Something that particularly drew my attention in the first two scenes of Act II was the story's path around Duncan's death. Instead of confronting the murder head on, the narrative switches characters and stays out of Duncan's room. While the murder of Duncan is already a sinister event, the fact that it happens off stage makes it even more ominous. We are left to image a horrific act, made even worse in the audience's imagination. It serves to heighten the suspense of the scene and gives us insight into both Macbeth's and Lady Macbeth's thoughts. The knocking on the door and the floating on the dagger are the last elements of a very dark scene. I think the mood of Duncan's murder permeates the events themselves and foreshadows grave consequences for the perpetrators.
Questions- How will Macbeth deal with his guilt after his coronation?
What is happening to Lady Macbeth?
Josh, this is a fine start but I would like to see a little more in future responses. Pull in some specific quotes that you can pull apart and analyze, avoid simply generalizing about a scene (although I appreciated that this was not simply summary). Also with you discussion questions be much more specific and try to avoid questions about what is coming next. We will find out what happens to Macbeth after the coronation, but a more interesting question might be about the significance of the dagger, and why that specific image appearing to Macbeth? What is there was an actual dagger suspended onstage, what if there wasn't, how does that change the effect of the speech or does it? I want to see you dive deeper into the play but I appreciate that you gave it a stab (see what I did there).
ReplyDelete