In the 2d Act the same idea of _correspondence_ is pursued, and the
propensity of the imagination to embody ideas which press upon the mind
is dwelt upon.
In the first scene Banquo, when ordering the light to be removed, says:
“Night’s candles are all out; there’s husbandry in Heaven.” This
imagery, no doubt, very naturally suggests itself; but herein lies the
peculiar art of these plays; there is seldom any thing forced or
strained in the narrative or sentiment, the events and reflections fall
in naturally and gracefully; and yet the same general idea is always
kept in the foreground.
Macbeth tells Banquo if he will co-operate with him it shall be to his
honor; the latter intimates his fear of losing the _substance_ by
grasping at the _shadow_; “So I lose none in seeking to augment it,”
etc. Then comes the fearful soliloquy of Macbeth on the air-drawn
dagger. So intensely does the bloody business “inform to his mind,” that
his very thoughts cast a shadow, and the object of his meditation stands
pictured before him. All the imagery of the speech also embodies the
central idea.
The next scene (the 2d) is full of horrible imaginings. So fearful are
the workings of Macbeth’s conscience, that, in spite of his guilt, we
pity as much as we abhor him; and all these exclamations of remorse and
horror allude so plainly to the theme that I need not dwell on them.
Lady Macbeth is seldom troubled with scruples, but takes “the nearest
way” to her purpose. Thus she says,
The sleeping and the dead,
Are but as pictures: ’tis the eye of childhood
That fears a painted devil.
Yet even her stern nature, which bore down all real obstacles, yielded
to the merely formal circumstance that Duncan resembled her father as he
slept. This is, perhaps, the only amiable sentiment she utters, and it
is of a _superstitious_ character, however commendable.
The 3d Scene opens with the humorous soliloquy of the Porter, who
imagines himself porter of hell-gate, and gives each new comer an
_appropriate_ reception, but soon finds that the place is _too cold_ for
the purpose. His remarks on the effects of drink will not bear
quotation, but are as much to the main purpose as any other passage of
the play. When the murder of Duncan is announced, Lady Macbeth continues
her formal part by _fainting_. This scene and the next are much occupied
with accounts of omens and prodigies in connection with the murder of
Duncan. In a superstitious age men were prone to believe and to imagine
such things; and the relation of these events to the theme depends on
that _literal, unspiritual_ tendency of mind which has led mankind under
different circumstances to the making of graven images, to the worship
of stocks and stones, to the belief in dreams and omens, and to every
form of _superstition_.