Self & Society: British Lit @Hood College

"I will advise you where to plant yourselves, Aquaint you with the perfect spy o' th' time, The moment on 't, for 't must be done tonight..." (Act 3 scene 2 lines 148-150) Why couldn't Macbeth just commit the murder himself if he knew exactly what he wanted done to Banquo?

"Better be with the dead, Whom we, to gain our peace, have sent to peace, Than on the torture of the mind to lie in restless ecstasy."-(Act 3 Scene 2 Lines 22-25). Insomnia

"Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown/And put a barren scepter in my grip,/Thence to be wrenched with an unlineal hand,/No son of mine succeeding."(Act 3, Scene 1,66-69)

"If trembling I inhabit then, protest me The baby of a girl." (Act 3, scene 4, 127-128)

"Naught's had, all's spent, Where our desire is got without content. 'Tis safer to be that which we destroy Than by destruction dwell in doubtful joy." (3.2.6-9) https://imgflip.com/i/1tsntt

When Macbeth has the vision of the dagger it is very interesting to see how he reacts. He seems confused at first but not opposed to it. He actually asks to hold it. He is aware that it is a vision and that it is not real. He describes his mind as "feverishly excited", this implies that he wants to kill Duncan and that he is looking forward to it. He has this whole conversation with himself and ends up coming to terms with killing Duncan so that he can be king. I find this scene to be very interesting. The reader is able to know what Macbeth is thinking and understand him better.

After Macbeth kills Duncan, there are several references to demons and the unnatural, hinting (not so subtly) that Macbeth is going to hell. During Scene 2, no matter how much he tried, Macbeth could not say "Amen" after the men said, "God Bless Us." While he can still say the word itself, he is no longer able to use it in a prayer. Whether this is his own subconscious preventing him due to his own feelings of guilt or because he is well and truly damned is debatable. Later, Macbeth says, "No, this my hand will rather/ The multitudinous seas incarnadine,/ Making the green one red" (2.2.79-81). This seems to be saying that none of the seas in the world will wash his hands clean (that they would turn red instead), but the final line "Making the green one red" (2.2.81) could suggest Macbeth murdered out of envy (green with envy). Something I found to be interesting was when Lennox said, "Some say the Earth was feverous and did shake" (2.3....

Act II of Macbeth highlights Lady Macbeth's cunning and manipulative personality. After the murder, Macbeth is becoming paranoid and already showing signs of regret for killing the King. Meanwhile,  Lady Macbeth is able to stay clam and orchestrate the rest of their plan while her husband is panicking, being mindful not to leave any loose ends that could incriminate the two. However, Macbeth also shows his ability to manipulate others based on the way he reacts to the news of the King's murder the next morning, even though he was losing his mind the night before. Image from the Wikipedia page on drama

In act two we get a much deeper look at Lady Macbeth and I find her character very intriguing. In act two scene two Macbeth is completely overwhelmed with guilt but she seems almost unfazed. To me it seems like the two are absolute opposites. Macbeth claims that no water can wash the blood off his hands while Lady Macbeth states that "A little water clears us of the deed/ How easy it is then!" (Act II, Scene II: Lines 86,87) One of Lady Macbeths thoughts that really stood out to me were lines 82-83 of this same scene, she says "My hands are of your color, but I shame/ to wear a heart so white." Her response to the events that have just transpired, due strongly to her influence, is undeniably unique. Lady Macbeth is definitely a very strong and interesting character especially when paired with Macbeth himself.

Act 2 of Macbeth led me to thinking about the crime solving strategies of Macbeth's time. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth craftily blame the death of the king on his servants simply by placing the murder dagger wisely. The princes Malcolm and Donalbain are soon blamed because they fled the area. The court of assumptions is the judge of this murder already. The entire situation reminds one of the importance of even basic crime solving practices. At Macbeth's point in time it seems the only way to reliably catch the true criminal is to catch someone in the act.

Lady Macbeth, contemplating the sleeping King Duncan. image from Wikipedia           In act 2 scene 2, Macbeth tells his wife that the two servants had awoken before he could kill them  (lines 30-44). Included in this section of dialogue is more proof that he knows is actions are wrong "As they had seen me with these hangman's hands, List'ning their fear. I could not say "Amen" when they did say "God bless us". (lines 37-40) On line 44, Macbeth says that the Amen "stuck in his throat". what he did was murder, and he knows it so deep within the core of his being that his voice rebels at this false act of piety. His later inability to sleep is a further expression of this guilt.       Later, in scenes 3 and 4, we learn that Macbeth's claim that he discovered the servants in the act of murder and killed them, has been accepted, and that Donalbain and Malcolm are suspected of ordering the assassination, since they fled out of fear...