How Far Does Shakespeare Present Macbeth’s Inner Conflict In The Act 2 Scene 1 And In The Rest Of The Play?

In Macbeth s soliloquy in Act 2 Scene 1, Shakespeare presents the eponymous character s inner conflict about whether to proceed with the murder of King Duncan through a series of rhetorical questions. When Macbeth asks himself Is this a dagger which I see before me , it allows the audience to question his mental state and sense of clarity about what he is seeing in front of him. By beginning the soliloquy with the interrogative is , the overall tone of self-doubt is set for the closure of the scene, thus engaging the audience s curiosity about whether or not Macbeth will proceed with the murder. By allowing him to see the fatal vision of a dagger , Shakespeare has shown the audience the gravity of the act that Macbeth intends to commit& Macbeth had previously declared in Act 1 Scene 7 that he could not take any action against Duncan as he was aware of his position as his kinsman and his subject . In using a dagger to entice Macbeth to commit the act of regicide, Shakespeare allows his audience to reflect on this earlier point in the play and Macbeth s relationship with Duncan. As he intends to use a small weapon which requires its wielder to come into very close contact with the victim, Macbeth is mindful of the fact that he will have to directly confront the act of murder face to face and will not be allowed the same level of physical and emotional distance as other methods could grant him. As a result, he is already anticipating a consuming guilt to will follow. Furthermore, Macbeth could interpret the vision of the dagger as a supernatural sign which, should he choose to follow it, would seal his destiny in becoming King as the witches had prophesied in Act 1 Scene 3. Shakespeare s contemporary audience would have recoiled at this very notion as under Jacobean rule, witches and witchcraft were strongly persecuted and condemned in society. Whilst as a modern audience we could perceive Macbeth s vision as a hallucination induced by his stress and self-doubt regarding the prospect of committing regicide and therefore treason, a contemporary audience would have interpreted it as a negative omen of the supernatural intended to lead a brave and good man astray into the corruption of witchcraft. In the extract of Act 2 Scene 1, Macbeth is therefore intended to be portrayed as battling an inner conflict of whether or not to follow a route of potential corruption and divine condemnation, or remain in his loyal position as King Duncan s subject .