If you were directing Act 2 Scene 2, what would you want the audience to be aware of, and how might you draw their attention to these things?
Macbeth Coursework
If you were directing Act 2 Scene 2, what would you want the audience to be
aware of, and how might you draw their attention to these things?
The play Macbeth is a tragedy, where the main character Macbeth is
persuaded by three witches and his wife to kill the king, at the end
of the play Macbeth dies a violent death. In the previous scene, Act 2
Scene 1, before going to kill King Duncan, Macbeth tests one of his
friend's, Banquo, to see how loyal he might be in the future. In this
scene, we can see a contrast between Banquo and Macbeth. This is
because Banquo tells Macbeth how he is troubled by the witches: `I
dreamt last night of the three weird sisters' (Act 2.1:line 20),
Banquo here is telling the truth about the witches. Banquo asks
Macbeth if the witches have troubled him, Macbeth lies and says: `I
think not of them' (Act 2.1:line 21), he says he does not think of
them. By saying this, it makes the audience think that the character
Macbeth is a liar and a deceiver where Banquo is seen as an honest
man. I think Shakespeare is showing Macbeth as a deceiver to prepare
us for Macbeth's actions in the next scene and further on in the play,
as he becomes more evil and deceives more people.
The scene Act 2 Scene 2, is a very tense scene because at the
beginning of the scene the audience and Lady Macbeth are waiting for
the return of Macbeth after killing the king. Macbeth returns and
reports that he has `done the deed', but Macbeth is very disturbed by
having heard a voice telling him that he will no longer sleep and that
he cannot not say amen anymore. Lady Macbeth is appalled that Macbeth
has bought back the bloody dagger with him, and as he is refuses to
take them back to the King's chamber, she takes them. Macbeth is
thinking of what he has done and is frightened, Lady Macbeth returns
after returning the daggers and there is a knocking on their castle
door. In this scene, the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth
is also changing. I want the audience to see it from Macbeth's
viewpoint and I want it to be clear that Lady Macbeth is an evil lady
who controls Macbeth's actions.
At the beginning of Act 2 Scene 2, the atmosphere is tense and
unnerving. At the end of the scene, the tension will go even ...
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thinking of what he has done and is frightened, Lady Macbeth returns
after returning the daggers and there is a knocking on their castle
door. In this scene, the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth
is also changing. I want the audience to see it from Macbeth's
viewpoint and I want it to be clear that Lady Macbeth is an evil lady
who controls Macbeth's actions.
At the beginning of Act 2 Scene 2, the atmosphere is tense and
unnerving. At the end of the scene, the tension will go even worse
because Macbeth is regretting what he has done and is covered with the
blood, while there is someone knocking on the door. The atmosphere
will be tensed because they might think that the people on the door
might have come to get Macbeth because he has committed a sin, by
killing the king. Shakespeare uses off stage sounds to create tension
within Act2 Scene 2 : `I heard the owl scream and the crickets cry'
(Act2:2 line 21). This indicates that nature is suffering because
Macbeth has disturbed the natural order. The words `scream' and `cry'
indicates that the animals are in some sort of pain due to this
disturbance. I will establish this atmosphere by also using off stage
sounds to create the tension like squeaking of animals that will cause
an eerie atmosphere, because the audience will know there are
unnatural things happening, which is disturbing the natural order. The
weather is an indication of evil things in the play, so when the
audience and Lady Macbeth are waiting for the return of Macbeth, I
will have sounds of thunder and lightening.
Another way to create the suspense and tension is when Lady Macbeth is
waiting for Macbeth, I will have her walking around in circles and
muttering to herself to show the audience that she is very nervous. I
am also going to have short sharp shots, when Macbeth and Lady Macbeth
have their short sentence conversation, (Act 2:2 Line 14-18). When
Macbeth is telling Lady Macbeth that he could not say `amen': `But
wherefore could not pronounce `Amen'? I had most need of blessing...
(Act 2:2 Line 27-28). There is an emotional part in the scene, because
Macbeth is telling Lady Macbeth how he needed the blessing the most
but could not say `Amen'. I will have a close up shot of Macbeth to
show his emotion. At the end of the scene, there is a knocking, I will
make it a constant knocking which creates a lot of tension and also
awakens Macbeth's conscience.
As the scene is at night, I will set the whole scene is total
darkness. I will use chiaroscuro lighting for this scene, this is
light from only one light source. I want this so whichever character
is talking or we are looking at will have the light on them, I am
going to do this because I want the audience to see only that
character and concentrate on that character and not other characters.
Also by using this type of light on the characters it will emphasize
their sinister nature, which will give an eerie feeling to the
audience. The character Macbeth, is no longer seen as a `worthy
gentleman', I will put Macbeth is half light and half darkness to try
and saw he is bad person, corrupted with greed. I will also use red
light when there is blood shown in the scene, because I think it
creates an uneasy atmosphere. I think the lighting has a big effect on
the scene, as the scene is set at night and the night is associated
with evil things, this will also get the audience scared.
The character lady Macbeth is a dominant character within this scene,
as she is the one controlling the conversation. To show her dominance
with her standing up with her hands on her hips, and when she is
talking to Macbeth the tone of her voice will be high, and towards the
end of conversation it will start changing, she will start shouting
because she is angry. This will be when she asks Macbeth why he has
bought the daggers back and tells him to return them: `Why did you
bring these daggers from The place...(Act 2:2 line 45-46). When
Macbeth refuses to take them back, she accuses him of being weak
willed: Infirm of purpose! (Act 2:2 line 49).
Her character here is seen as an evil person with no conscience. Her
face expression will be cool and sick at the fact her husband is
afraid. We know that her character does not feel guilty and has no
conscience, because when Macbeth is telling her about the men's fears
when they were saying `God bless us' and that he could say `Amen', we
know that Macbeth is feeling guilty about the murder. Lady Macbeth's
reply to this is: `Consider it not so deeply' (Act 2:2 line 28), she
is telling him not to think about the murder. To associate her to
evilness and dominance, she will be dressed in dark colours. In this
scene, Lady Macbeth is dominating, which is odd because in history the
man is meant to be at the top and the women listen to their husbands,
but in this scene they have switched roles, this might be associated
to evil spirits. As women were seen as witches in those days.
In Act 2 Scene 2, Macbeth is the weaker character, as he is seriously
regretting what he has done and is feeling really guilty. I want to
draw attention to this by having him kneeling on the floor and
weeping, this will effect the scene because the audience will be aware
of the fact that he is breaking down. He is also asking all the
questions, this is indicating that he is at unease and in guilt.
The tone of his voice will be low and it will start to break down, to
show he is losing control. I think this will effect the scene, because
the audience will realize that Macbeth has a conscience and is feeling
really bad about the murder, and only did It because he was convinced
by his wife and the witches. So the audience knows that he is a weak
man that is easily convinced. His facial expression will be lost,
can't believe what he has just done and very frightened. He will be
wearing dark clothes covered in blood. As the scene progresses,
Macbeth is losing all control over himself. The significance of
Macbeth not being able to say `Amen' had a great effect on the play,
because we know that Macbeth has disturbed the natural order and this
is known at as a great sin. By saying `Amen', he wanted the blessing
of god to commit his sin. But as he was about to kill the person known
closest to god, he could not be given a blessing, this also relates to
the voice he heard: `Macbeth does murder sleep...' (Act 2:2 line 33),
there are two meaning to this, one is Macbeth will never be able to
sleep again and the other is he has killed the sleeping King.
When Macbeth is trying to hide his evil deed by washing his hands
which are covered in blood. I will have him scrubbing his hands,
muttering the same line over and over again: `Will all great Neptune's
ocean wash this blood clean from my hand' (Act 2:3 line 63-63. The
reason I want it like this, because I think the audience will think he
is going mad, that this sin has had a great effect on him.
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