Friday, January 30, 2015

ACT II Questions

Scene i
1) Who says the following: “Their candles are all out. Take thee that too. A heavy summons lies like lead upon me, and yet I would not sleep. Merciful powers, restrain in me the cursed thoughts that nature gives away in repose.” What is significant about the quote? How has the atmosphere of the castle been changed?
Banquo says this and he is discussing the dream that he had about the witches it was a nightmare. The castle is now a very dark and gloomy place. It's not the welcoming place that housed the king.

2) Why does Banquo mention his dream of the Weird Sisters? Hint: Ironically this is his last dream.

Banquo mentions this dream because the three witches said that Macbeth would be King. Now the King is in his castle, providing the perfect chance for killing him. 

3) What does Macbeth say he and Banquo will talk about later in private?

He says that later they will talk about the dream he had.

4) Reread lines 42-70. Briefly summarize what Macbeth is saying in this soliloquy.

Macbeth hallucinates seeing a dagger that is all bloodied and he realizes it's kinda showing the murder he is about to commit. He feels guilty but has to do it before he loses his courage.

5) How does the illusion of the dagger play into the mindset of either witchcraft or Macbeth losing it.
It shows that he is having these unreal thoughts, like the witches have planted this idea and it's all he can think about. could be a spell

Scene ii
1) What does Lady Macbeth mean when she says, “That which hath made them drunk hath made me bold”?

Lady Macbeth is also drunk from the same drink she gave guards and it is making her braver. 

2) Symbolically what does the fatal bellman toll? More than one thing here. And who is the fatal bellmen—the one Lady Macbeth hears?
It's a bad omen, for ringing bells outside of prisoners' cells. The owl is what she hears, now that they are criminals. Macbeth is now the Owl.

3) How do you read the lines, “Had he not resembled my father as he slept, I had done ‘t.” What does this say about Lady Macbeth?

That perhaps she isn't that cold because she wouldn't be able to kill her own family or she's so cold that she would have someone else do it for her.

4) Sleep is an important symbol in this play. Please keep a list of all the times (with line numbers) that sleep is mentioned in Act II. Attach and turn this list in with these questions.

5) What is meant when Macbeth says, “Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep”?

By killing Duncan at night, macbeth is killing his sleep. And soon macbeth won't be able to sleep because he will feel so guilty so he's murdering his own sleep. 

6) Why is Lady Macbeth upset with Macbeth towards the end of scene ii?

Because Macbeth got all nervous and was going to wash the bloody dagger instead if leaving it with the guards like she had planned.

7) What is symbolic about the knocking that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth hear?

It's like God knocking on the door, like when someone dies they say God was knocking

8) What does Lady Macbeth say about washing of hands at the end of the scene? Do you believe her?
Lady Macbeth says that by washing the blood off her hands then she is cleansing herself of the sin she has committed. But this isn't right because not just water can make you pure after committing such a crime against another human being.

Scene iii
1) How is the Porter a humorous character? What does he say about drink? How does he metaphorical set the atmosphere of the scene?

The porter is humorous because he is drunk. He makes a lot of sexual jokes...

2) Who is at the gates? (more than 1 person)

Macduff and Lennox

3) What does Macduff mean when he says, “Confusion now hath made his masterpiece!”?

He means that it't really bad that someone had broken into the castle and they're so confused as to why this happened. 

4) How does Macbeth react to the news of the king’s murder? How does Lady Macbeth react?

Macbeth says that he is the one who killed the two guards because he was so mad at what happened.
Lady Macbeth pretends to faint because she just "can't believe it".

5) Where do Donalbain and Malcolm decide to go? Why?

Donalbain goes to Ireland and Malcolm goes to England because they are afraid that they will be killed next especially if they are found together.

Scene iv

1) What is meant by the old man when he says, “On Tuesday last, a falcon, tow’ring in her pride of place, was by a mousing owl hawked at and killed”? What is symbolically suggested here? Hint: Relate the birds to scene ii.

On the day that Duncan is killed he sees an owl kill a falcon. Symbolically saying that Macbeth is no longer a majestic eagle, he is an owl who killed the falcon.

2) What does Macduff say about Malcolm and Donalbain?

People say they ran away because they are "guilty"

3) What does Macduff say about Macbeth?


Macduff says that Macbeth is going to be crowned King, but he isn't going to go because he is suspicious of him.

4) What is meant by the line, “Lest our old robes sit easier than our new”?

That Macbeth might not be as good of a king as Duncan was

5) Why doesn’t Macduff go to the coronation?

Macduff is suspicious of Macbeth, might think something is up. 

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