeth can be. This scene really felt like a whole 180 degree turn of events, but it felt very good after finishing that scene knowing I tackled and processed that huge chunk of information. This lesson taught me how important symbols were in stories, as they keep repeating themselves, like the owl and water in Duncan’s murder. These skills will also sharpen and broaden my horizon of English Language skills which I can use in future writing pieces, essays, or analyzing tests. Overall, this lesson was super insightful and I hope that this blog did a good job of conveying the main points of the lesson.
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