Macbeth, Act II - Mood and Atmosphere

Shakespeare uses many devices to set the scene and the overall mood of each Scene in his tragedy of Macbeth. The overall mood of this particular Act is edgy, scary and darkly themed. The scene is inside Macbeth's castle, but Shakespeare uses other devices to further this setting, and to engage the audience into fear or agitation.


The Act starts when Banquo tells his son Fleance ''A heavy summons lies like lead upon me and yet I would not sleep.'' The audience is led to believe that this is the doing of the Witches, as in act one, the First Witch tells of how she cursed a sailor so that he would not sleep, and also because Banquo reveals to Macbeth a little later on in the scene that he ''Dreamt last night of the three Weird sisters.'' This lack of sleep is either then a curse on Banquo, or an internal conflict on what is good or bad about his prophesy, exactly like Macbeth's internal struggles throughout the play, shown through his soliloquy and private discussions with Lady Macbeth.


As the Scene progresses, Macbeth's famous soliloquy of ''Is this a dagger I see before me...'' shows newly developed elements of his character. The illusion of the dagger is the result of the Witches' meddling, and can only be explained through madness or the supernatural; both of which are uneasy topics in a play, even today. This provokes a fear of the unknown from the audience, and makes them question the heroic Macbeth that they were introduced to by the Captain and other such characters in the play, as it in fact paints the nobleman in a confused and dazed state, from his failure to grasp his current situation.
He says ''art thou but a dagger of the mind, a false creation...from thy heat-oppressed brain?'' to show his questioning of the reality of his vision. The very fact that Shakespeare uses words such as 'blood', 'dead', 'wicked', 'witchcraft' and 'murder' scares the audience, as Macbeth is openly talking about these things, but has no emotive response. He is consumed with wonder and bewilderment at the vision he beholds. He becomes alienated from the rest of the audience, and indeed the other characters.


The transformation of a ruthless Lady Macbeth, to a nervous Lady Macbeth also alienates her from the audience. Earlier in the play, she tells Macbeth that if he decides not to kill the King, he will be less of a man, and calls on evil to make her into a hard-hearted killer. But now, she needs drink to make her go through with her part of the plan - and she is still frightened by the slightest sound.
She quotes, ''what have made [the guards] drunk hath made me bold; what hath quenched them hath given me fire. -Hark!- Peace!'' and ''Alack, I am afraid they have awaked...The attempt not the deed confounds us.'' Interestingly, the Lady also quotes, ''Had he not resembled my father as he slept, I would have done't'', which is interesting, as it seems to show the Lady as developing a conscience, and feeling fear. This alienates her from the audience, as they know her as a maybe evil, and definitely over-ambitious, silver-tounged woman; and yet here she is, drinking for false courage, cowering at an owl's distant screech, and developing feelings of sympathy for another person.


Finally, Shakespeare's Porter scene has a comic relief aspect to it, but he has written it skillfully, allowing an air of evil to linger in the background of this scene. The repeated Knocking creates an air of mystery, and the unknown aspect is of course who it is that knocks at the door. Or is it in fact the witches doing, and the nocking is just to scare the Macbeths, or confuse the Porter. Also, the porter's use of drunken language contrasts the everyday language of society, particularly in the god-fearing age of Shakespeare's time. For instance, the porter asks ''who's there i'the name of Belzibub?'' as opposed to the normal 'in Jesus' name'. Lennox also enters the scene when Macbeth enters the scene, and reports that the ''chimneys were blown down'' and that he heard ''strange screams of death'', to signify that all is not well in Scotland, because of Macbeth's actions. This therefore sets the scene not only in Macbeth's castle, but also on a national scale, frightening the audience even more so.

Through these devices, and Shakespeare's skillfully written dialogue, he manages to set the scene all the way through his Second Act, as a dark and creepy place, shrouded in mystery and alienation of both audience and main characters.