Macbeth Sheet 1.10
In what ways does Shakespeare create tension in these sections through what the characters say and do?
Act 2.2 and Act 5.5
When Macbeth has “done the deed” of killing Duncan, he is horrified and jumps at every sound. In the quiet and dark of night every sound seems loud. Natural sounds of owls and crickets seem unnaturally loud. When Macbeth and Lady Macbeth speak to each other it sounds panicky because they use short, sharp sentences. They almost interrupt each other and they use a lot of questions which make them sound tense and frightened.
The tension of this scene is very different from that of the second scene. In that one, there is a background of battle sounds and Macbeth makes a dramatic entrance with soldiers and a drum. The noise is interrupted by the sound of women wailing. As in the first scene, we realise something terrible has happened off stage. Seyton explains that, “The queen, my lord, is dead.” The mood suddenly changes and it becomes quiet whilst Macbeth takes in what this news means. Although the scene ends with Macbeth shouting that he will fight to the end, he is not tense any more.
Shakespeare shows tension in a number of ways. He uses a background of quiet in the first scene and a noisy one in the second. There are a lot of short lines in the first scene but not in the second one when Macbeth thinks about his life. The iambic pentameter is very clear when Macbeth thinks about life and Lady Macbeth.
In the first scene, Lady Macbeth is concerned with practical details and dismisses her husband’s fears. He is worried about spiritual things:
“But wherefore could not I pronounce ‘Amen’?
I had most need of blessing..”
We realise that he knows that he has damned himself for ever and that he will never again have peace of mind. We can see that when he describes sleep as “the balm of hurt minds”. Sleep comforts those who suffer and he knows, “Macbeth doth murder sleep” for all of Scotland. Lady Macbeth dismisses his worries as “it will make us mad”. Actually she is the one who goes mad. Lady Macbeth just wants him to get rid of the daggers and to “wash this filthy witness from your hand” because he has blood everywhere. She doesn’t realise the implications of what has happened but Macbeth’s has insight and this makes tension.
The women crying in the second scene reminds the audience of Lady Macbeth’s sleepwalking when she tries to wash her hands and she relives Duncan’s murder. We are reminded of the tension straight after Duncan’s death.
In the first scene Macbeth realises something terrible about himself: “To know my deed, ‘twere best not know myself”. In the second scene he becomes aware that life is pointless:
“It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury
Signifying nothing”.
Macbeth realises that he has been lied to by the witches and that all is lost. Instead of giving up he decides to carry on fighting. We know that he is going to die and now just have to wait to see just how this will be shown.