even greater leap. Once Macbeth returns home, Lady Macbeth takes charge and starts making plans for Duncan's murder immediately. Even when Macbeth tells his wife he cannot go through with the murder, she begins to mock him and tells him that he is a coward. In Act I, Scene VII, she twists the following idea into his head:"I have given suck, and know / How tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me: / I would, while it was sniffing in my face, / Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums, / and dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you / Have done to this."Macbeth is turned off by the idea of motherhood and decides to go through with the plan and the challenge of his manhood. Within the beginning of Act II, Macbeth murders Duncan.After Duncan's murder, one can still see that Macbeth has a conscience. He is absolutely horrified by the crime that he has committed. In Act II, Scene II, Lady Macbeth states, "These deeds must not be thought / After these ways; so, it will make us mad." She believes that Macbeth's action of killing Duncan is fine, and that all means for him becoming king should be forgotten. The torture Macbeth is going through by realizing that the murder he did is one of the most evil deeds ever committed. Macbeth states, "Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood / Cleanfrom my hand? No; this my hand will rather / The Stipanov 3multitudinous seas incarnadine, / Making the green one red." Macbeth never thought himself capable of such evil, and he would love to be able to undo what he has done. In Act II, Scene III, Macbeth's conscience is slowly becoming lax. When Macbeth hears of the murder from Lennox and Macduff, he simply responds, "'Twas a rough night." He and Lady Macbeth do an excellent job of pretending to be innocent. The theme of light and darkness comes into play in Scene IV of Act II. At this point itseems as though the entire country has plunged into darkness by Macbeth's evil deed. As...
