Examine Act 2 Scene 2 in Detail. How does Shakespeare Create an Atmosphere of Suspense and Foreboding in this Scene?

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Examine Act 2 Scene 2 in Detail. How does Shakespeare Create an Atmosphere of Suspense and Foreboding in this Scene?

The main theses in Act 2 Scene 2 are good and evil, light and dark, ambition, time, clothing, blood, sleep and chaos and order. The whole atmosphere of Macbeth is one of violence horror and fear, and this atmosphere is accomplished by use of darkness. Darkness symbolizes chaos, evil, treachery, disorder and going against nature which is seen as the light, innocence or the good.  Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are creatures of the dark. The murder of the King is set at night; this immediately gives us a feeling of foreboding. The noises of the night, the shriek of the owl and the eerie noise of the crickets that herald death, increases the tension as Lady Macbeth waits for her husbands return.

“It was the owl that shriek’d, the fatal bellman which gives that stern’st good-night”.

This quote shows Lady Macbeth comparing the bird of the night with the man who rings the bell outside prisoners’ cells who are condemned to die. This is an ominous sign of things to come. Perhaps she is anticipating their future punishment. God symbolizes good and light and Macbeth after hearing the two servants in prayer tell his wife that he is unable to respond with “Amen”. He is leaving the world of good and light and can not utter religious words. This leaves us with a feeling of suspense as we wonder what will happen to him now. The knocking at the end of the scene disrupts the evil and darkness, which is both physical and psychological and represents daylight approaching with its treat of retribution. Again we are left with a feeling of suspense as we wonder what form this retribution will take.

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Another theme in this scene, which is used to portray foreboding, is sleep. To Macbeth sleep is a necessity of life; he praises it as innocence and as a release from life’s problems. However he has murdered a sleeping, innocent man.  He says:-

“Sleep no more!

Macbeth does murder sleep- the innocent sleep

Sleep that knits up the ravelled sleeve of care”.

He realizes that now that he has murdered the king he will no longer sleep the refreshing sleep of the innocent. This leaves us in suspense wondering what form this sleeplessness will take. It also ...

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