The scene opens with Lady Macbeth's declaration that she
has succeeded in getting the guards drunk and they've fallen asleep. Then there is the
confusion immediately following Macbeth's murder of Duncan. Macbeth hears sounds and
voices and isn't sure where they are coming from. Lady Macbeth doesn't hear the voices
and doesn't understand why Macbeth does. When he asks what she heard she says she only
heard the owl scream and the crickets cry. The use of these images and words is fitting
because they reflect the horror of what has just happened. Both "scream" and "cry" are
appropriate. Most of the time, in the part that follows, Lady Macbeth is trying to
bolster Macbeth and to get him to see the wisdom of their deed and to understand what
steps are next. She tells him to ignore the voices he heard and warns him that to dwell
on them and the murder will drive them mad. That, of course, is irony and
foreshadowing. She chastises Macbeth when she realizes he still has the bloody daggers
and that he hasn't washed the blood from his hands. The tells him she is made of sterner
stuff "...shame to wear a heart so white." The irony of the all her tough talk is that
she is the one who goes mad and can no longer stand the guilt of what they've
done.
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