1) Think about the role of the soliloquy in the development of a character. In this scene the audience encounters a solitary Macbeth who has withdrawn from the celebrations feast involving King Duncan presumably to reflect on his secret desire to murder his patron. Significantly, Lady Macbeth is not with him at first perhaps foreshadowing the divisive effect of their plotting even before the murder is actually committed. This isolation also reveals the effect of secrecy on the previously well liked and respected warrior, Macbeth. The audience may notice that Macbeth’s behaviour and choice of language testify to an increasing agitation and anxiety.2) Remember that the murder of King Duncan is ruinous for the equilibrium if Macbeth( and his reckless wife) and kills his better self, his humanity perhaps. It also ruins their intimacy. All these losses eventually bring about Lady Macbeth’s suicide and Macbeth’s execution by Macduff and consign them both to ignominy as a ‘butcher’ and a ‘fiend like Queen.’3) Look at the use of repetition in the soliloquy. It underlines the dilemma and even the death driven stasis of Macbeth. For without the brutal goading of his wife, it is unlikely that Macbeth would have proceeded any further in the euphemistically named, ‘matter.’ Also notice the way Macbeth refers obliquely ( in code) to ‘it’ rather than the act of murder even when he is alone. Think about the dramatic effect of this evasion on the audience and what we might surmise about Macbeth’s guilty conscience.4) How dramatic is the contrast between the heavenly imagery around King Duncan’s character and the self-inflicted ‘poison’d chalice’ of Macbeth’s ambition? The thoughtfulness of Macbeth’s reflections underline how deeply he is aware of the monumental wrong he is about to commit. This awareness contrasts with the cheap brutality of Lady Macbeth’s goading insults. Think too about issues around Macbeth’s potency and the damage caused by the childlessness of the Macbeths. Coukld their shared grief at the loss of a child have become distorted into some malign mourning? Is the act of murder a distraction from their enduring and unresolved grief? A terrribly bloody consummation as compensation?5) Think about the unusual power granted to Lady Macbeth by his husband’s indulgence and whether this indulgence exacerbates her monstrousness. For her equality with Macbeth seems to intensify her instability as if the power she is granted distorts her nature to the point of derangement.6) Look at the ecstatic reaction demonstrated by Macbeth once he has listened to Lady Macbeth’s suckling ‘babe’ speech. Does his reaction condone his wife’s aberrance? And if so, is this a deadly sign of their mutual addiction to one another?7) ‘What cannot you and I perform on the unguarded Duncan?’ Look at the way the defencelessness of the old King appears to excite the violence and predatory nature of Lady Macbeth. Also note the manipulative inclusivity of the pronoun ‘we’ which testifies to the murder being a form of consummation bathing both husband and wife in blood.
