Wednesday, February 11, 2009

After Macbeth's long soliloquy at the end of Act 1, what is the effect of the short halting interchange between Macbeth and lady Macbeth?

In Act 1, Scene 7, Macbeth delivers a soliloquy in which he outlines all of his reasons not to move forward with the murder of Duncan as well as his one reason to go ahead with it.  Duncan is his kinsman, his king, his friend, his guest, and an all-around good guy; however, Macbeth's ambition is a strong, "Vaulting" force and could outweigh all these concerns as well as Macbeth's concern for the state of his own soul (1.7.27).  When Lady Macbeth enters, they exchange several short questions, one after another, heightening the tension of the scene by increasing the speed of the dialogue and answering questions with more questions.  Up until now, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth seem to have been on the same page, so to speak.  But now, they are no longer thinking the same thing, and their need to question one another in such a tense and rapid way seems to betray this disconnect.

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