LRJ #2

2/26/09

1. In act 2, Macbeth is still shown to have some compassion through the guilt that he feels from killing Duncan, "I had most need of blessing and 'amen' stuck in my throat" (2.2.36-37). Here he is talking to his wife explaining that his guilt caused by the murder is so great that he cannot even utter the ending to his prayer. In contrast, an ugly charactersic that is shown is that he is now willing to do much in order to keep the murder a secret, "That I did kill them" (2.3.109). He not only lies here about killing Duncan (he later says to have killed the guards out of fury), but he also admits to murdering two more men.

2. Lady Macbeth is shown to have both good and bad characteristics in on line, "Had he not resembled my father as he slept, I had done't" (2.2.12-13). This passage shows her to have compassion seeing as how she refused to kill Duncan because he resembled her father too much. It also shows he to still be a little cold hearted because she makes it seem that if Duncan had looked like any other man, she would've been happy to complete the deed herself.

3. During this act, I was only able to find one use of my image, candles, "There's husbandry [thriftiness] in heaven; their candles are all out" (2.1.4-5). The stars are metaphorically referred to as candles in this passage. Even though the image is used only once, it is used to emphasize a strong foreshadowing. In this passage, Banquo is telling his son that there is something going on that night that even heaven doesn't want them to see.