Act Two

Act Two

Questions and Summary

Character sketch of the porter

-Questions-

1. Who do you think bears greater responsibility for the murder of King Duncan- Macbeth or Lady Macbeth? Explain.

-Lady Macbeth because she convinced Macbeth to kill the king

2.Why according to Lady Macbeth did she not kill the king herself?

-she said the king looked too much like her father

3. What does Macbeth do with the daggers after the murder?

-he brings the daggers with him to Lady Macbeth

4. Why does this bother Lady Macbeth?

-she gets mad because if anyone sees them they know she killed the king

5. What action does Lady Macbeth take?

-she takes the daggers from Macbeth and puts them in the guards’ hands

6. What does the drunken porter imagine that he is doing in response to knocking at the door?

-he believes he is opening up the doors of hell

7. What does Macbeth wish the knocking could do?

-he wished that it would’ve awoken King Duncan

8. Who is doing the knocking and why?

-Macduff and Lennox because they needed to tell the King something

9. Who first learns that a murder has taken place

-Macduff

10. What action does Macbeth take against the grooms?

-he kills them

11. Why do Malcolm and Donalbain leave the castle?

-they figured out that someone killed their father and they thought that they were next

12. Who does Macduff say has killed King Duncan?

-Malcolm and Donalbain

13. Why do Malcolm and Donalbain fall under suspicion according to Macduff?

-because they fled after the murder

14. What does Macbeth mean by saying he has murdered sleep?

-that he will never be able to sleep again because of what he had done

15. What is ironic about Lady Macbeth’s remark, a little water clears us of this deed?

-it will not be hard to get away with the murder because all we have to do is wash the blood from our hands

16. Why do you think critics consider the porter’s speech to be a comic relief?

-it alters the mood from horror

17. How do the porter’s comments about the people arriving at hell’s gate mirror Macbeth’s dilemma?

-the people the porter is opening the door for are entering hell as will Macbeth because of the murder he has committed

18. What do you think causes Lady Macbeth to faint?

-she faints of instability to move the attention from the murder to her

19. Why does Ross have doubts about accepting the groomsmen as the murders?

-he wondered what the grooms would have to gain from killing the king

20. Why is Macduff concerned that ‘our old robes may fit easier that our new’?

-if they don’t do things carefully from now on, they may end up dead too

21. In his soliloquy in Scene I, Macbeth speaks of vaulting ambition. How can vaulting ambition bring with it great success?

-nothing ventured nothing gained

22. How can vaulting ambition bring with it destruction?

-vaulting ambition tails great risk

-Summary-

Banquo and his son Fleance arrive at Macbeth's castle. Banquo is troubled by what the three witches’ apparitions, so he tells Macbeth. He pretends not to take the predictions seriously, but has already made up his mind that they’re true. After Learning from Banquo that King Duncan is sleeping, Macbeth precedes to the king’s bedchamber which will soon the death place of the King of Scotland. Lady Macbeth made it easy on Macbeth. She drugged the guards, allowing him to kill King Duncan unchallenged. This act of kindness was probably to make up for her cowardliness. Lady Macbeth was supposed to have killed the king but his resemblance to her late father meant her husband had to take care of it for her. A bell frightens Lady Macbeth and also startles Macbeth. Macbeth freaks out, so Lady Macbeth finishes the rest of their plan by wiping blood on the drunken guards. Lady Macbeth tells her husband a little water will wash away their guilt and the two retire to their bedroom. Macduff and Lennox arrive at Macbeth's castle by morning, and the news of King Duncan's death reaches all. Lady Macbeth faints to direct attention away from the murder and Macbeth in rage kills the two drunken guards after claiming that they obviously killed their King. These actions largely free Macbeth and Lady Macbeth from suspicion. King Duncan's sons, Malcolm and Donalbain are then introduced. Both men wisely decide to flee Macbeth's castle as a precaution for their own lives. They thought if someone would kill their father, they were next, so they hit the road. The heirs are gone leaving Macbeth to be crowned the new King of Scotland.

Macbeth