Macbeth Act 2, scenes 1 and 2 Essay

In Act 2 Banquo is found with his son Fleance, in the courtyard of Macbeths castle at witching hour. The nighttime is cold and dark, with fog surrounding the castles boundaries.Banquo is be delayming nervous and this is unpatterned from what he says to his son, Fleance,Hold, take my sword. Theres factory farm in heaven, Their candles are all kayoed. Take thee that too.Even though it is unambiguous he would like to rest, he is fearful of nightmares whilst he sleeps, the following repeat suggests this,A heavy summons lies like lead upon me, And yet I would not sleep merciful powers, Restrain in me the cursed thoughts that constitution Gives way to in response.As Banquo was patrolling the area he hears a noise, Whos there? startled and scared at this he says to Fleance, Give me my sword. Banquo is pall and is trying to maintain full alert, showing he is on leap listening out for any anything and everything that cleverness occur.As Macbeth steps out of the dark, slightly vis ible by Banquo, Macbeth replies A friend Banquo whole steps relieved as he can now put his beware at rest, because he has seen a friendly face at such(prenominal) time of night and hostile surroundings.After Macbeth had been socialising with Banquo, Banquo remembers to ask Macbeth a question that had been pitiful him about the witches,I dreamed last night of the three spiritual sisters To you they showed some truth.Macbeth tries quickly to change the subject by makeing, I stand for not of them this is because he does not want to be linked to the maul of Duncan that Macbeth is plotting.Macbeth past tries to bribe Banquo, we see this from If you shall cleave to my consent, when tis, it shall make whiteness for you.By this Macbeth is trying to imply that if Banquo stands by him and stays loyal to him, when he Macbeth ask him, Banquo will not regret it and will be honoured by others.Banquo replies,So I lose none In see faggot to augment it, only still keep My bosom franchise d and allegiance watch, I shall be counselled.Which essentially translates, as long as Banquo does not have to risk his honour in providing his life and can keep a clear conscience, then he will be advised by Macbeth. This indicates that Banquo might be picking up on Macbeths intentions on becoming king of Scotland.So far we can see the differences in the two characters personalities. Banquo is a loyal person, kind, open to discussions, friendly and honourable to the king Duncan as comfortably as to his friends and family. On the other debate Macbeth is the complete opposite in every way, he appears to be dishonourable (as we have he is planning Duncans murder), a liar, untrustworthy and an actor of personalities.When Macbeth is on his own his mind becomes delusional goes into a frenzy he starts to think about the berth affects of his actions, but is hyped up and ready to do the deed of butchering Duncan.It is clear from, Is this a dagger that I see before me, The handle tow ards my hand? Come, let me clutch thee I have thee not, and yet I see thee still, that Macbeth is hallucinating.However, during the build up to the murder Macbeth continues to be drawn by the reckon of the dagger to Duncans room.I see thee still and on thy mark and dudgeon gouts of blood, which was not so before.From this we are informed that Macbeth has now imagined Duncans blood on the dagger, but this does not put Macbeth off as we see from when the bell is rung, which was a sign from Lady Macbeth that the coast was clear. Macbeth does not hesitate as he confidently says,I go, and it is done. The bell invites me. expose it not, Duncan, for it is a knell that summons thee to heaven or to hell.Yet earlier, in Act 1 scene 7 we see that Macbeth had doubts about murdering Duncan as he thinks,If it were done when tis done, then twere well it were done quickly. If th blackwash could trammel up the consequence and catch with his surcease, success, that but his blow might be the be-all and the end all hereThis is where we realise he is whole step uneasy about killing his friend and worrying about the executable consequences.The reason Macbeth changed his mind about murdering Duncan is because Macbeth really wanted to be top executive more than anything, and once the witches prophesised that this would happen, it made Macbeth more convinced that he should deport out the murder.The changes of his mind show us that Macbeth is easily misled. I feel Macbeth would not have been brave or foolish enough to kill Duncan had his wife not persuaded him to do it as we see from her planning and convince Macbeth that their murder wont fail,We fail? But screw your fortitude to the sticking place, and well not fail. When Duncan is asleep, whereto the rather shall his days hard excursion soundly invite him.Although we have seen Macbeths guilt about absent to kill his friend and someone who he really respects, he is operate to follow through his ambition of becoming king because of his wife, Lady Macbeth.in one case Macbeth has killed Duncan he feels guilty which causes him to become hysterical. Although his wife tries to calm him down it is evident that she fails because she instructs him to,Go get some water and wash this filthy avouch from your hands.After washing his hands Macbeth still thinks the blood is still on him, due to the burden he is carrying from the dirty deed he carried out.He is so ridden with guilt he cannot even bring himself to say Amen because it is such a religious word, and he knows that now he has committed such a crime, he cannot be a holy person.Macbeth is so hag-ridden in his mind that he imagines he hears a voice wawl sleep no more. He feels he will be punished for killing a defenceless man and in collapse he will be deprived of sleep.He refuses to go stake into Duncans chamber because the sin he has performed is so great he cannot face up to it again, we learn this from,Ill go no more. I am afraid to think what I h ave done, look ont again, I dare not.The following quotes also confirm his guilt,To know my deed, twere best not know myself. Which seems to suggest that he would like to abjure himself, and Wake Duncan with thy knocking I would thou couldst implies that Macbeth wishes that Duncan would wake up at the sound of the noises Macbeth hears.Lady Macbeth is not able to fight off Macbeths mood swings and conscience. She is trying to be positive and tries to have an optimistic answer for all his negative comments. We see this many times, one example is afterward Macbeth has killed Duncan he says,This is a sorry sight, but his wife replies A foolish thought, to say a sorry sight.Act 2 ends with Macbeth inveterate to feel guilty and on edge with every noise he hears.