Act 2

• What does Macbeth refer to sleep as?

  The innocent sleep
• What does "sleep that knits up the ravelled sleeve of care" imply?

  Sleep restores peace of mind and resolves worries
• What does Macbeth mean by "the death of each day's life"?

  It signifies the end of daily struggles and worries
• How does Macbeth describe the function of sleep in relation to labor?

  As a bath that soothes sore labor
• What does "balm of hurt minds" suggest about sleep?

  Sleep heals and comforts troubled minds
• What is the significance of the sleep motif in Macbeth?

  • Represents innocence and peace of mind
  • Highlights guilt and remorse after regicide
  • Suggests mental unraveling without sleep
  • Connects to themes of mortality and consequences
• What key themes are relevant to Macbeth's character?

  Guilt and remorse, power and corruption
• How does the semantic field of mortality relate to Macbeth's speech?

  It conveys the mortal consequences of his actions
• What does the metaphor of a "ravelled sleeve" suggest in Macbeth's context?

  It symbolizes a mind that is disordered without sleep
• What does Macbeth wonder about in the quote regarding Neptune's oceans?

  If they can wash the blood from his hand
• What does Macbeth conclude about the blood on his hands?

  It cannot be washed away by oceans
• What does the metaphor of blood and oceans signify in Macbeth's contemplation?

  Guilt and the permanence of his actions
• Why is the line about Neptune's oceans significant in the play?

  • One of the most important lines
  • Develops the motif of blood as guilt
  • Highlights consequences of violence
• What does the quantifier "all" and adjective "great" emphasize in Macbeth's quote?

  The significance of the oceans in his guilt
• Who is Neptune in the context of Macbeth's quote?

  The god of the sea
• How does the blood metaphorically affect Macbeth's life according to the analysis?

  It will haunt and stain every aspect
• What lexical cognates are frequently used in the play?

  Blood and bloody
• What does the symbolic use of water represent in the play?

  Clearing people of sin, like baptism
• What are the relevant characters and themes in Macbeth related to guilt?

  • Characters: Macbeth
  • Themes:
  • Guilt and remorse
  • Power and corruption
  • Greed and ambition
  • Good and evil
• 'A little water clears us of this deed'

  Embedded and contextualised example: When she returns from incriminating the chamberlains, Lady Macbeth claims, in contrast to Macbeth’s metaphor about Neptune’s oceans, that “a little water clears [them] of this deed”.

  Reasons for learning it:

  • The juxtaposition of this line with Macbeth’s line (above) conveys the early difference between the two when it comes to guilt and remorse
  • The adjective “little” used to further diminish the significance of the regicide - it doesn’t even need much water
  • The irony that this line later evokes given how much guilt and remorse Lady Macbeth goes on to feel, evidence in Act 5 Scene 1
  • The symbolic use of water as cleansing people of sin - linking to Christian ideas of baptism

  Relevant characters and themes: Lady Macbeth, guilt and remorse, power and corruption, greed and ambition, good and evil