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Act Two


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Scene One:Banquo, who ahs accompanied Duncan to Inverness, is uneasy because he too is tempted by the witches' prophecies, although only in his dreams. Macbeth pretends to have forgotten them. Left alone by Banquo, Macbeth imagines that he sees a gory dagger leading him to Duncan's room. (Hm...Mr.Stender here brings to mind,"Is this dagger a hallucination of Macbeth? Or is it a object conjured by the witches? Or is it a real dagger?) Hearing the bell rung by Lady Macbeth to signal completion of her preparations for Duncan's death, Macbeth exits to kill the king. (How nice of Lady Macbeth to help her husband out!)
Scene Two:Lady Macbeth waits anxiously for Macbeth to return from killing Duncan. When Macbeth enters, he is horrified by what he has done. (Hm...Bit late for being horrified?) He has brought with his the daggers that he had used on Duncan, instead of leaving them in the room with Duncan's sercants as Lady Macbeth had planned. When he finds himself incapable of returning the daggers, Lady Macbeth does so. She returns to find Macbeth still paralyzed with horror and urges him to put on his gown and wash the blod from his hands. (That seems like a good idea.)
Scene Three:A drunken porter goes to answer a knocking at the gate, all the while playing the role of a devilporter at the gates of hell. He admits Macduff and Lennox, who have come to wake Duncan. Macbeth appears and greets them. Macduff exits to wake Duncan, and returns to announce Duncan's murder. Macbeth and Lennox go to see for themselves. When they return, Lennox announces that Duncan's servants are teh murderers. Macbeth reveals that he has slain the servants. When his motives are questioned, Lady Macbeth interrupts by calling for help for herself. (Nice bit of acting, or is she actually horrified by the dead servants and king, despite her cruelty?) Duncan's sons, Malcolm and Donalbain, plan to flee for their lives, Malcolm to England, Donalbain to Ireland.
Scene Four:An old man and Ross exchange accounts of recent unnatural happenings. Macduff joins them to report that Malcolm and Donalbain are now accused of having bribed the servants who supposedly killed Duncan. Macduff announces that Macbeth has been chosen king. Ross leaves for Scone and Macbeth's coronation, but Macduff resolves to stay at his own castle at Fife.
Look familiar? It should if you at least LOOKED in the book. This summary was purely out of the book preceding each scene. But, never worry, next Act will be summarized differently.
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Macbeth