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 sets the scene for the later references to sleep. For example where Lady Macbeth walks in her sleep acting out the kings murder and Macbeths nightmares.
Another major theme is that if uncontrolled ambition triumphs over what is right and good then the person is doomed. It is Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s ambition that leads to their later downfall. The scene begins with Lady Macbeth nervously waiting for her husbands return from killing the King. This is the first sign that she has a conscience; this will come to haunt her later. However when Macbeth enters her ambitious nature takes control and she calmly tells him to wash away the blood truing to dismiss his fears.
“This deed must not be thought
After these ways; so, it will make us mad.”
This gives us a feeling of foreboding that her ambition will eventually bring madness.
Blood and murder are also major themes. They add to the suspense and horror of the play. Through Macbeth’s paranoia caused by the blood on his hands we see his guilt developing which leads to hallucinations. He fells that seeing them is like getting his eyes gauged out. He often repeats the word “murder” as if in a nightmare and says of his blood stained hands “What hands are here:” as if they were not his own. We can feel a sense of foreboding in this scene as we witness the beginning of his physiological deterioration. Lady Macbeth also has blood on her hands, which also has ominous overtones, as later the blood will come back to haunt her. The blood is real now but later it will symbolize their guilty consciousness which can not be washed away
Chaos and order are also important themes; The Elizabethans believed that God gave everything a natural order with the King at the top. Even plants and animals were ranked according to their status in the hierarchy. A persons’ health, mental and physical depended upon keeping this harmony and order. If this order is upset chaos will reign. In “Macbeth” in this scene we see him subverting God’s natural order by killing the King and we realize that this will have dire consequences. We see the chaos begin in Macbeth’s own mind, as he can not handle the guilt. This creates a feeling of suspense as we wonder what form the chaos will take later.
Another theme is time. Earlier the midnight bell was the cue for Duncan’s murder. When they hear the knock Lady Macbeth urges her husband:-
“Be not lost so poorly in your thoughts”.
She is desperate telling him to pull himself together, as there is no time to dwell on what he had done. They must act quickly to prevent discovery. To Macbeth at this point time is unimportant. The knocking at the gate gives the scene a sudden sense of urgency as up until then the pace has been slow as it has mainly dealt with the realm of evil unreality and the depths of Macbeth’s sub – conscious. This adds to the suspense as we wonder if they will be discovered.
Shakespeare creates an atmosphere of suspense and foreboding in this scene by the development of his characters Lady Macbeth and Macbeth. Before this scene he was a proud, valiant general in Duncan’s army. His tragic flaw, ambition, leads him to murder to become the King. This scene is foreboding as in it we see him choosing the road to evil. He has to distort his noble nature in order to kill Duncan. He changes from being a noble warrior to a hater murderer. His downfall can be seen as his own fault but we can feel sorry for him. This is partly because we can see inside his mind and his conscience and therefore see his actions through his eyes. What he has done and his inability to rid himself of the blood torment him. We can feel his horrified agonizing response to his own ambition. He is haunted by the values he had denounced and is desperate because of their loss. This loss will later condemn him to a life of murder. Macbeth is a fully rounded with whom the audience can feel sympathy because we can see the battle between good and evil going on in his mind and are held by his hysteria. They will feel a greater sense of foreboding because of this sympathy.
Shakespeare uses language and imagery in this scene to create an atmosphere of suspense and foreboding. The language is rich in meaning and sound and full of pictures. For example when Macbeth declares that all the waters of the world can not wash away the blood, he says:-
“This my hand will rather
The multitudinous seas incarnadine,
Making the green one red”.
The word multitudinous, meaning vastness, helps the audience imagine a vast sea stretching to the horizon and then we have a sudden close up image of a small area of water turning red, “incarnadine”. This skill with language adds to the feeling of suspense as does the use of sinister words such as “hangmen”, and “fatal bellman”. The witches speak in rhyme often using a shorter line to give a sense that they are chanting spells. When Macbeth speaks like this he is linked to the evil of the witches. The syntax used tells us much about the speaker’s mental state. Lady Macbeth’s speech is jerky and broken while she waits for Macbeth. This jerky speech shows her agitation and it also build sup a great sense of suspense. The language of guilt is important in this scene, for example Macbeth repeating “Amen” and his dwelling on being unable to say this outside the servant’s door shows this guilt. This overwhelming guilt can also be seen in his repeated references to sleep and how he has “murdered” it. He is obsessed with blood representing guilt. These repeated images of guilt are also conveyed by the way they are spoken, sometimes short and broken which suggests agitation and sometimes long images which suggests tormented inner thoughts.
In Act 2 Scene 2 Shakespeare creates an atmosphere of suspense and foreboding by using images of blood, death, retribution, light and dark, murder, and chaos. He also uses language and imagery to create this mood.