Analysis Of Act Two Scene One Of Shakespeare's Macbeth

Macbeth, also known as ‘’The Tragedy of Macbeth’’ is a play by William Shakespeare. It was performed for the first time around the early 1600’s. Shakespeare was born in 1564. His family a part of the middle-income group and they were a successful glove-maker. He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England.

Macbeth is a story about a Scottish general. In the first part of the play, Macbeth is a very devoted and trustworthy man towards King Duncan. He hears a prophecy from the supernatural that he will replace the king. Macbeth is filled with desire and hunger to be the new king. His wife Lady Macbeth encourages him and gives him a confidence boost. Finally he finds the willpower to kill King Duncan and takes the title of the ‘king. ’ The Scottish general is immediately filled with regret and remorse. He no longer has a clear conscience which causes him to be unable to get sleep at night. Due to his lack of sleep he starts losing his sanity and as the days go on his mental state gets worse. He needs to keep on committing murder in order to keep the secret that he committed regicide. At the end of the play Macbeth is killed by people that he has mistreated.

Act two scene one is a critical part of the play. It tells us that Macbeth is starting to lose his mind. We can understand this by the hallucinations of the dagger he is seeing. At first, he is very puzzled of the image his brain is creating. He questions if its real or not by asking the dagger ‘’Is this a dagger which i see before me. ’’ Macbeth states that he can’t determine if the dagger is real or not which gives hints about is mental health state. He then realizes that his mind is making up false illusions. ‘’A dagger of the mind, a false creation. ’’ This quote shows how Macbeth approaches this matter. He then continues talking to the dagger: ‘’You’re leading me towards the place I was going already. ’’ He has to continue to commit murder in order to protect his name and to not uncover the fact that he committed regicide. After inspecting the dagger he notices blood splotches on the blade that were not there before.

‘’And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood. ’’ This description of the figment of imagination shows a weapon that was used to kill a person. This foreshadows that an assassination is about to happen. Macbeth uses these exact words to clarify that he is the one that's going to kill someone and the thought of this is causing a delusion of an object. Hallucination is among the common symptoms of sleep deprivation. In other words insomnia results in acute paranoid schizophrenia.

‘’There’s no such thing. It is the bloody business which informs. ’’ Towards the end of the scene, the supernatural is included (especially focusing on the witches). Macbeth blames his insanity on the witches because ultimately what started the murders were a prophecy from the Weird Sisters. ‘’The curtained sleep. Witchcraft celebrates. ’’ He then describes murder as an old man that resembles a wolf that is walking silently to his destination, as quiet as a ghost. ‘’Alarumed by his sentinel, the wolf, Whose howl’s his watch, thus with his stealthy pace… Moves like a ghost. ’’ The supernatural play a huge role in this play. At the very end of the scene, Macbeth decides to kill Banquo. Which we understand by him telling the ground to hide the crime he is going to commit. He is telling the ground to not listen where he is heading. He tells the ground to stay silent and cover his acts. ‘’Hear not my steps, which way they walk, for fear. ’’ He keeps on re-examining the whole plan and by doing so, he more anxious than he was. This also shows his unbalanced personality and his tendency to overthink. This is also another effect on his mind from the insomnia. ‘’Words to the heat of deeds too cold breath gives. ’’

In conclusion this scene in the play gives us details of what is going to happen next. These two pages are very critical for the whole story. It implies what is approaching.