As Macbeth approaches we begin to see the human aspect of Lady Macbeth’s nature. Although she claims she would kill her own child she admits that she could not kill Duncan as he resembled her father, ‘Had he not resembled my father as he slept I had done ‘it’. Shakespeare here is sowing the seeds for her later guilt and insanity.
When Macbeth enters there is an interchange of questions, short lines and exchanges that serve to increase the tension and reflect that anxious state of both characters.
MACBETH: When?
L.MACBETH: Now
MACBETH: As I descended?
L.MACBETH: Ay
They are frightened and listen for noises and any signs of activity and movement. Then Macbeth is filled with thoughts of regret. It is important to remember that a Shakespearian audience would have been familiar with the genre of tragedy. The downfall or demise of great men would evoke audience sympathy and we do feel sorry for Macbeth now. We feel he has been manipulated and pressurised into committing this crime by his conniving wife, of course later on when he becomes blood thirsty, murdering Macduff’s family we lose the earlier expressed concept of sympathy as the extent of his ambition become apparent.
He looks at the blood on his hands and says, ‘This is a sorry sight’. The audience will feel empathy, we feel part of the conspiracy, we are angry that Macbeth went through with it as he is obviously a reluctant villain. This is in stark contrast from the heroic Macbeth on the battlefield who unseamed his enemy ‘from the nave to the chops/ And fixed his hands upon our battlements’. Macbeth is only too well aware, as is the audience this blood is of an innocent. This scene also sets up the recurring image of blood most notably when Lady Macbeth obsesses over her blood stained hands;
‘Here’s the smell of the blood still; all the
Perfumes of Arabiawill not sweeten this little hand’ [5:1]
Yet Lady Macbeth is still in control of proceedings at this stage and admonishes her husband. Macbeth continues referring to God, his victims invoked God while his ties with God were severed, ‘say Amen/ when they did say ‘God bless us’. Here Shakespeare again is playing to the audience, and reinforcing the severity of the crime Macbeth has committed. Monarchs during this era were considered to be God’s representatives on earth- killing the king was a crime directly against God.
Also Macbeth here is giving a harrowing description of what he did. Shakespeare chose not to show Duncan’s murder. Perhaps he thought it too much for a royal audience so he has Macbeth recount it. For the purpose of dramatic impact are said to have awoken and cried ‘Murder’. He says he heard a voice cry ‘Sleep no more! Macbeth doth murder sleep’. Sleep here is innocence and we are reminded of the witches who bragged of robbing their victims of sleep. In their chararacteristic rhyming couplets they chant; ‘Sleep shall neither night nor day/Hang upon his penthouse lid’ [1:3] when talking of a sailor’s wife who wronged them. of sleep. Macbeth is now on their level. An instrument of evil. The sleep reference can also be linked to Lady Macbeth’s sleepwalking later in the play, when she, like Macbeth now is riddled with guilt. Sleep is associated with darkness, another recurring motif. The Macbeths suffer from nightmares throughout the remainder of the play, ’In the affliction of these terrible dreams/That shake us nightly’[3:2] Darkness allows evil to thrive.
She urges him to pull himself together ‘wash this filthy witness from your hand’. There is a contrast here, Macbeth is well aware of the consequences of his action, that he will never get rid of the blood. Lady Macbeth however, foolishly believes that a little water will rid them of their deed. Again, on stage, this contrast in reactions effectively serves to heighten the dramatic impact of the scene. She thinks practically- she says the ‘sleeping and the dead are but pictures’. She takes the initiative as she attempts to assume control of the situation. She offers to smear Duncan’s blood on the guards, she has yet no fear of this blood. When she exits we are left with Macbeth alone on stage, racked with guilt and staring at his hands he would make a dramatic figure. This is reinforced with the sudden sound of knocking, he jumps at the noise then relates one of the most effective images in ‘Macbeth’;
‘Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood
Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather.
The multitudinous seas incaradine
Making the green one red’
He imagines the blood’s impact to be so huge that the blood would dye all the sea red. The repetition of blood and hand throughout the scene reinforces the impact of the respective themes.
Lady Macbeth returns, saying she bears the same guilt as her husband only she conceals it. The knocking calls for action, we know the murder will be discovered and the scene closes on a cliffhanger. She pushes Macbeth to bed, he is still numb with regret. Without his wife’s guidance here we would suspect that he could confess. Again, Shakespeare is allowing the audience to be sympathetic. Macbeth closes the scene as if closing his fate.
‘Wake Duncan with thy knocking. I would thou couldst’. He wants to turn the clock back, his remorseful and the audience are left to anticipate his next actions. Scene 3 then brings in the Porter’s scene- comic relief to dissipate the extreme tension and make the audience further ponder on the resulting consequences of Scene 2 Act 2.
This scene is dramatically effective through language, action, characterisation and imagery. Perhaps what allows it work so efficiently on stage is the contrast between the two characters. Lady Macbeth almost plays the orthodox role of a man, her ambition, her uncaring nature and manipulative and exploitive ways are unconventional. Shakespeare intended to mislead the audience here, he wants to demonise her to highlight the human frailty of Macbeth and yet it is ironic that the roles are reversed in the final act.
