ACT II
description
Transcript of ACT II
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ACT II
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What’s in a Name (Characters)• There’s only one comic
figure in Macbeth, the drunken Porter.
• He provides comic relief while discussing some quite serious things. When he imagines he’s the gatekeeper of hell, he’s not that far off (Macbeth’s home is a frightening place.
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Character• Meanwhile, life under
Macbeths roof is no laughing matter for Malcolm and Donalbain, King Duncan’s two sons.
• Duncan has already named Malcolm heir to his throne.
• That’s bad news for Macbeth, who can’t “succeed” to the throne with Malcolm and Donalbain in his way.
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Character
• Banquo also has a son, Fleance.
• We will meet him in act II. We will also meet Macduff, another of the Scottish nobles. Though “Macduff” sounds a little like “Macbeth,” these two characters will turn out to be quite different.
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Things to watch for• Macbeth may be a very
dark play, but one color stands out (RED). By the end of Act II, you may feel as if Shakespeare had smeared his characters with this color.
• Watch for how images of smearing and staining start to fill Shakespeare’s play
• Meanwhile, the Macbeths try to paint their own picture of innocence and guilt.
• How well do they fool their guest?
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Things to Watch for
• Macbeth is full of elemental, primal sights and sounds.
• Colors, noises, and animals that seem to be right under our eyes, ears, and noses.
• Act 2’s “soundtrack” is full of sudden, scary noises.
• Pay attention to how Shakespeare uses these sounds to build suspense and to show us the mood of the host couple.
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Historical Context• Shakespeare probably wrote
Macbeth around 1606• England was reeling at that
time with news of a plot to kill its king, James I.
• The plot stemmed from religious conflict.
• James was a Protestant and ruled England as a Protestant nation
• Catholics faced harsh discrimination
• In November 1605, a group of Catholic conspirators carried out the “Gunpowder Plot.”
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Historical Context• They smuggled kegs of
gunpowder to an area beneath the Parliament building to blow up both houses of Parliament while the King was there, destroying the entire government.
• Had the plot succeeded, it would have been as if someone had blown up the president, vice-President, both houses of Congress, and the Supreme Court, all at the same time.
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Language• During the first scene of Act II,
Macbeth mentions a goddess named Hecate. It’s not the last time this demanding lady will show up in the play!
• In Greek mythology, Hecate is a goddess of the dead and a friend to witches.
• She is called “pale Hecat” because she is linked with the moon.
• Dogs, honey, and black lambs were sacrificed to her at crossroads
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Language• In the Bible’s Old Testament,
Beelzebub (Lord of the Flies) was a pagan god
• Later, he became known as a ruler of demons.
• When the Porter imagines he’s letting Beelzebub in at Macbeth’s door, he’s opening the door to some very bad company!
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• Banquo and his son, Fleance, are up and about in the middle of the night.
• They meet Macbeth, and Banquo delivers gifts from Duncan, including a rich diamond for Lady Macbeth.
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• Banquo reminds Macbeth about the three witches, but Macbeth pretends that he hasn’t thought about them.
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• After Banquo and Fleance leave, Macbeth imagines that he sees a dagger hovering in the air in front of him.
• Suddenly the dagger has bloodstains on it.
• Is this a warning?
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• The apparition unsettles him, but not enough to dissuade him from his bloody job.
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• Lady Macbeth has done her job: to make the guards drunk.
• She takes their daggers, which Macbeth uses to kill Duncan.
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• When he stabs Duncan, he thinks he hears a voice chiding and accusing him.
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• He refuses to enter the room again, so Lady Macbeth must plant the daggers and smear Duncan’s blood on the guards.
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• Macduff discovers Duncan’s body and cries out. Macbeth blames the guards and kills them, ostensibly out of rage and anguish over his king’s death.
• The outcry awakens the household, including Duncan’s sons.
• They don’t believe the story about the guards being the murderers and know that the murderer is still at large.
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• Their lives are at risk., so they flee during the night: Malcolm to England and Donalbain to Ireland.
• To the Scottish lords, the sons’ hasty flight smacks of guilt.
They think that
the sons hired
the guards to
murder Duncan.
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• They crown Macbeth as King of Scotland.
• The witches’ prophecy has come true, and Act 3 hasn’t even started yet.