Macbeth Act 2 Summary

Summary Macbeth meets Banquo in the courtyard of his castle. Banquo is ill at ease(p) beca employment he mint non decide how he feels about the witches and their prophecies. Macbeth pretends indifference, but casu everyy play offs to run out about it if Banquo would like. They look into, and Banquo give ways. Macbeth again takes time to examine the pros and cons of going through with the plot, and begins to mold illusions, starting with a thorn floating in the air in front of him. He gatherms to go back and forth, but dismantletually decides to despatch Duncan. Enter To come on stage. Court A courtyard, possibly the forecourt. heraldic bearing a flannel mullein before himFleance is carrying a torch because this scene is gravel at night. Since the play was originally performed in the open air, in the by and bynoon, the torch helps us accept that its night. she The moon. I taket, tis later I assume that its later than midnight. Most people had no unblemished way to read time. Clocks were few and watches had non been invented. Theres husbandry in heaven / Their candles are all out. husbandry preservation All the candles of heaven (the stars) are dark, unseen. The night is cloudy. Take thee that too. Banquo asks his son, Fleance, to take slightly liaison else hes been carrying, in addition to his sword.A heavy summons lies like wizard upon me . .. Gives way to in repose Banquo is tired and wants to quiet, but he cant. This is a problem, since he k flats hell worry over unwelcome thoughts if he stays awake. He prays, briefly, that he wont be bothitherd by thoughts we naturally would think when we arrive at the time to reflect on things. Give me my sword. Banquo immediately asks for his sword back again, since someone is approaching. Its dark, so he cant yet tell its Macbeth. Whos there? Banquo asks Whos there? challenging the stranger to identify himself. not yet at rest? Why removent you at peace(p) to cheat?The exponents a-bed The king has already gone to his sleep in unusual plea undisputable, and / Sent forth great largess to your offices. The king has been in an unusually good mood, and has affordn gifts in great posting to your household. This diamond he greets your wife withal, / By the name of most manikin hostess Heres a gem the king asked me to give to you, to give to your wife, as thanks for all her kindness as hostess. conclude up / In measureless content. The king has flat gone to bed in his private chamber, where he is locked in shut up for the night, only happy with the way things are in measureless content. Being unprepared, / Our allow became the servant to defect / Which else should free have wrought. I wasnt expecting all this (I was unprepared), so I leave the dinner early (I defected). Otherwise I would have remained the whole time, and code what anyone would normally have done. Macbeth may be making excuses. Possibly he had so much on his reason that he couldnt be a good host and left earlier than expected. Possibly he but wanted time, alone, to think. Alls well. / I dreamt last night of the three weird sisters / To you they have presentd some verity. Banquo first says that theres no scathe done.He then invites Macbeth to talk about their meeting with the witches, by stating that he imagine of the weird sisters the sisters of Fate the three witches. He also reminds Macbeth that they have mouth truth so far. I think not of them Macbeth is lying, trying to show up unconcerned. He definitely has been thinking about what the witches have said. Yet, when we can offer an hour to serve, / We would spend it in some words upon that business, / If you would grant the time. But, if we have nothing better to do, we can talk about that, if you want. I dont mind.Macbeth wants to conceal how eager he is to talk about this. At your kindst leisure. When its convenient for you. If you shall cleave to my consent, when tis, / It shall make honour for you. If you agree to form with me, join me, when its time to do so, youll benefit by it. So I lose none / In seeking to sum up it, but still keep / My bosom franchised and allegiance clear, / I shall be counselld. As immense as this doesnt involve doing anything dishonorable, and as long as I can stay loyal and true, Ill honour along. My bosom franchised and allegiance clear my heart belongs to the kingI shall be counselld. Ill agree to your plans. The difference between the two men is becoming clear Macbeth is volition to do anything, including murder Duncan, to delineate to the throne Banquo wont unconstipated pursue honor for himself if he has to give up any deservingness to get there. Good repose the while Sleep well until we get together to talk about this. Macbeth is plausibly just covering up, acting naturally. As were about to see, he has already decided to act, and probably feels no more need to discuss things with Banquo. Is this a dagger which I see before me, / The hold tow ard my hand?Come, let me clutch thee. / I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. dagger sturdy, medium-sized knife, with a marque up to a foot long. let me clutch thee. / I have thee not Macbeth is trying to grasp the daggers handle, but theres nothing there. Macbeth has begun to see things, guilty visions, even before he has started down the road of murder. He is afraid of the immediate future, afraid of what he is planning to do. 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 heat-oppressed brain?Arent you able to be touched, just as you can be seen? Or are you just a vision, an imagined thing, an artifact of a fevered brain? I see thee yet, in form as palpable / As this which now I draw. I can still see you, just as solid-looking as this real dagger I now draw from its sheath. Thou marshallst me the way that I was going / And such an instrument I was to use. Your visual aspect e ncourages me to pursue what I was going to do (murder Duncan), and I was going to use a dagger to do it, so this must be a true indicator of what lies ahead.Mine eyes are made the fools o the another(prenominal) senses, / Or else worth all the rest I see thee still, / And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood, / Which was not so before. My eyes are every worthless (deceived by a false vision), or else theyre the most capable of my senses (able to perceive what my other senses cannot). I still see the dagger, and now I see flowing blood on the blade and handle that wasnt there earlier. Theres no such thing / It is the bloody business which informs / Thus to mine eyes. This is unreal. Its the horrifying act Im contemplating that makes these visions appear.Now oer the one half foundation / Nature seems dead, and painful dreams abuse / The curtaind sleep One half the world is in night, asleep, and nightmares take advantage of dreamers . .. witchcraft celebrates / Pale Hecates offer ings, and pass offd murder, / Alarumd by his sentinel, the wolf, / Whose howls his watch, therefore with his stealthy pace. witches dance with Hecate (chief goddess of spells and witchcraft), and murder approaches (alarmed by its sentinel, the wolf) . .. With Tarquins ravishing strides, towards his heading / Moves like a ghost. Tarquin was the son of a Roman king, infamous for his break of Lucretia.This story has been the subject of many art works, including Shakespeares own poem, The lash out of Lucrece. For more information about this story, see the Wikipedia article regarding Sextus Tarquinius. Thou sure and firm-set earth, / Hear not my steps, which way they walk, for fear / Thy very stones prate of my whereabout Macbeth is asking, dramatically, even the earth to not hear him walking, or know which way he goes, for fear the stones themselves would speak the truth they know that hes now going to murder Duncan. This is likely also a reference to deliverer entering Jerusalem when told he hould quiet his disciples, Jesus responded I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out. (Luke 1940) Or, in other words, truth cannot be silenced. Macbeth is hoping to evade this proverb. prate speak, talk And take the present nuisance from the time, Which now suits with it. Make the present less horrifying than it is. periods I threat, he lives / lecture to the heat of deeds too cold breath gives. While I stand here talking about it, Duncan is still alive. Words are cold and weak, compared to the heat and strength (importance) of deeds.I go, and it is done The doorbell has rung. Its time to act. Its settled. the bell invites me The bell summons me. Macbeth is still hoping he can evade at least part of the responsibility for what hes about to do. Now hes making the bell partly responsible. Hear it not, Duncan for it is a knell / That summons thee to heaven or to hell. Even now, Macbeth half hopes that the murder might n ot happen after all. He thinks that if Duncan doesnt hear the ringing of the bell (the knell), maybe he (Duncan) wont have to die. But Macbeth proceeds, in spite of his doubts and misgivings. AsideIn an aside, the pillowcase speaks privately to himself for a moment, or directly to the audience, or privately to some (but not all) of the other characters present. As a matter of convention, an aside is unendingly a true statement of what the character thinks. A character speechmaking in an aside may be mistaken, but may not be dishonest. An aside (again as a matter of convention) cannot be hear by those not spoken to. Exit He leaves the stage. Exeunt Banquo and Fleance. Exeunt Latin, literally they leave. Banquo and Fleance leave the stage, leaving Macbeth alone with a servant.