It's act 2, scene 2, and the dastardly deed has been done—Duncan lies brutally murdered in his bed. The world outside doesn't know about it yet, but that's about to change. After engaging in a spot of raillery with a hungover porter, two thanes—Macduff and Lennox—enter the castle, hoping to speak with Duncan. For obvious reasons that's not going to happen. Instead, the two thanes initially encounter Macbeth.
Straight away, we sense that something's not quite right— Macbeth speaks in short, clipped sentences, indicating a profound unease at Duncan's murder. Although Macbeth successfully managed to appear as an innocent flower when Duncan arrived, now that the dirty deed has been done, his mind is beset with dark doubts and intimations of doom.
In the presence of Lennox and Macduff, it's difficult for him to keep up the pretense that all is well, so Macbeth doesn't want to say too much for fear of exposing his guilt. Yet his behavior speaks volumes. While everyone else is running round like a headless chicken screaming blue murder, Macbeth appears suspiciously calm. This is due in no small measure to his increasingly pessimistic outlook on life, which induces a kind of stoic acceptance of what's to come:
[F]or from this instant There’s nothing serious in mortality. All is but toys. Renown and grace is dead. The wine of life is drawn, and the mere lees Is left this vault to brag of.
Friday, August 22, 2014
How does Macbeth act when the other thanes arrive at his castle?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Why is the fact that the Americans are helping the Russians important?
In the late author Tom Clancy’s first novel, The Hunt for Red October, the assistance rendered to the Russians by the United States is impor...
-
Friar Lawrence plays a significant role in Romeo and Juliet's fate and is responsible not only for secretly marrying the two lovers but ...
-
Resourceful: Phileas Fogg doesn't let unexpected obstacles deter him. For example, when the railroad tracks all of a sudden end in India...
-
Pablo Neruda's "Ode to My Socks" is full of figurative language, including similes and metaphors. Similes are figurative compa...
-
In the late author Tom Clancy’s first novel, The Hunt for Red October, the assistance rendered to the Russians by the United States is impor...
-
At the beginning of the Victorian period, science was generally in accord with religion, and the study of nature was conducted in such a way...
-
Evaluate $\displaystyle \int x^2 \cos mx dx$ by using Integration by parts. If we let $u = x^2$ and $dv = \cos mx dx$, then $d...
-
Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen is a coming-of-age story about a young man named Cole who undergoes a healing treatment on a deserted ...
No comments:
Post a Comment