Skip to main content

How does Shakespeare create atmosphere throughout Act II, Scene 2 of Macbeth?

Shakespeare creates a tense atmosphere (or mood) in this scene beginning with Lady Macbeth's initial concern that Duncan's grooms have awoken and, in doing so, have prevented Macbeth from being able to complete the murder.  Then, the quick back-and-forth between the husband and wife when he enters the scene increases tension.  The nervous questions and short, terse, replies contribute to this anxious atmosphere.  Further, both of them have heard strange noises for which they cannot account, including the voice Macbeth heard that has promised that he will not be able to sleep peacefully anymore. 


In addition, when Macbeth and Lady Macbeth begin to conflict with one another, this adds to the tense atmosphere too.  He brought the murder weapons with him rather than leave them near Duncan's body and the men they are attempting to frame, and when he refuses to return them himself, Lady Macbeth scolds him for his lack of courage and returns them herself.  Once she does so, the couple begin to hear a knocking at the gate: each time they hear a knock, the tension increases because they know that Duncan's body will soon be discovered and they will have to pretend innocence.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Is there a word/phrase for "unperformant"?

As a software engineer, I need to sometimes describe a piece of code as something that lacks performance or was not written with performance in mind. Example: This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. Based on my Google searches, this isn't a real word. What is the correct way to describe this? EDIT My usage of "performance" here is in regard to speed and efficiency. For example, the better the performance of code the faster the application runs. My question and example target the negative definition, which is in reference to preventing inefficient coding practices. Answer This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. In my opinion, reads more easily as: This coding style leads to unmaintainable and poorly performing code. The key to well-written documentation and reports lies in ease of understanding. Adding poorly understood words such as performant decreases that ease. In addressing the use of such a poorly ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Is 'efficate' a word in English?

I routinely hear the word "efficate" being used. For example, "The most powerful way to efficate a change in the system is to participate." I do not find entries for this word in common English dictionaries, but I do not have an unabridged dictionary. I have checked the OED (I'm not sure if it is considered unabridged), and it has no entry for "efficate". It does have an entry for "efficiate", which is used in the same way. Wordnik has an entry for "efficate" with over 1800 hits, thus providing some evidence for the frequency of use. I personally like the word and find the meaning very clear and obvious when others use it. If it's not currently an "officially documented" word, perhaps its continued use will result in it being better documented.
Post a Comment
Read more