Macbeth's disintegrating mind : Act 2

Question 1

act 2 scene 2 - after duncan’s regicide

Answer 1

• ‘god bless us’
• ‘amen’

Question 2

‘god bless us’
‘amen’

Answer 2

• repetition of ‘god bless us’
• ‘amen’ - biblical cries
• highlights how macbeth has deviated so far away from religion and God that will begin to torture his mind on earth before being eternally tortured in hell

Question 3

‘I heard a voice cry, ‘Sleep no more: / Macbeth does murder sleep’, the innocent sleep’

Answer 3

• he is so perturbed by guilt that he is imprisoned whilst being in a state of restlessness
• repetition of ‘sleep’ - portrays him stumbling over his words, even he has lost control over his lexis and articulation

Question 4

motif of sleep

Answer 4

sleep plays an important role in exploring the notion of innocence throughout the play, an inability to sleep is synonymous with a loss of innocence

Question 5

what does sleep represent?

Answer 5

tranquillity and healing

Question 6

‘sore labour’s bath’

Answer 6

• a metaphor for sleep that macbeth uses
• noun ‘bath’ connotes cleanliness which is also synonymised with innocence through the allusions to the washing of blood

Question 7

topic sentence post-regicide

Answer 7

• immediately after duncan’s murder, macbeth and lady macbeth are diametrically opposed in their reactions, showing the fragmentation of their relationship
• this scene reveals lady macbeth’s true nature as manipulative, deceptive and cowardly, she later fragments the facade she builds at this point n the play as she descends into savagery