Take, for example the owl shrieking and someone knocking at the door. Also the audience can tell she is very fearful of being caught and nervous because of the way she speaks to Macbeth. When Macbeth brings the daggers back the chamber she snaps at him and gets very angry with him:
Why did you bring these daggers from the place?
They must lie there.
After Macbeth has committed regicide, he is very distressed when he comes back to his room. He sort of loses his mind for the scene so Lady Macbeth has to take charge. She calls him a coward because he cannot handle the pressure. He keeps on running through his head what he has done and it drives him mad.
Still it cried, ‘Sleep no more’ to all the house;
He didn’t think about what he was doing when he brought the daggers back because he was too distressed and he was too busy thinking about what he had already done. So then Lady Macbeth has to take charge and take them back.
When they are both left on their own, during this scene, it increases the tension because they just keep on re-running what they have done through their minds. Also they think about the consequences of their actions if they get found out. This makes them very nervous and very jumpy because they are thinking about everything that can go wrong and they think it will go wrong so it scares them.
The murder does not go exactly to plan as Macbeth brings the daggers back to his and Lady Macbeth’s chamber when he is supposed to leave them with the guards. This means that Lady Macbeth has to take charge and take them back to the guards. This causes tension because Macbeth has told her that they have already woken up once so both she and the audience think that there is a chance that she may get caught red handed (literally).
There is tension between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth during this scene because Macbeth falls to pieces under the pressure whereas Lady Macbeth stays strong or at least acts like she stays strong.
‘My hands are of your colour, but I shame to wear a heart so white.’
She acts cool, calm and collected whereas he acts very scared and nervous. I think this is because Macbeth almost got caught, but also because he feels guilty because Duncan had done nothing wrong. He should also feel guilty because Duncan has trusted him and just given him the title of the ‘Thane Of Cawdor’.
After the murder has been committed and when Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are talking they revert to a short, sharp tone. I think that this shows that they are scared. It causes tension because most of the play is in iambic pentameter but in part of this scene, after the murder, it changes which shows they are worried about being caught.
Lady Macbeth: I heard the owl scream and the crickets cry. Did you not speak?
Macbeth: When?
Lady Macbeth: Now
The visual effects add to the atmosphere of fear because the picture of daggers would be scary, especially as they are covered in blood. Also darkness is linked with fear so the audience would feel fear if the stage was dark. Also the noises for example the porter knocking and the owl shrieking might make the audience jump and scare them especially if they were not ready and really engrossed in the play because it would catch them by surprise and they would not be expecting it. This reaction would be the same of the characters, as the characters would jump at the sounds also.
The film adds various ideas to the crime itself. For example the film actually shows the killing whereas in the play you would not see it. I think this is because it would be a bit of a sore spot for James I as only a year before the Gunpowder Plot was attempted on his life. And Shakespeare would not want to show the murder of the King, as it was believed that God appointed the king. Also nowadays violence is more accepted even though in the play it would show Banquo being killed. Also there are visual significances, which Polanski has put in. What I mean by this is for example when Duncan is killed we see the crown fall and hit the ground, this is a metaphor for the king falling. And after Macbeth has washed his hands you see the well hook swinging from side to side and it looks like a hangman’s noose and the hangman’s noose is implying that someone is dead, and that is King Duncan.
In the film there are certain effects, which show how, scared lady Macbeth and Macbeth are. For example Lady Macbeths face is very white and her eyes are very wide, which could indicate that she is scared. Also when Macbeth is very distressed and his wife is trying to calm him down he gazes off screen to show that he is thinking about what he has done and he cannot concentrate. When both are waiting for each other in the film they pace about which shows they are quite agitated and nervous.
