Macbeth Act 2/3 Test

Themes

• Supernatural Entities

• Blood and Death Imagery

• Masculinity

• Natural Order

• Ambition

• Appearance VS Reality

Supernatural entities

• Visions of the dagger (2.1.41-42)

• Banquo’s Ghost (3.4.)

Blood and Death Imagery

• Floating bloody dagger b4 Duncan death (2.1.42-42)

• Bell rings before Duncan death, (knell) (2.1.70-1)

• Lady Macbeth mentions owl screeches and crickets (elizabethan omens) (2.2.20)

• Macbeth with bloody hands and daggers. (2.2.47-8)

• Macbeth/Lady Macbeth blood on hands (2.2.77-85)

• Porter pretending his is porter of the gate of hell (2.3.27-9)

• Macbeth kills Diuncan’s guards after the body is revealed. (2.3.123)

• Macduff and Ross discussing the murder (2.4.33)

  —-Act 3—

• Banquo’s murder (light going out) (3.3.25-26)

• Macbeth discussing future and its violence (3.4.155)

Masculinity

• Lady macbeth scolding the huzz for being too weak to return the daggers. (2.2.68-70)

  —- Act 3 —-

• Macbeth’s change in attitude towards exuding confidence as king. (3.1)

Natural Order

• natural upheavals of nature after Duncan’s death, a “Divinely“ appointed king. (2.3)

• Macduff and Ross telling old priest about crazy unnatural occurrences (dark sky during the day, owl killed a falcon, Duncan’s trained horse fought and ate each other.) (2.4)

ambition

• Macbeth: “to be thus is nothing, But to safely thus” (why be king at all if not safe/secure?) (3.1)

• Macbeth challenging fate by hiring assassins for Banquo. (3.1.75-76)

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Appearance VS Reality

• Macbeth: “Make our face visards to our hearts, disguising what they are.” (Let us effectively deceive those around us.) (3.2.37-8) (similar to “look like the flower be be the serpent beneath”)

Motifs in Act 2/3

• Clothing

• foul is fair

clothing

Macduff to Ross: “Lest our old robes sit easier than our new” (In case we find out that things aren’t as good as they used to be.) (2.4.50)

Foul is fair

Literally this:

• Macbeth: “Make our face visards to our hearts, disguising what they are.” (Let us effectively deceive those around us.) (3.2.37-8) (similar to “look like the flower but be the serpent beneath”)

scene summaries (act 2) scene 1

• Banquo and Fleance have a discussion in the Inverness courtyard, and Banquo wants to resist sleep, as it makes him dream of the prophecies.

• Macbeth enters and lies to Banquo that he hasn’t thought of the witches at all since.

• Banquo and Fleance leave, and Macbeth starts having visions of a floating dagger pointing to the king, soaked in blood.

• A bell rings, (the signal from Lady M that the retainers are asleep), and he heads towards Duncan’s chamber.

scene summaries (act 2) scene 2

• Lady M is gassing herself up over her performance with the guards and thinking about Macbeth and the murder when she hears him cry out, and she fears that something may have gone wrong.

• She can’t understand how Macbeth could fail, thinking that she prepared everything for it, only remembering that she would’ve done it herself had Duncan not looked like her father.

• Macbeth returns, hands covered in blood, saying that the retainers did awake, but he hushed them to sleep, but couldn’t say amen with them as they fell asleep.

• While there, he thinks he heard a voice cry out: “Sleep no more, Macbeth doth murder sleep.”

• Lady M tries to comfort her husband, but gets mad when she sees that he still has the daggers. She leaves and takes the daggers back to frame the retainers, saying that she would be ashamed to be that cowardly.

• while she’s gone, Macbeth hears knocking art the front door, and he asks desperately, “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood Clean from my hand?” (2.2.58–59). The knocking resumes as Lady M gets back, and she tells him to go back to bed, saying that a little water will clea any suspicion.

scene summaries (act 2) scene 3

• a porter stumbles towards the knocking, joking that he is the porter of the gates of hell. he asks who’s there, and its Macduff and Lennox, who complain about the speed of the service (porter was slizzored)

• Macbeth enters, and Macduff asks to see the king, and Macbeth takes him. Macduff enters the room, and then comes back out screaming bloody murder.

• A crowd forms, and Duncans sons, Donalbain and Malcom realize that they would be next on the food chain. Macbeth, in a fit of “Pious Rage”, kills the two retainers, who were found with the daggers.

• Macduff finds the new deaths suspicious and questions Macbeth a little, and Lady M clutches up by fainting to draw attention.

• Malcolm and Donalbain flee to England and Ireland respectively. The other nobles have a meeting.

scene summaries (act 2) scene 4

• Ross chats it up with an old dude (priest), and they discuss the strange and unnatural occurrences since Duncans death. literal dark days, owls eating falcons, and Duncans horses ate each other.

• They exchange theories on the murders, and suspicion falls to the sons, who have now left. Macduff says that he will not attend Macbeth’s coronation, and he heads home.

scene summaries (act 3) scene 1

• At the royal palace (forres), Banquo is thinking about the prophecies and Macbeth’s coronation. If Macbeth’s prophecies came true, why can’t his?

• Macbeth enters with Queen M, and they ask him to attend their feast that night. Banquo tells Macbeth that he will be going horse-riding that afternoon.

• Macbeth goes on a soliloquy, talking about how Banquo is the only man he fears, noting that if his prophecy comes true, he will hold a “fruitless crown.” as the line will pass to Banquo’s sons.

• Macbeth’s servant arrives with two hired assassins, who he convinces to kill Banquo by reminding them of all he has done to them in the past. They are to ambush him and Fleance while they are horse riding.

scene summaries (act 3) scene 2

• Macbeth and Queen M have a discussion, and Macbeth remarks that the business of killing Duncan is not yet over, and that there are still threats to his throne. Queen M asks who, and he says that he will handle it, not telling her of his plot against Banquo an Fleance.

scene summaries (act 3) scene 3

• its dusk, and the two assassins, now joined by the third, are waiting to ambush Banquo and Fleance. when the pair arrive, one of the assassins put outs their torch. (symbolism). Banquo is murdered, and his dying words tell an escaping Fleance to avenge him.

scene summaries (act 3) scene 4

• we open on the feast, where macbeth talks to his assassins for the moment, learning about the encounter. Macbeth starts heading to his chair.

• Banquo’s ghost is sitting in Macbeth’s chair, and Macbeth starts talking to it, looking crazy for talking to his own chair. Queen M consoles the huzz, insulting his manhood and calling him childish. the ghost disappears

• Macbeth toasts his company, and Banquo’s ghost reappears, and he goes ballistic, so bad that Queen M must send everybody home, on account of Macbeth’s “infirmity”.

• Macbeth and Queen M have a discussion, noting Macduff’s dissociation from the court, acts bordering on treason. Macbeth resolves to go back to the witches for more info.

scene summaries (act 3) scene 5

• the witches meet with hecate, who scolds them for intefereing with Macbeth without her consult. sahe then declares herself head of the Macbeth comittee henceforth.

• they discuss Macbeths return, and decide to continue leading him on, appealing to his sense of security and deepening his confusion.

scene summaries (act 3) scene 6

• Lennox has a discussion with another lord, discussing the state of the kingdom. Banquo’s death has been officially declared Fleance’s fault. Lennox (and Macbeth) has been informed that Malcolm is pleading with the King of England for aid, an army to save Scotland from Macbeth. Macbeth is prepping for war himself.

symbolism

the use of symbols to signify ideas and qualities by giving them symbolic meanings that are different from their literal one. it can take different forms, most often being an object representing another, to give it a new meaning that holds more significance.

heroic couplet

a traditional form for English poetry, commonly used in epic and narrative poetry, and consisting of a rhyming pair of lines in iambic pentameter (AA).to be heroic, needs a heroic setting. (a bit subjective but should feel obvious under scrutiny.)

archetypes

a recurrent narrative design, pattern of action, character type, theme or image. Identifiable in a wide variety of literature.

tragic hero (an archetype)

a great person who has one tragic flaw which brings about their ultimate downfall. The character struggles against their fate, but ultimately succumbs to it. As the hero accepts the consequences, they teach the audience a lesson about life.

Macbeth’s character growth since Act 1

Macbeth, in Act 1, was much more self-assured, and loyal to his king. He was still ambitious, but not enough to commit murder. He was close with his friends and recognized as a great man.

Now, in Act 3, his thoughts and actions are ruled by the prophecies, and they shape every relationship he has. They have twisted his ambition into something much darker and malicious. He turns on friends and can’t evoke loyalty from his subjects.

Furthermore, hiring murderers highlights his political power and moral weakness. shows his cowardice and desire to remain innocent.

Whats up with #BanqBeth?

Macbeth, now as king, has a strained relationship with Banquo. Banquo is suspicious of Macbeth’s role in Duncan’s death, and now believes in the witches’ prophecy, hoping for a line of kings himself. They also no longer trust each other. Macbeth outright states that Banquo is the only man in Scotland that he fears, because of the prophecies. If Banquo is to have kings, what must happen to Macbeth? This suspicion is what drives him to plot his murder.

Furthermore, Banquo’s ghost is the only one that haunts him, because Banquo’s death is more significant. He plays a crucial role because as someone who has heard the prophecies just like Macbeth, they come from the same starting point. And yet, he still aligns himself with, AND REPRESENTS what’s good and just, highlighting Macbeth’s flaws (character foil).

How Does Macbeth show his guilt?

He feels himself unforgivable, tb to “Could all Neptune’s ocean cleanse the blood from my hands?”. He is losing sleep over it too. (not very masculine of him ngl.)

How does Lady M show her guilt?

She feels forgivable. tb to “A little water will clear them of the deed.” Not seeing the deeper meaning.