ACT 2 ACT 2 SCENE 1 Narrator: In a courtyard in Macbeth s castle, Banquo enters with his son, Fleance, who is carrying

a torch. Banquo Fleance What time is it, my boy? [Looking at the sky] I think it s later than midnight.

Banquo Here, take my sword. [He fumbles in the dark] They ve snuffed out the stars! [He undoes his belt and dagger] Take these as well. [He yawns] My eyes are very heavy but I m afraid to sleep. [He shudders] God, take away the nightmares that come to me in my sleep. [He hears a noise] Give me my sword again. Who s there? [Macbeth enters with a Servant] Macbeth Banquo A friend! [Lowering his weapon] Still up sir? The king s in bed. He has tipped the servants well. He wants to give your wife this diamond for being such a kind hostess. He is very happy. We weren t expecting him. We did the best we could. It was splendid. [Changing the subject] I dreamed of the three Weird Sisters. In your case, they ve been pretty accurate. [Lightly] I don t think about them now. But one day, when you ve got some time to spare we can talk about the prophecies, if you re willing. Whenever you like. If you stick with me when the time comes, there will be something in it for you. Provided I can remain honorable in doing so, free from evil and loyal to the king, I m open to your advice. Sleep well! Thanks sir and the same to you! [Banquo and Fleance leave] [To his servant] Tell your mistress to ring the bell when my drink s ready. Then, you go to bed. [The servant goes. Macbeth sits deep in thought at a table. Suddenly, he startled and stared into space] Is this a dagger I see before me? With its handle toward my hand? [Speaking to it] Come let me hold you! [He snatches at the empty air] Nothing there. Yet I can still see you. Can t you be felt as well as seen? Or are you just an imaginary dagger? The invention of a sick mind? [He closes his eyes, then looks again] Still there! And [taking his own dagger from its sheath] looking just as solid as the one I have now.

Macbeth Banquo Macbeth Banquo Macbeth Banquo Macbeth Banquo Macbeth

[Excitedly] It s pointing the way I meant to go, and a dagger was my chosen weapon! [Doubt creeps in] My eyes could be deceiving me. [More confidently] More likely, they re worth all my other senses put together. [He blinks hard] Still there! With clots of blood on the blade and handle that weren t there before! [He covers his eyes] It all must be imaginary. I m so obsessed with murder that I m seeing things. Half the world s asleep. [He makes up his mind] My footsteps must be silent. I mustn t give myself away, just when the time is ripe to do the deed. All this ranting only lengthens his life. The more I talk, the more my courage cools. [A bell rings] Now I ll go, and it s as good as done. The bell is my invitation. Don t hear it, Duncan! It s a bell that summons you to heaven or to hell! [He stealthily heads for Duncan s bedroom] Scene 2 Narrator: Lady Macbeth enters her house, carrying with her, a goblet. Lady Macbeth The wine that has made the servants drunk has made me brave. The drink that has put out their fire has lighted mine. [Pause] Listen. Ssh! An owl shrieked; the announcer of death, which says good night so sternly. [Thinking of Macbeth] Macbeth must be killing Duncan now. The bedroom doors are open and the drunken servants are snoring. I ve drugged their drinks! They re midway between life and death! [Calling from upstairs] Who s there? Hey! Oh no! They have wakened and the murder didn t happen. We ll be ruined if we ve bungled it. [She paused, listening] I left the daggers ready. He couldn t miss them. If Duncan hadn t look like my father in his sleep, I d have done it myself. [Macbeth staggers in, carrying two daggers, his hands and arms bathed in blood] Lady Macbeth Macbeth Lady Macbeth Macbeth Lady Macbeth Macbeth My husband! [hushed voice] The deed is done. Didn t you hear a noise? I heard an owl scream and some crickets cry. [They listen] Didn t you speak? When? Now. As I came down?

Macbeth Lady Macbeth

Lady Macbeth Macbeth Macbeth Lady Macbeth Macbeth

Yes. Listen! [They are both silent]Who s in the second bedroom? [looking at his hands] This is a dreadful sight. [Scornfully] A dreadful sight that is stupid! Don t brood too much. We mustn t keep on thinking about it. It will drive us mad. I thought I heard a voice crying, Sleep no more! Macbeth has murdered sleep! [he goes on thoughtfully] Innocent sleep! Sleep that relieves all our worries. The rejuvenator of life. The main course in life s feast--What do you mean? [Ignoring her] Still the voice cried, Sleep no more! to all the house. Lord Glamis has murdered sleep and so Lord Cawdor shall sleep no more

Lady Macbeth Macbeth

Macbeth shall sleep no more! Lady Macbeth Who cried like that? You shall think no more of this. Go and get some water. Wash that filthy evidence off your hands. Why did you bring the daggers with you? They must be left up there. Take them back and smear the Macbeth Lady Macbeth servants with blood. [Horrified] I won t go back! I m afraid to think what I ve done. I don t dare look at it again. Coward! Give me the daggers! Sleeping and dead people are like pictures of themselves. Only children fear a picture, even of the devil. It he s still bleeding, I ll smear the faces of the servants so it will look as if they did it. [Lady Macbeth goes out. There are sounds of knocking] Where s that knocking? What s happened to me? That every noise scares me? [Looking down] Whose hands are these? They re terrible. [Groaning] Is there enough water in the oceans to wash my hands of this blood? No! More likely, my hands will stain the vast green seas blood red. [Lady Macbeth returns. Her hands are red with blood] My hands are the same colour as yours but I d be ashamed to have a heart as white as your! [There is more knocking] I can hear someone knocking at the South Gate. Let s return to our bedroom. A little water will wash away all traces of the dead. Then it will be easy. [Scornfully] You ve lost your nerve! [Knocking] Listen more knocking. Put your nightgown on. In case we re called and seen as to be out of bed. And, don t get so lost in thought! Better to be lost in thoughts than face reality. [The knocking continues. He shudders] Wake Duncan with your knocking! I wish you could! [They leave together]

Macbeth

Lady Macbeth

Macbeth

Scene 3 Narrator: At the main gate of Macbeth s Castle, the Porter enters. He has heard the knocking on the door, but he has drunk far too much to be steady on his feet. Porter There s knocking for you! Now, if I were the porter at the gate of hell, I d be forever unlocking the door! [He pretends that he is hell s porter] Knock, knock, knock! Who s there, in the devil s name? [Guessing] Perhaps it s a farmer who hanged himself when corn was cheap. [Knocking] Knock, knock, knock! Who s there? [Guessing again] Faith, here s an English tailor, who s come here for stealing cloth. [The cold is too much for him; he slaps his arms] But this place is too cold for hell. I ll be a devil-porter no longer. I d planned to let in some of all the professions .[Knocking] All right, all right! [He unlocks the gate. Macduff and Lennox enter. He holds out his hand for a tip]. Please remember the potter. Macduff Porter Macduff Macduff Lennox Macbeth Macduff Macbeth Macduff Macbeth Macduff Lennox Macbeth Lennox [Obliging] Did you get to bed so late, my friend, that you overslept? Well, sir, we were drinking till three o clock in the morning. I think drink put you down last night. [Macbeth enters] Is your master up? [He sees Macbeth] Our knock must have awakened him. Here he comes. Good morning, sir! Good morning to you both. Is the king up, my lord? Not yet. He ordered me to call him early. I m almost late. I ll take you to him. [They walk toward the king s bedroom] [Pointing] This is the door I ll risk a call. That s what I m here for. [Macduff goes in] Is the king leaving today? He is. That was his plan. It s been a stormy night. Where we stayed, our chimneys were blown down. People say they heard wailing, strange screams of death, and terrible prophecies of revolution and disorder. An owl screeched all night long. Some say they were earthquakes. [Macduff returns, wild-eyed] Oh, horror, horror, horror! There are no words that can tell it no mind able to conceive it. What s the matter?

Macduff Macbeth,

Macduff Macbeth Lennox Macduff

The greatest possible tragedy has taken place! God s anointed king has been murdered! Robbed of his sacred life! What s that you say? His life? You mean His Majesty? Come to the bedroom. What you ll see will blind you and turn you to stone. Don t ask me to speak. See then speak yourselves! [Macbeth and Lennox run off]

Wake up! Wake up! Ring the alarm bell, murder and treason! Banquo and Donalbain! Malcolm, wake up! Shake off your comforting sleep and see the death itself. Up, up, and see an image of Judgment Day. Ring the bell! [An alarm bell clangs. Lady Macbeth enters, all innoncence] Lady Macbeth Macduff What s the matter, that such a fearful alarm should summon our guests from sleep? Speak, speak! Oh, gentle lady, my words are not for your ears. No woman could survive the telling. [Banquo enters] Oh, Banquo, Banquo! The king has been murdered! Lady Macbeth Banquo Oh, no! What? In our house? It is too cruel, anywhere. Dear Duff, I beg you. Contradict yourself. Tell me it isn t true! [Macbeth and Lennox returns] From now on, there s nothing left worth living for. Everything is a shame. Honour and dignity are dead. The wine of life has gone. Only the scum remain. [Malcolm and Donalbain, the king s sons, enter] What s the trouble? Yours, but you don t know it. The spring, the source, the fountainhead of your family has been stopped up. Your royal father has been murdered. Oh, no. Who did it? By the look of things, his servants. Their hands and faces were all smeared with blood. So were their daggers. We found them on their pillows, still unwiped. They stared around and looked dazed. No man s life was safe with them. Oh, how I wish now I hadn t lost my self-control and killed them! What did you do that for? Who can be wise and astounded, calm and furious, loyal and neutral, all at the same time? Nobody. My passion overwhelmed my reason, here lay

Macbeth

Donalbain Macbeth Macduff Malcolm Lennox

Macbeth Macduff Macbeth

Duncan

his white skin streaked with his precious blood, and his stab

wounds obviously fatal. There were the murderers, their daggers dripping with blood. Who could hold back, that had a loving heart and the courge to Lady Macbeth Macduff Malcolm Donalbain Malcolm Banquo show it? Help me, please. [Pretending to faint] Look after the lady. [To Donalbain] Why are we silent, when it s our business more than anyone else s? [Replying] What should we say here, where our own lives are in danger? Let s go. There ll be a time for tears later. And also for our deep sorrow to be truly felt. [To servants] Take care of the lady. [To the others] We re catching cold. Let s get dressed, then meet to discuss this terrible murder and the motives behind it, doubts and fears disturbs us. I align myself with God. From that position, I m ready to fight against any secret plot or wicked Macduff All Macbeth All treason! And so am I. And all of us. Let s quickly dress for action and meet in the hall. Agreed.

Narrator: Lady Macbeth, Macbeth, Lennox, Macduff and Malcolm left the murder scene. Malcolm and Donalbain however, remained as where they are, discussing an important matter pertaining to the murder of King Duncan. Malcolm What will you do? Let s not mix with them. It s easy for a hypocrite to show Donalbain sorrow he doesn t feel. I ll go to England. I ll go to Ireland. We ll be safer if we go our separate ways. Here, smilers have knives beneath their cloaks. Our closest relatives have most reason to murder us.

Malcolm

This murder is only the start. We should get out of the firing line. Let s ride off and not worry about saying polite goodbyes. Just slip away. There s good reason to escape when there s no mercy found anymore. Narrator: Malcolm and Donalbain decides to part ways and they leave the area. Scene 4 Narrator: In Macbeth s castle, Ross enters with an Old Man. While they were having a conversation on the many weird incidents that happen recently, Macduff enters. Old Man In all my seventy years, I ve seen some dreadful times and some strange things. But compared with this awful night, they re insignificant.

Ross

Ah, good father, the heavens are showing their displeasure at mankind s behavior. By the clock, it s day. Yet night still smothers the sun. Is the earth in darkness because the day is too ashamed to show its face?

Old Man Ross

It s most unnatural, just like the recent murder. Last Tuesday, a high-flying falcon was attacked and killed by a mouse-hunting owl. And this is strange but true: Duncan s horses, beautiful swift creatures with fine pedigrees, suddenly went wild. They broke their stalls, kicked out, refusing to obey as if they d declared war on man. It s said they ate each other. They did, too, to my amazement. I saw it! [Macduff enters] Here comes the good Macduff. How are things now, sir? [Pointing skyward at the weather] Why, can t you see? Does anyone know who did this unspeakable bloody deed? [Cautiously] The men Macbeth killed . A bad day! What could they hope to gain? They were hired. Malcolm and Donalbain, the king s two sons, have fled the country, an act which makes them the main suspects. Another unnatural act. How carelessly ambition destroys itself! Then most likely Macbeth will become king? He s already been chosen and is at Scone for the coronation. Where s Duncan s body? Taken to Iona, the family tomb. Are you going to Scone? No, cousin. I m going home to Fife. Well, I m going to Scone. Let us hope you ll see things well done there. Farewell. But things may have changed for the worse.

Old Man Ross

Macduff Ross Macduff Ross Macduff Ross Macduff Ross Macduff Ross Macduff Ross Macduff Ross Old Man

[To the Old Man] Farewell, father. God s blessing goes with you and with all who try to turn bad into good and enemies into friends! Narrator: Ross, the Old Man and Macduff leave the scene after having voiced their thoughts on who the murderers are and of the current situation they are in.