Frankenstein Reading Journal: ^ Volume Three Chapter VII (Chapter 24)

Chapter I:

• Creating another monster involves again travelling from Geneva - reiterates the pureness that Geneva represents to Victor, a pureness violated by the Creation several times.
• Once again like in Volume One, Chapter 6, Victor puts off his own consummation with Elizabeth for scientific work and the consummation between the Creation and the to-be female. Is he afraid of women? Instead he would rather go to a far away land with Clerval; another man.

Chapter II:

• Victor compares the attractions of England to Switzerland, but England offers many more man-made wonders e.g. it's historical cities; it is in Scotland Victor must go to carry out his act, a country of more natural wonders - perhaps this highlights Victor's constant contaminate nature with his atrocities.
• Victor's mental state deteriorates again from the solitude of his task “my spirits became unequal; I grew restless and nervous.".

Chapter III:

• Victor begins to have anxieties (gothic) and second thoughts over creating the female monster.
• References to nature - "Eye of the moon"; a Godly presence that Victor feels is judging his actions.
• Victor's unfocused mind is reflected by his thoughts wandering between his laboratory and South America, mimicked also by the transition of night and day.
• Power shift between Victor and the Creation "but I am your master; obey!”
• Foreshadowing of future climaxes "with you on your wedding night" and "gentlemen was found murdered here" - reader grasps ideas quicker than narrator.
• Gothic elements of focusing on light and dark (day and night).
• May sympathise with Creation because all he wants is a companion but Victor also because he has experienced the losses of creating the first one.
• The journey from Geneva to Scotland may represent the emotional journeys of both Victor and the Creation; Victor no longer wants to pursue science and the Creation has matured to want a mate.
• Destroying the female may represent Victor's fears of femininity or even his desire to have the Creation solely to himself.
• By throwing the remains of the female into the sea, Victor gives back to nature what he has taken.

Chapter IV:

• Arriving in Ireland, Gothic element of foreign settings.
• Imprisoned for the murder of Clerval, essentially Victor is being punished by humans for his act of making the Creation.
• Falling into convulsions both at the sight of Clerval dead and at the trial show Victor's worsening condition to be able to cope with the burden of the Creation and his deeds "The human frame could no longer support the agonizing suffering".
• Like after finishing the creation of the first monster, having finished his business with the second, Victor again falls into illness, except this time his last saviour, Clerval, is dead. In his place comes his father Alphonse; showing the value of family and perhaps foreshadowing the death of Alphonse. Like previous, death often comes to those who try or offer help to others.
• Victor's mind crumbles further as he supposes the coming of his father could be the monster "Oh! Take him away! I cannot see him;" - he forgets that the monster is hideous and has had no success in communicating with humans so could not have been granted access to Victor.

Chapter V:

• Victor slowly becomes more like the Creation in both his animosity towards humans and his fear that they would hate him for unleashing the Creation upon humanity "But I felt I had no right to share their intercourse...How they would, each and all, abhor me,".
• Upon seeing Elizabeth again, like he, she has lost some of her beauty, no longer are they both wonderful and perfect, as if they are the scorned Adam and Eve "She was thinner, and had lost much of that heavenly vivacity that had before charmed me;" Also, they are more alike what could have been the union between the Creation and the female, both weathered and unbeautiful. Still yet, Victor wants her as his wife, he has a choice where as the Creation did not in the destruction of his companion.
• Victor's dull description of Nature shows it now takes a less emotional and impactful stance, his life has been degraded and instead of nature offering an elevating consolation, it is just a setting for Victor's sorrows.

Chapter VI:

• Elizabeth is murdered, Alphonse dies of heartbreak, Victor resolves to tell the people but the court will not help his efforts to bring the Creation to justice.
• "pale yellow light of the moon illuminate the chamber." - like the yellow skin of the Creation, the light entering the room represents the Creation ravaging and staining the private place of the newlyweds.
• Victor claims the magistrate responds to his confession with "the whole tide of his incredulity returned" however the magistrate's words do not suggest this showing perhaps the idea that no one would believe Victor was all his own thinking and that he had been exaggerating his fears; narrator bias.
• The climax of the novel with the last of Victor’s family dead, Elizabeth in particular, Victor is stripped of the one thing that separated him from the Creation, his social companions, now he becomes the bloodthirsty and vengeful monster.

Chapter VII Victor:

•  Victor tells Walton of his pursuit which leads him to the North: visiting his family gravesite in Geneva, Victor sees the Creation beginning his chase all across Europe, leaving everything behind. Victor dies on the ship with his last words warning Walton "Seek happiness in tranquillity and avoid ambition," and asking him to succeed where he failed in killing the monster.
• Similar to Macbeth, 'Sleep' is of some value here, unlike Macbeth who "murdered" sleep; it is only in sleep that Victor may see/be with his loved ones. Awake, Victor is a demon hell-bent on revenge.
• Where before, nature held strong emotional attachment to Victor, it now just marks points in his journey to kill the Creation i.e. the Black Sea and Mediterranean.
• Victor's unsettled mind is reflected by his constantly changing location.
• Victor's transformation into becoming the monster is complete “I was cursed by some devil,” he is fuelled by his desire for vengeance like the Creation was fuelled by his desire to make Victor feel his pain.
• Victor did feel a duty towards his Creation "bound towards him, to assure...his happiness and well-being." but this was put aside for Victor's love for his own kind "My duties towards the beings of my own species".

Chapter VII Walton:

• Narrator reliability "then himself corrected and augmented...giving life and spirit to the conversations".
• Victor as Adam "He seems to feel his own worth and the greatness of his fall."
• Victor was the Creation's last scope into humanity and with his death, he feels sorrow of bringing such pain and losing his father "what does it avail that I now ask thee to pardon me?"
• Walton acts as the voice of the reader who sympathises most with Victor "You lament only because the victim of your malignity is withdrawn from your power."
•  The Creation is given the oppurtunity to truly announce his emotions "but I was the slave, not the master, of an impulse which I detested, yet could not disobey" - like Adam drawn to the temptation of the apple. Hearing multiple perspectives of the central characters leaves the reader questioning who was the actual monster "my agony was still superior to thine;".
• Paradise Lost: "the fallen angel becomes a malignant devil." even Satan had associates but he is alone.
• Reclaiming of the unnatural Creation by nature "my ashes will be swept into the sea by the winds."

Second Coursework Ideas: Critical Reading of Marxism

1. The Politics of Class: Marxism

Since last week, my attention has been drawn to George Orwell's novel '1984'.
I understand Orwell wrote this book in 1949 in the context of the Soviet Union rising from World War Two as one of the world's new superpowers. As a communist nation the USSR undoubtedly held Marxist values within it's ideology. I believe Orwell tries to foreshadow and mirror the negative consequences of such a constitution upon the individual. 1984 reflects the extreme imbalance of  power by the state comparing it to the realities of fears from the western world for what would become of the new Marxist USSR.
I don't quite know how I'm going to argue this and I have only just begun the book so I'm not entirely sure this will be my final choice.

Frankenstein Reading Journal: ^ Volume Two Chapter 9 (Chapter 17)

Chapter I:

• Victor begins to feel the repercussions of his actions as he sinks into depression, remorse and guilt, he seeks the cradle of nature to soothe him.
• Aligns itself with Romanticism in that it promotes the grandeur of everlasting nature "the supreme and magnificent Mont Blanc,...its tremendous dome overlooked the valley." - which remains forever beautiful against science's hideousness and failures.
• Transformation of Victor from a blissful being to a loathing wretch between times since he has been with nature "Six years had passed then...but nought had changed in those savage and enduring scenes." - nature outlasts all human forms.
• "sleep crept over me;...and blest the giver of oblivion." foreshadowing of the absolution that sleep (death) may give.

Chapter II:

• These sublime and magnificent scenes...my grief, they subdued and tranquilised it." - Blend of Romantic themes creating Gothic themes of the mind being manipulated, the word 'tranquilised' makes me think of intoxication and poisoning of the mind; madness.
• "'do you dare approach me?" Victor's threats exemplify his extreme hate for the monster but they are also likened to the threats by a father who dares his own child to stand against him.
• "come on, then, that I may extinguish the spark which I so negligently bestowed.'" - reference to Prometheus who bestowed upon humans fire, unlike Prometheus, Victor is angry at his own actions; he is depicted by Shelley as morally ideal rather than Prometheus who went against his superiors and was subsequently punished.
• Impression given by the voice of the Creation makes Victor out as an ignorant villain and the Creation the victim, who in fact is not the cold monstrosity given by Victor's biased impression but a suffering. literate, intelligent being.
• "thou hast made me more powerful than thyself;" - Shelley may have tried to criticise man's pursuit of science by suggesting the potential imbalance of power between the maker and the creation.
• "I am thy creature," - the Creation is forever belonging to Victor like Adam and humankind are forever children of God.
• "Begone! I will not hear you." - God's (Victor) disownment of Adam (the Creation).
• "perform thy part, which thou owest me." - as his 'Father', Victor owes the creation his love and support.
• The Creation has a simple nature, perhaps Shelley's take on a return to the ideal by mankind "misery made me a fiend. Make me happy and I shall again be virtuous." he is simple and naive in that sadness leads to treachery and happiness leads to virtue.
• After reading a homosexual critical reading; the pain and anger that the Creation and Victor cause to each other may be Shelley's criticism of their homosexual bond; they pursue each other the entire novel.
• "Yet it is in your power to recompense me," - no matter how intelligent or powerful the Creation has become, it is still in Victor's (the Father) hands that the power to help the Creation lies.
• Shelley's use of describing a fire inside a cold hut in the midst of an icy mountain is metaphorical for Victor's cold demeanour towards the Creation which is to be warmed by the Creation's words and the empathy of his own soul.

Chapter III:

• Narrative changes to the point of view of the Creation, note that the words now have to go through several different people: Creation-Victor-Walton.
• Chapter dictates the Creation's first actions into the world; eating, sleeping, creating fire, avoiding civilisation, finding the hut of the exiled family.
• Observes and learns the kindness of the cottagers "The girl was young and of gentle demeanour...he took the pail from her head and bore it to the cottage himself.", their kindness towards each other exasperates the lack of kindness towards him and his loneliness.
• Beginnings of the Creation's desire for a companion "the gentle manners of the girl enticed my love."

Chapter IV:

• The cottager’s unhappiness despite their belongings of luxury such as house, a fireplace and clothes is fickle compared to the Creation's grievances of being solitary and imperfect.
• The Creation is kind and good by nature shown by his own decision to abstain from taking their food and collecting firewood for the cottagers.
• Acquires language from observing the cottagers.
• The theme of human moods being connected with nature is reiterated by the Creation's joy as spring comes into season "My spirits were elevated by the enchanting appearance of nature; the past was blotted from my memory," - both the Creation and Victor are able to forget the gloomy past in the beauty of nature.
• Both Frankenstein and the Creation come to see 'knowledge' as dangerous thing, pursuit of knowledge in science lead to the Creation who murdered Victor's family and knowledge of the Creation's appearance likewise causes harm to come to the Creation.

Chapter V:

• The family help serve the purpose of teaching the Creation values such as chivalry and sacrifice; within the hovel he gains knowledge of humanity; the home acts as a cocoon for the Creation that when he leaves it, he is far different from when he entered.
• The Creation's progress in acquiring language aligns him closer to his human companions and is key to creating his narrative voice in the novel.
• Most importantly, the family values the cottagers display help contrast the underline the Creation's lack of companionship, acceptance and love "But where were my friends and relations? No father had watched my infant days,".

Chapter VI:

• Gothic conventions in the tyranny of Safie's father over her and Felix, simultaneously Safie reverses the convention by openly rejecting her life in Constantinople; not 'the submissive women'.
• As a feminist, Shelley could have been trying to convey women's equality through the story of Safie and Muslim culture.

Chapter VII:

• Creation conceives ideas of tragedy from acquiring the book Paradise Lost; taking the novel for fact and considering his own life from Victor's journal, it inspires his own tragedy to win the favour Victor - "many times I considered Satan as the fitter emblem of my condition,"
• "Autumn passed thus." - gives an idea of how long the Creation has been learning and living with the cottagers; almost an entire year and he still hasn't introduced himself, shows his insecurity and fear of rejection.
• Crucial moment as it is the first time the Creation converses with another person "Pardon this intrusion" - possibly this can be taken as the Creation's entering of the human realm in which he does not belong.
• The Creation's acceptance by the blind De Lacy but not the other cottagers emphasises the Creation's problem with of society not by his actions but by his ugliness.

Chapter VIII:

• The Creation leaves the cottage after it is abandoned by the cottagers, wretched, he heads towards Geneva, is shot after saving the life of a girl, strangles William and frames Justine for murder.
• The coming of winter again reflects the internal hardship of the Creation "the sun became heatless;...the surface of the earth was hard".
• Though winter and the icy Alps serves Victor to 'freeze his guilt', it is only barren to the Creation who revels rather in the bliss of spring.
• The Creation's murder of William shows to him he too can bring pain and hurt ""my enemy is not invulnerable; this death will carry despair to him," thus he murders to hurt not his victims but Victor.
• The chapter ends with the Creation asking Victor to create for him a companion of the same form.

Chapter IX:

• Victor's duties as father and creator, coupled with the prospects of the Creation's self-exile from humankind implore him to heed to the Creation's request of a female mate.
• Under the Creation's promise and influenced by his tale, Victor agrees to task, the Creation decides to monitor Victor's every action to ensure he does this.

Frankenstein Reading Journal: Volume One ^ Chapter 8

Letter I:

• The address of the letters show of a foreign setting; unfamiliar, alien, mysterious gothic setting.
• "evil forebodings" - gothic convention.
• "breeze play upin my cheeks...fills me with delight" - joy of the unfamiliar is naive "ever presents itself to my imagination as a region of beauty".
• Repeated reference to solitude; foreshadows Frankenstein's lose of family/friends and the creation's loneliness.
• Much talk of his fascination - more romantic than scientific. Walton was a failed poet, now turned explorer.
• Walton has an obsession for knowledge, knowledge is power; conformity to the gothic 'power-hungry tyrant'.

Letter II:

• "I have no friend" - emphasises the importance/recurring theme of companionship in the novel. Romantic.
• My best years under your gentle and feminine fosterage" - Like Victor, Walton has lived a sheltered life.
• "if I should come back to you as worn and woeful as the 'Ancient Mariner'" - reference to Samuel Coleridge's epic poem of ambition.

Letter III:

• "Why not still proceed over the untamed yet obedient element?" - Reference to Walton's perceived power of man over nature.
• Outlines the ambitions of Walton and his endearing passion to succeed.

Letter IV:

• Trapped and surrounded by ice, Walton's ship is found by Frankenstein who is ill and nursed by Walton.
• "'we are unfashioned creatures," - Frankenstein speaks of wisdom and nobility as a trait of only born humans rather than 'fashioned' ones i.e. the creation.
• Frankenstein's condition foreshadows Walton's future if he continues on his path of ambition and glory.
• Narrative changes at the end of the chapter to Victor's voice being written down by Walton.

Chapter I:

• Like Walton, Victor describes a blissful and tender childhood. Both were captured by the thirst for knowledge.
• Suffering taking place before and during Victor's childhood e.g. Beaufort's death and Elizabeth's life pre-adoption. Juxtaposes suffering alongside joy as a natural part of life. Emphasises the creation's suffering as he lives a sad life, but without the joys that Frankenstein is afforded.

Chapter II:

• The character Henry Clerval contrasts Victor's character as a boy with an objective to study science and pursue knowledge. Henry is a romantic, he finds bliss in literature and is more a man of the arts. Similar to the young Walton.
• The thunderstorm not only inspires Victor over the possibilities of science and electricity but demonstrates the power of nature in its destruction of the tree.
• The perfect and sublime nature of Frankenstein's childhood elevates the severity of his loss when it is contrasted with his current state in the ship.

Chapter III:

• Victor's mother dies from contracting scarlet fever as a result of caring for Elizabeth, the death of Victor's mother shows the harm that can come from trying to do good and misguided intents i.e. Victor's losses from creating life. It also shows the harm of that comes from loved ones Victor essentially causes the death of his family.
• "I felt as if my soul were grappling with a palpable enemy" - Mention of soul; romanticism.
• Victor's pursuit to further knowledge in the sciences is mirrored by Walton's pursuit to reach the North Pole.

Chapter IV:

• Victor's immersion in his studies takes over and shrouds him from all else; including his beloved family whom he ignores for two years. His obsession introduces the theme of insanity, synonymous with gothic concepts.
• "but was engaged, heart and soul," - Ties the soul with Victor's passion for enlightenment. Through devoting his 'heart and soul' to his quest in the name of science; Shelley, like Romanticism, is criticising the Age of Enlightenment by depicting Victor as taking his heart and soul away from the focus of his loved ones to his new obsession with knowledge.
• "then drive away incipient disease;" - Victor's toils clearly show a negative impact on him; may be interpreted as nature trying to stop Victor from creating this unnatural creation.

Chapter V:

• "Dreary night of November." - eerie pathetic fallacy; gothic setting
• "I had selected his features as beautiful." - Victor like God fashions his creation to be perfect and imagines it to be wonderful, but the reality of his creation is disgusting and detestable. Like Adam, it was unrealistic to imagine a being without perfection.
• During Victor's childhood in Geneva, he was innocent and pure and this is replicated in the mountains and rivers (all natural scenes) but having carried out his dark pursuits in Ingolstadt, the streets (man-made) are 'black' and have a 'comfortless sky' on the eve of his success.
• The security that comes with the arrival of Clerval amongst such distress gives the reader a false sense of safety, furthered by the fact the monster is no where to be found.

Chapter VI:

• Under the influence of Clerval, Victor once again appreciates all the beauties of nature, this is amplified by his own failure to replicate it and witnessing the hideousness of man-made creation.
• Victor's character may be argued as selfish; after not having returned home for 6 years, he delays further by going on a walking tour.
• Justine is referred to as a servant with rights; this shows the equality that may come from mankind, an equality that is lacking with the monster who shares similar concepts with Justine.
• The mood of the chapter is nostalgic with appearances/voices of characters from Victor's past and Victor is quite queasy; as if he has woken from a nightmare and is reminded by its details through minor details such as seeing scientific instruments in the university.

Chapter VII:

• The effect of finding out William's murder changes Victor's overwhelming by creation into an overwhelming by loss. There are contrasts in the polars of emotion.
• The heavy use of letters that is becoming apparent in the novel undermines the reliability of the narrator as Victor could not have remembered that accurately the details, it brings in to question the potential for bias narration.
• Henry's character is also very pure, this is contrasted with Victor's ill health and immoral conducts.

Chapter VIII:

• The recognition of Justine's isolation and suffering by Victor demonstrates his irrational denial of his creation's misery as he can see it but chooses to ignore it because of the creation's monstrosity.
• Victor may have such detail of the trial out of guilt from causing Justine's situation; as he cannot liberate Justine out of fear for being labelled insane (a gothic theme), he must do her justice and seek liberation from within himself by being able to account the entire truth of Justine's case.
• "How shall I ever again believe in human goodness?" - Justine, like the creation and like God, loses faith in humanity.
• Justine puts her faith and devotion to religion "God raises my weakness and gives me courage", her character plays the role of showing dedication to religion and God "Learn from me...to submit in patience to the will of heaven!" - Victor should not have tried to go against God by creating life and defying death.
• Justine also tried helping Victor's mother on her deathbed but now she is condemned to death. There is a motif that those who try to help others will pay a price. Victor pays his price through helping science in creating life.
• Justine very clearly outlines the gothic character of the weak and submissive female; she admits to her crimes even though she knows she is innocent and the only one that can save her is a man losing his sanity.

Macbeth Reading Journal: Act Five

Scene 1:
Lady Macbeth brings great distress as she sleep walks and talks in her sleep about the treachery her and Macbeth have committed. "Out, dammed spot! Out, I say!" She hallucinates of the blood on her hands from her murders showing she is perpetuated by guilt. All these occurrences show she has clearly gone mad from guilt. "The Thane of Fife had a wife; where is she now?" The Thane of Fife being Macduff and his wife having been murdered, it may show Lady fears for her own safety by the tyrannical Macbeth asides from feeling guilt.
Scene 2:
The Lords and the English Army march on towards Birnan Wood and make their battle plan against Macbeth. Macbeth's treacheries are clear to the Lords "His secret murders sticking on his hands;" and they denounce his followers "Those he commands move only in command, Not in love." They have the impression that Macbeth has swum out his depth "Now does he feel his title Hang loose about him like a giant's robe Upon a dwarfish thief."
Scene 3:
Falsely confident from the prophecies told by the apparitions, Macbeth courageously prepares for battle, unwavering at the oncoming battle; whilst also showing little concern towards Lady's worsening condition.
Scene 4:
At Birnan Wood, Malcolm discusses battle plans; they will carry shrubbery as they advance to hide their numbers...they are moving Birnan Woods.
Scene 5:
Macbeth rallies his forces showing he is still a fierce soldier. After hearing a woman cry, Macbeth claims to have forgotten the feeling of fear and that to hear a scream in the night would have shaken him once before but he has seen so many horrors now, nothing stirs him; lines 9-16. These few lines make the following remarks on life less shocking. Macbeth ultimately calls all his actions in life pointless and brief because death is the final result of everything "To the last syllable of recorded time;" Macbeth calls life a walking shadow, possibly the shadow of death in accordance with the idea that death is the true face of everything. "a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage" may suggest that Macbeth believes he has been a tool of the Witches. The last line of Macbeths mini-speech "Signifying nothing." fully encompass the message by Macbeth, life, his deeds and even the speech he just gave are summarised as nothing. Macbeth is informed the woods are moving. "There is nor flying hence nor tarrying here. I 'gin to aweary of the sun." this is a direct reference to the Greek myth of Icarus who flew too close to the sun and suffered for it, Macbeth knows there is no escape and is tired of his reign.
Scene 6:
Macbeth kills Lord Seyward's son reinforcing his belief he cannot be killed by a man woman-born. Malcolm and Seyward enter the castle. "Why should I play the Roman fool and die" this line spoken by Macbeth may refer to Julius Caesar who was brutally murdered by his followers. Macduff finds Macbeth and reveals to him he "was from his mother's womb Untimely ripped.” they fight and Macbeth is killed. Macduff meets with the other Lords carrying Macbeth's severed head. Malcolm proclaims a new reign and grants his Thanes the title of Earls, an English term; symbolising a new era and prosperity between once enemies.

Macbeth Reading Journal: Act Four

Scene 1:
Rather than the Witches coming to Macbeth, Macbeth has chosen to seek the Witches for knowledge on his future. The Act begins with the Witches enchanting another spell like they did at the beginning of Act 1, which signalled the dawn of a new King brought about by bloodshed, with hindsight, it is possible to deduct the chanting in Act 4, Scene 1 is bringing about another King's downfall: Macbeth's. This is reinforced by the Witches response to Macbeth when he meets them "A deed without a name", they will not disclose their plans for they spell his death, like Duncan's death was kept secret from him. From the second apparition, it is also revealed that Macbeth cannot die at the hands of a man born of a woman; which logically would grant Macbeth immortality but it is clear the apparitions are telling the truth but not the whole truth as from Act 3, the Witches have turned on Macbeth. Macbeth is also fooled into an untouchable status that his castle will not fall till the woods themselves of Birnan move. Through conversing with the Witches, it is revealed Macbeth should fear Macduff and after learning Macduff has fled to England; Macbeth plans to kill Macduff's family and house.
Scene 2:
Macduff's wife and son are warned of their imminent murders by Ross, Macbeth's own man; which shows even Macbeth's own followers are wary, concerned and beginning to turn against Macbeth. Wife and Son also have a conversation concerning Macduff as a traitor "What is a traitor?" which may foreshadow Macbeth's betrayal of country and their betrayal of Macbeth. Son and Wife are killed.
Scene 3:
Macduff finds Malcolm in England. Macduff having seemingly lost hope in Scotland is tested by Malcolm who pretends to not care for Scotland until Malcolm is confident Macduff's loyalty is still tied to Scotland. They speak of the deterioration of Scotland and Macbeth's tyranny "Bleed, bleed, poor country! Great tyranny, lay thy basis sure,” Notably, the King of England is praised as being a most prosperous and caring King. Ross meets the pair and tells Macduff of his murdered family. Malcolm tells Macduff to turn his grief to anger as they head to Scotland to overthrow Macbeth with English forces backing them.

Macbeth Act Three Reading Journal

Scene 1:
Banquo fathoms the Witches prophecy that he and Macbeth shall be Kings and the subsequent fulfilment of Macbeth's fate begs him to consider what will happen to his own fate. So too does Macbeth begin to consider the very same idea, beginning to fear his own betrayal by Banquo "a barren sceptre in my grip, Thence to be wrenched by with an unlineal hand," resulting in his decision to have Banquo murdered. Macbeth feels as though his betrayal of his King has been in vain because it is just a step for Banquo’s lineage to take over "For them the gracious Duncan have I murdered,” Macbeth's murderous tendencies have manifested that he begins to become indifferent to more bloodshed.
Scene 2:
This scene is a pivotal moment for the characters Macbeth and Lady Macbeth as Macbeth becomes the bolder and more malicious of the two, having to carry their dark deeds as Lady had done. It's as if they have switched roles which is reinforced by the way Macbeth stirred the murderers in Scene 1 by questioning their manhood as Lady had done to Macbeth in Act Two.
Scene 3:
Banquo is murdered by Macbeth's employed murderers but his son Fleance escapes.
Scene 4:
Upon report that during the murder, Fleance escaped, Macbeth fears that the boy will persist as a problem "The worm that's fled Hath nature that in time will breed,” As the dinner arranged by Macbeth with several Lords continues, Macbeth envisions the ghost of Banquo, causing much alarm for him, Lady and the guests. The vision of a bloody and dead Banquo shows Macbeth's guilt for the murder of his friend. The fact that Macbeth fully believes Banquo is present shows his deeper descent into madness whereas in Act Two Macbeth was able to question his apparition of the dagger "Avaunt, and quit my sight! Let the earth hide thee!” Macbeth's lust for power have taken over him and all his previous morals, he shows little to none hesitation in acting upon the murders of yet more people "We are yet but young in deed."
Scene 5:
The Witches are visited by Hecat, the goddess of witchcraft. Though Hecat denounces the Witches for acting without her consent, she orders the witches to create visions for Macbeth that will make him doubt his security. The presence and intervention of Hecat, an entity more evil than even the Witches, foreshadows that greater sins are to come.
Scene 6:
The lord, Lennox speaks with another lord over the deterioration of Scotland It is revealed there is suspicion for Macbeth to be the murderer of Duncan and Banquo and that Macbeth is unloved by his peers, contrary to Duncan.