Macbeth: Act 2

Macbeth and Lady Macbeth carry out their murder plot in Act 2. Lady Macbeth got the two guards drunk so Macbeth could enter the room undetected and murder Duncan. As Macbeth was stabbing him, both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth heard strange noises. Lady Macbeth heard an owl screeching and crickets chirping. Macbeth, on the other hand, heard voices screaming at him. Macbeth’s act of murder becomes more savage due to the fact that he could hear someone yelling out his name and he murdered Duncan anyway. Macbeth recollected about the voices saying, “Methought I heard a voice cry ‘Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep’” (80). Macbeth continued on with, “Still it cried, ‘Sleep no more!’ to all the house: ‘Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor Shall sleep no more: Macbeth shall sleep no more!’” (82). The two quotes (the voices) are trying to reach out to people in the house and get them to realize that Macbeth is killing the king while he sleeps. This frightened Macbeth greatly but it didn’t stop him from striking Duncan down in his sleep. The brutal side of Macbeth comes out here because the voices are saying what he is doing but he won’t stop the murder. He wants the crown bad enough to go against his own conscience (the voices) and kill Duncan.