Macbeth · Chapter
Scene II explained
Lady Macbeth, emboldened by drink, awaits Macbeth's return from murdering King Duncan.
What happens
Lady Macbeth, emboldened by drink, awaits Macbeth's return from murdering King Duncan. Macbeth enters, horrified by his deed, and reveals he could not say 'Amen' and heard a voice cry 'Sleep no more!' Lady Macbeth scolds his weakness, takes the daggers to smear the sleeping grooms with blood, and returns with bloody hands. Knocking at the gate prompts them to wash up and retire, as Macbeth laments his inability to undo the act.
Themes in this chapter
Guilt and Conscience
Macbeth is immediately haunted by his conscience, unable to say 'Amen' and hearing a voice that condemns him to eternal sleeplessness.
Sleep and Restlessness
Macbeth's crime is framed as the murder of sleep itself, with the voice crying 'Sleep no more!' and his subsequent restlessness.
Characters to notice
- Lady Macbeth
Bold and resolute, she drugs the grooms, takes charge of the daggers, and chides Macbeth for his fear.
- Macbeth
Horrified and guilt-ridden after killing Duncan, he cannot say 'Amen' and hears a voice condemning him to sleeplessness.
- King Duncan
Mentioned as the victim of Macbeth's murder, lying dead in the castle.
- Donalbain
Identified as sleeping in the second chamber, one of Duncan's sons.
Key passages
“Methought I heard a voice cry 'Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep,' the innocent sleep, Sleep that knits up the ravell'd sleave of care, The death of each day's life, sore labour's bath, Balm of hurt minds, great nature's second course, Chief nourisher in life's feast.”
I thought I heard a voice shouting, 'You will never sleep again! Macbeth has killed sleep itself'—the peaceful sleep that repairs our worries, ends each day, soothes tired bodies, heals troubled minds, and is the most important part of life.
Macbeth personifies sleep as a victim of his murder, emphasizing his psychological torment.
“Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather The multitudinous seas in incarnadine, Making the green one red.”
Could all the water in the ocean wash this blood from my hands? No, instead my hands will turn the vast seas red with blood.
Macbeth expresses his belief that his guilt is permanent and cannot be cleansed.
“A little water clears us of this deed: How easy is it, then!”
A little water will wash away the evidence of this crime—how simple that is!
Lady Macbeth dismisses Macbeth's guilt, pragmatically focusing on covering up the murder.