Up until act 2 scene two Lady Macbeth has been the dominant one. Macbeth starts to panic about what he has done. ‘This is a sorry sight’. The panicking and confusion going on in his mind, along with his wife telling him to ‘consider it not so deeply’, ultimately makes him commit more and more murders as the story unfolds. Lady Macbeth is trying to convince her husband that what he has done is not such a terrible thing.
In this scene, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are seen as having entirely different personalities to one another.
“Macbeth: ’methought I heard a voice cry “sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep”--the innocent sleep, Sleep that knits up the ravelled sleave of care, the death of each day’s life, sour labour’s bath, balm of hurt mind, great nature’s second course, chief nourisher in life’s feast--
Lady Macbeth: ’What do you mean?’
Lady Macbeth is worried about being found out; Macbeth is having lots of feelings about what he has done and he is in deep philosophical thought. This also breaks up the relationship between them.
If I were directing a production of ‘Macbeth’, I would change the lighting in two key parts of the scene. When Macbeth emerges from the staircase after he has killed King Duncan, Macbeth’s face would be very white in appearance and behind him the audience would not be able to see the staircase. This would give the effect that the darkness is lurid and unknown and Macbeth is frightened. I would make the set very dark representing the unknown nature of everything around Lady Macbeth and Macbeth. I would make the set very dark in act two scene two, much more so after the murder of King Duncan giving the impression of the horror, chaos and tumultuousness of the murder.
Macbeth goes through four fundamental emotions in act two scene two. Fundamental, because they all show different parts of Macbeth’s personality. The first emotion he has is fear. ‘ I have done the deed. Didst thou not hear a noise?’ The slightest noise is frightening Macbeth. The next emotion he has is shame. Shame at committing the murder. ‘This is a sorry sight’ (when he looks at his hands). The third emotion he has is total confusion and guilt. ‘There’s one did laugh in’s sleep, and one cried “murder”’. He is riddled with guilt and he is so confused by his emotions and thoughts that he is having. He is distraught and he is questioning his conscience about what he has done.’ But wherefore could not I pronounce “Amen”? I had most need of blessing, and “Amen” stuck in my throat.’ The last emotions Macbeth has are paranoia and guilt together. ‘Whence is that knocking? How i’st with me, when every noise appals me? What hands are here? Ha! They pluck out mine eyes! Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather make the multitudinous seas incarnadine, making the green one red.’ In saying this Macbeth reveals his paranoid side but also his fear is showing through in what he has done.
To make these emotions seem more dramatic I would use certain techniques to expose each emotion to the audience. Throughout this entire scene Macbeth is a mental wreck because he has just killed the king, that is why I would have him dressed in clothes that were ripped in places. This would convey to the audience that he has just committed a murder. For fear I would use have quick exchanges between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth and have them speaking quietly about the owl making a noise ‘I heard the owl scream and the crickets cry’. For shame I would make the actor employ a doubtful expression, and his hands would be shaking when Macbeth sees the knife in his hand. For the deep emotions and philosophical thought he goes through I would employ a very good actor to play the role of Macbeth. It would be essential that this part of the scene is well acted and the actor understood the different emotions that Macbeth goes through throughout the scene. For paranoia and guilt I would have him speak with a nasty and evil sounding voice and have speakers in the theatre play back the same lines in the play but with a pleasant sounding voice. This would give the impression to the audience that Macbeth is very frightened about what he has done, but at the same time it would show the early stages of paranoia that Macbeth is having.
I would employ drama techniques, in act two scene 2, characterising Lady Macbeth, if I were doing a production of Macbeth. I would make her act very commanding and in control. This would represent the dominant nature she has through out the first half of the scene. I would have the actor playing Lady Macbeth put on a commanding tone of voice, especially when she says ‘go get some water and wash this filthy witness from your hands’ and ‘why did you bring the these daggers from The place? They must lie there. Go carry them and smear the sleepy grooms with blood.’
Macbeth: ‘I’ll go no more’
Then I would direct the actress, playing Lady Macbeth, to change into a weak character. The force of his personality does not allow her to challenge him and nor does anyone else throughout a lot of the play.
Three things in act two scene two, Lady Macbeth says, become ironic later on in the play. ‘These deeds must not be thought after these ways; so, it will make us mad’. She is trying to convince her husband that if he thinks about what he has done ‘so deeply’ that it will make him mad, but she says ‘us’ not ‘you’. She seems to be questioning her own sanity as well as Macbeth’s--she goes mad later on in the play. Also she says, ‘a little water clears us of this deed’. Later on in the play, she can never get the imaginary spot of blood off her hand. She says ‘out dam spot’ and she rubs her hands.
Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are very different as characters. Lady Macbeth is ambitious because she wants to be queen after she has read the letter from Macbeth. She is authoritarian after Macbeth has killed King Duncan. ‘Go get some water, and wash this filthy witness from your hands’. When he refuses she does not challenge him. Instead she goes and does it for him. Lady Macbeth is rational after
Macbeth has murdered King Duncan, but she is also worried about being discovered. Macbeth is submissive to Lady Macbeth until up this pivotal point in act two scene two. Macbeth is very frightened about what he has done immediately after he kills the King in act two scene two, and he starts to question his own sanity. ‘Methought I heard a voice cry “sleep no more”.’ He does not care whether he is found out or not; he is too devastated by what he has done. Macbeth has a quality of language and character that Lady Macbeth has not got.
Act two scene two is a pivotal point in the rest of the play, because Macbeth stops obeying his wife. The reasons for this are apparent. Macbeth has charismatic, strong, powerful, commanding qualities but is flawed. The relationship of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth grows ever increasingly apart as the play goes on, and when Macbeth finds out that his wife has committed suicide, he says ‘she should have died hereafter’. A cold statement.
