Lady Macbeth and Macbeth's main action in Act II concerns
the murder of Duncan, the primary scene being scene ii. However, Macbeth has a famous
and important speech in Act II, scene i, his "Is this a dagger..." speech. This
soliloquy is the moment that the audience knows for sure that Macbeth will indeed follow
through and murder Duncan. He ends by saying, "I go, and it is
done."
In scene ii, Lady Macbeth is waiting for Macbeth to
finish the deed and report back to her. He comes in from the murder, visibly shaken,
and she attempts to snap him out of it by telling him to stop being such a baby (in
essence). She also chides him for being a foolish murderer -- He has brought the
daggers he used to kill Duncan back with him! She orders him to take them back and
leave them at the murder scene, and, when he hesitates she takes them herself. She
returns in triumph, gloating over Macbeth's
cowardice:
My
hands are of your colour; but I shameTo wear a heart so
white.
It is in Act III, that
Macbeth sinks deeper into his vice, needing to commit more murders to cement his
position. It is also in this Act that he pulls away from Lady Macbeth, telling her to
"[b]e innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck." This Act also shows how Macbeth is
shaken up by his actions, with the appearance of Banquo at the banquet. After the
banquet, Shakespeare alludes to the unrest that is to come for both Macbeth and Lady
Macbeth.
Lady
Macbeth
You lack the season of all natures,
sleep.
Macbeth
Come,
we'll to sleep. My strange and self-abuse
Is the initiate
fear that wants hard use.
We are yet young in
deed.
Macbeth indicates here
that there is a long road of murders yet to come before they can really "rest." And, of
course, we know that the peace of mind that Macbeth seeks will never come, no matter how
many murders he commits.
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