Act 2 sc 2 is a tense scene from the beginning because Lady Macbeth is waiting for Macbeth to come back from murdering Duncan and she hears a voice saying “who's there” which makes her feel as if he has been caught and their whole plan has been ruined. This can be seen when she says “I am afraid they have awaked, and tis not done” and it also creates dramatic interest for the audience because it makes them think that if they get caught, King Duncan will survive and that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth will face terrible consequences such as death for attempting to murder the King . Macbeth is going to murder the King because he thinks that he has the right to own the throne since he has been risking his life fighting during the battles to protect the kingdom, not Duncan. It seems that he first became ambitious when the weird sisters prophesied that “Macbeth shalt be the king hereafter.”
In the beginning of the Act 2 scene 2 Lady Macbeth tells us that she has drugged the guards which creates tension for the audience because it makes them feel that a murder is about to take place on the unguarded King. When Lady Macbeth hears a voice say “who’s there,” she immediately reacts to the sound she hears by saying “th’ attempt and not the deed confounds us” which means that she is scared that they will be ruined if Macbeth gets caught. Lady Macbeth seems to be pacing the room and she might be afraid that the guards have “awaked” and Duncan hasn’t been murdered, when she hears him calling. The mention of an owl may add tension because she may have considered the owl to be a bad omen. Although Lady Macbeth seems to do the most terrible deeds, now she explains that she could not carry out the murder herself because Duncan resembled her father as he slept. This shows Lady Macbeth’s conscience and feeling of guilt. This also creates dramatic interest for the audience because it makes them feel that Lady Macbeth seems to realize the wrongness of the murder.
The audience would notice straight away that Macbeth is holding two “blood stained daggers,” which would add to the tension because it will confirm to the audience that King Duncan has been murdered. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth have a very fast conversation made up of short sentences. This adds to the tension because they don’t want to risk being caught with the blood stained daggers or else they will be suspected of the murder. Macbeth is worried because he thinks that he won’t be able to wash the blood from his hands even if he uses all “great Neptune’s ocean.” This shows that he is terrified. Unlike Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is not so afraid, this can be seen when she says “A little water clears us of this deed” which means she is confident to gain success in her evil plot against King Duncan.
Macbeth is greatly disturbed, first and foremost by his inability to say "Amen" when the bodyguards had finished their prayers; Macbeth takes this as a bad sign. The word amen was stuck in his throat and this explains that something bad is going to happen because Macbeth is a religious man but he has committed a murder which leads him to sin against God and he feels frightened about this because he knows he can never be forgiven for his crime. He also hears a voice cry “Macbeth shall sleep no more” which makes him feel guilty because Macbeth has killed Duncan as he slept. Sleep represents innocence and peace and Macbeth imagines that he has also murdered these. Macbeth emphasizes his feeling of guilt by saying “this is a sorry sight” because has a slaughtered a person who trusted him and awarded him with the title “Thane of Cawdor,” but Lady Macbeth reacts to Macbeth’s fears by saying “a foolish thought” which indicates that Lady Macbeth is not feeling guilty. This adds to further tension for the audience because it will get them thinking what will happen if he gives himself up. Macbeth is too afraid to put the daggers back himself. This can be seen when he says “look on’t again I dare not” so Lady Macbeth takes the daggers from Macbeth and “smears the sleepy grooms with blood” so it will look as if the guards murdered King Duncan. This raises the tension levels because Lady Macbeth is risking herself being caught with the daggers and the blame of the murder will go on the innocent guards.
The knocking at the gate affects the mood and the atmosphere because both Macbeth’s and Lady Macbeth’s hands are blood stained when they hear the first knocking. This adds to the tension because they might get caught. Who is at the door. Macbeth is scared and he says “every noise appauls me” and he also says that he won’t be able to wash the blood stains from his hands even if he uses “all great Neptune’s ocean” which shows his lack of confidence. When Lady Macbeth re-enters she has an immediate effect on the audience with the blood stains on her hands which will confirm to the audience that Duncan is dead. Lady Macbeth tells her husband to wash the “filthy witness” from his hands and she also says that “My hands are of your colour, but I am shame to wear a heart so white” which suggests she is not afraid. As the knocking at the castle’s gate continues it further disturbs his state of mind so his wife advices that he pulls himself together and that they retire to bed, so as not to be seen awake when the murder is discovered. It seems that Macbeth is terrified and wasn’t fully prepared for the murder in the last sentence of the Act 2 scene 2 when he says “wake Duncan with thy knocking! I would thou couldst!” which suggests that he is feeling guilty.
In conclusion I think that Shakespeare has been successful in creating tension for the audience in Act 2 sc 2 in “Macbeth” by showing that Macbeth brutally murders the unguarded King with the help of his wife. The witches played a major role in his assassination because they made Macbeth ambitious in Act 1 sc 3 by prophesying that “Macbeth shalt be the king hereafter” as a result he kills Duncan in Act 2 sc 2.In my opinion the tensest part of Act 2 sc 2 was when Macbeth was holding two “blood stained daggers” because blood symbolises death so therefore the blood stains would confirm to the audience that Duncan is dead.
