At the end of Act I, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth, are about to commit a crime. Lady Macbeth was angry with Duncan, and was in the process of plotting to kill him. She kept telling Macbeth that they were not going to fail. Lady Macbeth plans to kill Duncan and then place the blame on two chamberlains. Lady Macbeth’s plan is to get the guards drunk, and then Macbeth will stab Duncan while he is unarmed. Then they would smear Duncan’s blood all over the guards. Macbeth knew not to listen to his wife, but he did anyway and went along with the plan.
The opening scene in Act II, scene 2, is of the murder that is about to take place. The guards are drunk, and Duncan is sound asleep. Lady Macbeth’s reason for not killing Duncan herself is that Duncan resembles her father, so she leaves the murder up to Macbeth. Macbeth leaves the room to kill Duncan, and then reenters covered in blood. Lady Macbeth orders Macbeth to wash up, and then return the weapons to the crime scene. Macbeth refuses, so Lady Macbeth is left to do the deed herself.
She calls her husband a coward, and scolds him for not completing the plan the way in which they decided on before hand. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are both very panicky, and when they hear the knocking on the door, they being to speed the process up, and they start to worry about being caught in the act. Macbeth forgives himself for the crime that he committed, but Lady Macbeth thinks nothing of it. While Lady Macbeth awaits Macbeth’s return, she hears and owl screech which seems to be the bell of death.
Macbeth feels very guilty for killing Duncan, and his wife scorns him for appearing as weak. Macbeth fears the future and what may happen to him. He thinks that he will end up in prison for the remainder of his life. Macbeth knows that the blood will come off of his hands, but he feels that it will not come off of his soul. Lady Macbeth feels that washing his hands will clear his conscience, but Macbeth knows that nothing can help him to forget the murder he committed.
Macbeth is quite ashamed of himself for murdering Duncan. As much as he would like to forget the entire ordeal, he knows that that is not possible. Lady Macbeth is proud of herself for finally following through with her plan and killing Duncan. She does not feel even the slightest bit remorseful for killing Duncan. She only cares about herself, and what she can do to improve her life, even if it means taking the life of another person.
