“Macbeth”: An Exploration of the dramatic nature of Act 2 Essay

Act 2 on its own has a lot of activity going on and a lot of information that you have to churn though to finally get not only the inner meanings of what Shakespeare has written but also the story. There are various little sub headings in which we can split up Act 2. These could be language, timing, irony, tension and dramatic value. I will be looking at dramatic value and the tension which is made due to the actions or expressions which occur in the act. Firstly an overview of what happens. Well Macbeth after being hyped up by Lady Macbeth to kill the King has crazy/guilt full illusions about doing so before the deed is done but eventually kills King Duncan. Duncan’s body is found and his two sons flee Scotland as there â€Å"are daggers in men’s smiles† that in its self is a great source of dramatic tension as we see the heirs to the thrown leave Scotland in fear of their lives and making Macbeths a lot easier. Macbeth gets crowned as King of Scotland, various people are suspicious about Duncan’s death and Macduff doesn’t attend his coronation. The first piece of true tension is apparent at the very beginning of Act 2. We are reminded of the prophecy from the 3 witches from the presence of Banquo’s son Fleance because the witches said â€Å"Thou shalt get kings, though thou shall be none† which means you shall father a king but not be one yourself. This would also mean that Macbeth’s quest of becoming and staying king would mean more deaths and his biggest potential threat seems to be Fleance. So we are reminded of the prophecy and a few lines down we see Banquo ask for his sword although he is in the castle of a close friend which shows the tension and fear. Early in to Macbeth and Banquo’s conversation Banquo mentions the 3 witches and Macbeth replies â€Å"I think not of them† which is an obvious lie to us because ewe now that he is going to murder Duncan on the bases of what the witches have said. We now see the first of many guilt inspired hallucinations in the form of the dagger â€Å"A dagger of the mind, a false creation, Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?† this snippet suggests that Macbeth is tired, his brain overheated or again tired and it is because of that, that he can see this dagger. In this speech we also see many unreal and â€Å"unnatural† objects and thoughts. This gives a great sense of tension and shows how this illusion makes Macbeth think of all these unnatural objects mainly to show that what is about to do is unnatural, this is because it was strongly believed that a Monarch was chosen specifically by God so if he did kill Duncan he would be defying God which isn’t such a good thing to do. The bell and knocking on the door seem to prolong the inevitable (Duncan’s murder) and also builds tension in doing so because the audience are on the edge of their seats with fascination of Macbeths soliloquy and want to see what happens next. Now the murder of Duncan itself isn’t actually onstage this technique seems to be borrowed from ancient Greek tragedy’s, this of course drives the audience wild because they can’t actually see the event taking place only the events before hand and after. This definitely increases tension and now the audience have only the power of suggestion to interpretate what has happened which of course is a lot more powerful than actually physically seeing what has happened and each human mind must go wild with thought and ideas about what has happened and it will be as gruesome as it needs to be. We now make a reference to Act 1, as Macbeth are trying to rid their hands of Duncan’s blood we look back at the battle scene in Act 1 were again Macbeth is covered in blood from the long and gruesome battle. But Lady Macbeth reasons with the guilt trodden Macbeth and tells him that â€Å"a little water will clear us of this deed†, but as we see later on guilt gets the better of Lady Macbeth as she goes mad because of the guilt full illusion of blood on her hands that can’t be washed off haunt her until she finally dies. This is rather ironic considering in Act 2 Scene 2 she states â€Å"These deeds must not be thought After these ways; so, it will make us mad† which is what happens to her later on. After the deed Lady Macbeth no longer seems to be in the lime light as often and now stricken with confidence Macbeth takes centre stage. After this murderous passage we get a light comical interlude thanks to the castles porter who unlike most people is common and speaks differently compared to the nobles, it is also visible in the text because he is speaking in pros and his language suggests that he is of lesser importance than other characters of noble birth. The porter’s joke that the door of Inverness is like hell’s gate is ironic, given the cruel and bloody events that have just taken place within the castle. When he cries, â€Å"Who’s there, i’ th’ name of Beelzebub?† we see that unnatural and evil beings and instead receiving a happy or normal welcome when they step into Macbeth’s castle, people are warned that they are putting themselves in danger in this case in the hands of the Devil. Lennox later states to Macbeth at lines 49-56 of the tremendously distressful weather that night, hear we see that Macbeth has unbalanced the pure fabric of being. By defying Gods wish he has in effect left an unnatural tear in time itself, this of course angers God and he brings down over Macbeth’s castle an unnatural storm which lasted â€Å"the livelong night†. You would expect a long reply from Macbeth but because of what he has just done he tries to tone down the thought of evil and he bluntly states â€Å"Twas a rough night.† This response seems rather odd and it seems so. Soon after Duncan’s lifeless body is discovered and is if Macbeth had planned in his head the next few days he springs in to make me king mode by taking control over the situation and the nobles. This is both prompting their decision to make him king and it will also make him look less likely a candidate to kill Duncan. As Macbeth and the nobles prance around feeling sad (obviously not Macbeth he has to lie which builds up tension and fear of getting caught is being portrayed in this fashion by him trying to avoid people believing that he is not sad, and if not why well†¦ †¦..MURDERER) they stumble upon the chamberlains which thank to Lady Macbeth are covered in blood and have daggers also covered in blood in their hands. Macbeth quickly sees an easy way out of being eventually found out, he does this by shifting the blame on the innocent and unaware chamberlains. His fellow nobles don’t seem as sure as Macbeth well of course because he’s lying they didn’t kill Duncan he did, but even so as they question his suspicions Macbeth kills again and leaves the chamberlains bloodier than before and with out life. We can see how much Macbeth’s confidence has grown and how his willingness to do anything to become king has also grown and he now doesn’t seem to mind killing anyone to do so. Of course this shocks the nobles quite a bit and many get a bit edgy. Especially Macduff who later asks Macbeth why he killed the chamberlains, only to get a response from Macbeth that he was driven by passionate anger bought about from Duncan’s death. More tension surfaces in scene 4 when The Thane of Ross speaks to the old man. They speak of the unnatural behaviour referring to both the harsh weather and the odd behaviour of the animals. This of course surrounds the coronation of Macbeth suggesting again that it was not to be and that fate and God aren’t on Macbeth’s side. In the act there are many images of unnatural behaviour these are used to make you see good from evil which in itself is a conflict which brings great tension between what is supposed to be and what is not. We then see Macduff desert Macbeths castle to return to Fife instead of being at his coronation which shows obvious rivalry and conflict of interests. It is also interesting that Macduff is responsible for Macbeth’s death and not Malcolm who is the rightful heir, Malcolm should really avenge his father but he lacks courage and that killer edge that Macduff has. Also just like Duncan’s murder Macbeth’s coronation is off stage we learn of Macbeth’s new position from Macduff, Ross and the old man, so again Shakespeare denies us of seeing the inevitable for dramatic purposes.