Friday, 10 January 2014


Is Macbeth mad in 2.1??

In act two scene one of Macbeth,Macbeth is indeed mad. This becomes evident when he starts to hallucinate about a dagger Infront of him. He says"is this a dagger which u see before me,/the handle toward my hand ?Come ,let me clutch thee : /I have thee not and yet I see thee still. "(2.1.33-35)He knows he does not hold it in his hands but he sees it and wants it. Macbeth had a huge moment of insanity. He is wanting to kill king Duncan ,this could be because one of three things : lady Macbeth has told him he is not a man if he doesn't kill the king. Option two:he has a burning hatred for the king as Macbeth was not named prince of Cumberland and is only the thane of glam is and the thane of cawdor. He says "whiles I threat,he lives :/ words to the heat of deeds too cold breath gives /I go, and it is done."(2.1.60-62) Or he is infact mad.Macbeth  compares himself to Tarquinius,'Tarquinius was an etraen tyrant in Rome,raped lucerne ,the last  virtuous matron in the city after which she committed suicide' only man insane persons would do this .when Macbeth says "the bell invites me/hear it not Duncan ,for knell/that summons thee to heaven or to hell. " this just shows that he has every intention of murdering king Duncan. Macbeth is mad enough to think about lye alone commit a murder

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