| In lines 21-25, do you believe in Macbeth’s sincerity here? Why or why not? | I don’t think Macbeth is sincere because the witches had said that he would be king and he is currently planning on killing king Duncan. This shows that he is thinking about what the witches had said. He also wouldn’t want to talk with Banquo later after Macbeth kills Duncan. |
| How do you think Macbeth feels about Banquo’s virtuous stand? | I think Macbeth is frustrated because he knows that Banquo won’t be able to be on his side since Macbeth is going to kill the king. By killing the king Macbeth is breaking both of Banquo’s requests to keep a clear conscience and to remain loyal to the king. |
| After he sees the floating dagger, do you think Macbeth is losing his mind? | I think he is going slowly insane because its clear that he’s hallucinating. Even though Macbeth knows that he’s seeing things that aren’t actually there, he is still crazy. |
| Why is Macbeth standing around, talking to himself? | He’s talking to himself because he’s nervous and hallucinating. He sees an imaginary dagger leading him to the king’s chambers and begins to feel paranoid about what he is about to do. |
| What does Lady Macbeth do while Macbeth kills Duncan? | While Macbeth is killing Duncan, Lady Macbeth is worrying about what will happen to them both if Macbeth fails to kill the king. |
| Why is Macbeth so troubled by the fact that he cannot say “Amen”? | Macbeth knows that what he just did was wrong and feels like he doesn’t deserve the blessing “amen”. He is feeling extremely guilty about killing the king. |
| In lines 35-40, why is Macbeth so concerned about sleep? | He’s so concerned about sleep because he thought he heard someone say “Sleep no more! Macbeth is murdering sleep.” He then describes how sleep relaxes and calms someone. After the deed that he just committed, he needs sleep in order to feel better. |
| Why does Lady Macbeth tell her husband to wash his hands? | She tells him to wash his hands because he has blood on them and so that he gets rid of the evidence that he killed the king. |
| How is Lady Macbeth’s attitude towards blood different from her husband? | Lady Macbeth is very factual and indifferent towards the blood. This is shown when she tells Macbeth to go wash his hands and smear the sleeping guards with blood. Macbeth has the reaction of being afraid to even look at his hands. |
| Why does Macbeth insist on taking Macduff to the king’s chamber? | He wants to seem like he has no idea that the king has been killed. |
| In lines 69-75, is Macbeth being completely insincere, or does he regret his crime? | He regrets his crime because he said that there is nothing worth living for anymore. He also called the king graceful and renowned. Why would he say these things if didn’t regret his crime? |
| What does Macbeth do to cover his tracks? | He kills the guards who he wanted blamed for “killing” the king. With the guards dead they can’t deny that they killed the king. Now everyone will just assume that they did. |
| Who is blamed for the murder? | The two guards of the king. However, the kings two sons, Malcolm and Donalbain, fled the scene so now they are the prime suspects for hiring the guards to kill their dad. |
| What happens to Macbeth at the end of the scene (4)? | At the end of the scene Macbeth goes to Scone to be crowned king. |
Macbeth Act 2 Questions
August 5, 2019