Macbeth Act 2 Summary

Summary Macbeth meets Banquo in the courtyard of his castle. Banquo is restless because he cannot try how he feels virtually the witches and their prophecies. Macbeth pretends indifference, tho casu all(prenominal)y agrees to talk about it if Banquo would like. They agree, and Banquo gos. Macbeth again takes cadence to examine the pros and cons of going through with the plot, and begins to see illusions, starting with a obelisk floating in the air in front of him. He seems to go back and forth, but eventually decides to kill Duncan. Enter To come on stage. solicit A courtyard, possibly the forecourt. bearing a torch before himFleance is carrying a torch because this scene is set at night. Since the play was originally performed in the pass air, in the afternoon, 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 accurate air to tell time. Clocks were few and watches had not been invented. There s husbandry in heaven / Their candles atomic number 18 all out. husbandry saving 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 something else hes been carrying, in addition to his leaf blade.A heavy summons lies like lead upon me . .. Gives focusing to in repose Banquo is tired and wants to sleep, but he cant. This is a problem, since he hit the hays hell worry over unwelcome thoughts if he stays awake. He prays, briefly, that he wont be bothered by thoughts we naturally would think when we have 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 nonetheless tell its Macbeth. Whos there? Banquo asks Whos there? intriguing the stranger to identify himself. not yet at rest? Why havent you gone to bed?The kings a-bed The king has already gone to his sleep in unusual pleasure, and / Sent forth grand largess to your offices. The king has been in an unusually good mood, and has micturaten gifts in great measure to your household. This diamond he greets your wife withal, / By the name of most kind 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. shut up / In measureless content. The king has now gone to bed in his private chamber, where he is locked in shut up for the night, completely happy with the elan things are in measureless content. Being unprepared, / Our will became the servant to blot / Which else should free have wrought. I wasnt expecting all this (I was unprepared), so I left the dinner early (I defected). Otherwise I would have remained the whole time, and do what anyone would normally have done. Macbeth whitethorn be making excuses. Possibly he had so much on his mind that he couldnt be a good host and left earlier than expected. Possibly he just wanted time, alone, to think. Alls w ell. / I dreamt last night of the three eldritch sisters / To you they have showd some truth. Banquo first says that theres no harm done.He then invites Macbeth to talk about their meeting with the witches, by stating that he dreamed of the weird sisters the sisters of Fate the three witches. He also reminds Macbeth that they have spoken truth so far. I think not of them Macbeth is lying, trying to take care unconcerned. He definitely has been thinking about what the witches have said. Yet, when we can entreat an hour to serve, / We would spend it in some words upon that business, / If you would grant the time. still, if we have cypher 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 act with me, join me, when its time to do so, youll benefit by it. So I unlo ad none / In seeking to augment it, but still keep / My bosom franchised and allegiance clear, / I shall be counselld. As long as this doesnt involve doing anything dishonorable, and as long as I can stay loyal and true, Ill follow 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 willing to do anything, including get through Duncan, to plump to the throne Banquo wont even pursue honor for himself if he has to give up any virtue to get there. Good repose the while Sleep well until we get together to talk about this. Macbeth is probably 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 toughie which I see before me, / The handle toward my hand?Come, let me clutch thee. / I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. dagger sturdy, medi um-sized knife, with a blade up to a foot long. let me clutch thee. / I have thee not Macbeth is trying to labor 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 terrified 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 inconclusive 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 appearance encourages 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 other 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 either 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 surly act Im contemplating that makes these visions appear.Now oer the one half military man / Nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse / The curtaind sleep One half the world is in night, asleep, and nightmares take advantage of dreamers . .. witchcraft celebrates / Pale Hecates offerings, and witherd murder, / Alarumd by his sentinel, the wolf, / Whose howls his watch, thus with his surreptitiou s 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 design / Moves like a ghost. Tarquin was the son of a Roman king, infamous for his rape of Lucretia.This story has been the compositors case of many art works, including Shakespeares own poem, The Rape 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 delivery boy 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 usher in horror from the time, Which now suits with it. Make the present less horrifying than it is. parts I threat, he lives / Words 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 bell 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 not happen after all. He thinks that if Duncan doesnt hear the ringing of the bell (the knell), maybe he (Duncan) wont have t o die. But Macbeth proceeds, in spite of his doubts and misgivings. AsideIn an aside, the character 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 weigh of convention, an aside is always a true statement of what the character thinks. A character speaking in an aside may be mistaken, but may not be dishonest. An aside (again as a matter of convention) cannot be heard 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.