Act 2, Scene 1

Question 1

“Is this a dagger which i see before me”

WHAT?

Answer 1

M hallucinates dagger on his way to KD’s room

Question 2

“Is this a dagger which i see before me”

HOW?

Answer 2

Dagger = symbol of his intense ambition + violence he is contemplating to usurp the king regicide
Deepening decent into madness + foreshadows the murderous intent about to commit
Powerful influence of supernatural elements and ambition on his actions

Question 3

“Nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse/ the curtained sleep”

Answer 3

Pathetic fallacy > no only about to kill the king but also the natural order
Inability to sleep > neg impacts on his conscience of summoning the evil to carry out his crime of ambition

Question 4

“Bell”
“Heaven to hell”

HOW?

Answer 4

“Bell” > rung by wife and catalyst in crime, signal both for M to kill KD and for Duncan to be summoned “ to heaven or hell” > d to meet his final and eternal destination
“Hell” m last words before killing KD > ironically garunteeing M’s + “hell” of mind rather than Duncan’s domination.