Shakespeare's Macbeth: Act II

1. If you were staging the text, would you make the dagger visible to the audience?

I would not. This is a struggle within Macbeth's conscience, and should be confined to that space - it is the actor's job to portray this torn character, terrified by a vision which we, the sane audience, are not shown. An actor should have the skill to conjure up the dagger on his own, without the use of theatrical assistance.

1. How does Macbeth's conscience react before and during the murder?

Macbeth is strangely unemotional during his encounter with the dagger - he ponders the deed, but not its effect upon his own soul. He instead speaks of evil as something outside of his castle: "...the wolf...towards his design moves like a ghost." The last line of this speech proves that Macbeth is more readyto address Duncan's soul than his own. "...summons thee to heaven, or to hell." Lady Macbeth, too, boasts a hardened resolve - "that which hath made them drunk, hath made me bold." Her ambition holds her close, and she is more afraid of discovery than of damnation.