Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Order and Disorder in Macbeth

Note: This entry is for Period 2 students only.



One of Shakespeare’s central themes throughout his plays – the comedies and histories as well as the tragedies – is the idea of order and disorder. There is a general pattern throughout most of Shakespeare’s works:
  1. character’s flaws cause order to give way to disorder
  2. people in the society suffer from this disorder, either dramatically or comically
  3. and finally order is somehow reinstated
Thus, stability gives way to instability, logic gives way to confusion, pattern and tradition give way to chaos, contentedness gives way to suffering, etc. This disorder can manifest itself one of three ways:
  1. On the individual level (i.e. madness, delusion, guilt, fatigue, rage, etc.)
  2. On the societal level (civil war, rebellion, fighting, political maneuvering, family conflict, etc.)
  3. On the natural level (storms, animals, the geographical landscape, etc.)

In II.ii., upon killing Duncan, Macbeth asks Lady Macbeth “Didst thou hear a noise?” (II.ii.14). Lady Macbeth replies, “I heard the owl scream and the crickets cry” (II.ii.15). The noise to which Macbeth is referring is the guards speaking to him in their sleep, laughing at him and accusing him of murder. A noise that is, apparently, imagined. The noise Lady Macbeth hears, however, is perhaps more grounded in reality. It seems that nature itself has become angered at their crime.

Either way, both Macbeth and his wife are experiencing moments of disorder. Macbeth’s experience is on the individual level, Lady Macbeth’s on the natural level. Things have changed, Shakespeare suggests. Is ‘haunting’ too strong a word? Maybe at this point it is, but as we will see, this plunge into disorder has just begun.


Your task: Find a moment of disorder somewhere in Act I and II. Cite the passage and explain how and why it is a moment of disorder. Be sure to read all of the comments. We’d like to try to avoid repeats. Also, be sure to look at the three levels for your example: individual, social, and natural. The rules of composition apply – complete sentences, grammar, correct citations, etc. Keep in mind, some of these examples are pretty subtle. Look at how characters think, speak, sleep, feed, move, etc. Look at their actions and intentions and motivaitons as well as the words they merely say.

Extra credit: If you wish, you may comment on your peer’s responses, either agreeing or disagreeing with their responses. If you do decide to engage in this aspect of the blog, be sure to add something to the conversation. Simply agreeing or disagreeing will not take the discussion forward. You need to support your responses.

39 comments:

  1. A big moment of disorder on a indvidual level is when Lady Macbeth talks to herself about killing Duncan. On Act I, Scene v, line 58-60, Lady Macbeth recites "And pall thee in the dunnest smoe of hell, That my keen knife see not the wound it makes, Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark to cry "Hold, hold!" Her persona temporarily turns evil and disorder and hysteria takes over quickly. Deep thoughts about the innocent heavens not wanting to see her evil deed is a big moment of disorder. All in al, her intentions are past evil and considered something very disorderly.

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  2. Towards the end of Act one in scene seven Lady Macbeth is talking to Macbeth about how he has to kill Duncan. She says "Would'st thou have that which thou esteem'st the ornament of life and live a coward in thin own esteem" (I.vii.45-47). She is saying that if he doesn't kill Duncan than he will not only be known as a coward by her but also know he is a coward. He would have to live knowing he is a coward. Macbeth really doesn't want to kill Duncan but Lady Macbeth is creating disorder and forcing him to. Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth that he wants the "ornament of life" (I.vii.45), (the king's crown) and the only way to do that is to kill the king.

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  3. A major event of disorders occurs after Macbeth murders the king. The death of the king causes his two sons, Malcom and Donalbain to flee to England and Ireland, due to the fact that they think his sons bribed the servants to kill the king. At an individual stand point, the murder causes Macbeth to seem very unstable and traumatized, while at a social level, it causes people to doubt one another and causes the kings sons to flee for their lives. The murder even causes disorder for nature, when Lady Macbeth says, "I heard the owl scream and the crickets cry" (II.ii.20). The animals are disturbed by what Macbeth has done. Also, Macbeth is so scarred from what he has done he says he, "shall sleep no more" (II.ii.57). The act Macbeth committed causes a whole pile of disorderly actions and disturbances, that may later on cause some big consequences to Macbeth.

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  4. I think the biggest moment of disorder is when Macbeth imagines the dagger floating in front of him. "Is this dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand? come let me clutch thee"(II.i.44-45). This is on the individual level because he himslef is imagining it. It is disorderly because if you immagine daggers infront of you there is probably something wrong. If your conscience makes you immagine things dealing with what you are planning on doing then you should probably back off.

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  5. Eric - I'm not sure you've convinced me this cowardice is dissorder. Maybe it's there, you just haven't supported your claim.

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  6. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  7. Matt - Well done. Nice grouping.

    Zaid - I agree. This vision is Macbeth's first slip into madness. It will manifest itself time and time again. Does anyone have another example of Macbeth's delusions signifying his mental disorder?

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  8. There are many moments of disorder in the 2 acts. The most obvious moment in my opinion is when Macbeth questions Lady Macbeth's plan to kill Duncan. When Macbeth says "If we should fail" (I vii line 68), he is basically positive that the plan will not work, causing disagreement and disorder between Macbeth and his wife. Macbeth then is thought to be a coward by his wife for disagreeing with her. In act 2 scene 2 when Macbeth kills Duncan he later approaches lady Macbeth and says he feels a feeling of remorse. "I am afraid to think what I have done", (II ii line 66) Lady Macbeth bashes him by saying that he shouldn't worry about it.

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  9. There are many moments of disorder in the 2 acts. The most obvious moment in my opinion is when Macbeth questions Lady Macbeth's plan to kill Duncan. When Macbeth says "If we should fail" (I vii line 68), he is basically positive that the plan will not work, causing disagreement and disorder between Macbeth and his wife. Macbeth then is thought to be a coward by his wife for disagreeing with her. In act 2 scene 2 when Macbeth kills Duncan he later approaches lady Macbeth and says he feels a feeling of remorse. "I am afraid to think what I have done", (II ii line 66) Lady Macbeth bashes him by saying that he shouldn't worry about it.

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  10. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth show disorder multiple times within the two scenes. The time that showed the most disorder in my mind was when Macbeth says, "Still it cried "Sleep no more!" to all the house. "Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor shall sleep no more. Macbeth shall sleep no more" (II.ii.54-57). Macbeth is feeling terrible guilt about his deed and he feels like he will never be able to rest again after this horrific incident. After he says this, Lady Macbeth replies by saying that he should basically forget about the entire incident. In act II scene ii lines 58-64, Lady Macbeth says that Macbeth didn't even do enough and he should return to the scene and make the servents seem even more guilty. I think this shows great disorder because Lady Macbeth feels like an evil deed needs to be even more evil.

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  11. Lady Macbeth basically goes through a big moment of disorder beginning in Act I, scene v, and seems like that she is still delusional, and in the process, actually caused Macbeth to become delusional as well. It all started when Macbeth sends her a letter that he will kill the king, she says to herself: "Fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty." (I.v.47-48). And ever since, she had been pressuring Macbeth to kill the king. Lady Macbeth seems like she wants Duncan dead even more than Macbeth; and it is the crazy, overwhelming desire to be queen that made her delusional. Macbeth had already planned to kill the king, however, without Lady Macbeth, there was a chance that Macbeth would not have killed the king. During the night of the murder, Macbeth began to have second thoughts about killing Duncan. But Lady Macbeth tells him, “What cannot you and I perform upon th’ unguarded Duncan?”(I.vii.79-80). Lady Macbeth basically told Macbeth, “Why haven’t you killed Duncan yet?” And because of the pressure that was put on Macbeth, it made him have a moment of disorder, also. So far, Lady Macbeth had not snapped out of her disorderly state.

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  12. Lady Macbeth basically goes through a big moment of disorder beginning in Act I, scene v, and seems like that she is still delusional, and in the process, actually caused Macbeth to become delusional as well. It all started when Macbeth sends her a letter that he will kill the king, she says to herself: "Fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty." (I.v.47-48). And ever since, she had been pressuring Macbeth to kill the king. Lady Macbeth seems like she wants Duncan dead even more than Macbeth; and it is the crazy, overwhelming desire to be queen that made her delusional. Macbeth had already planned to kill the king, however, without Lady Macbeth, there was a chance that Macbeth would not have killed the king. During the night of the murder, Macbeth began to have second thoughts about killing Duncan. But Lady Macbeth tells him, “What cannot you and I perform upon th’ unguarded Duncan?”(I.vii.79-80). Lady Macbeth basically told Macbeth, “Why haven’t you killed Duncan yet?” And because of the pressure that was put on Macbeth, it made him delusional, also. So far, Lady Macbeth had not snapped out of her disorderly state.

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  13. After Macbeth had done his hesitating act of murdering king Duncan, he had felt paranoid and had a fear lurking inside of him. He was once a loyal man at king Duncan's service but his own desire to be a king brough disorder upon his orderly life. Although Macbeth was shaky about murdering the king, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth's desire for power made it happen. After he had killed the king, he had heard knocking which could represent the fear and punishments about to come as a consequence for his actions. Also, during his act, he had heard a voice saying "Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep" (II.ii.47-48)Sleep is the one thing that gives one peace.Through a hard-working day, one can restore his energy. When one is in a fight, they may sleep on it and decide to make things better the next day. When one feels hopeless, one can dream of the impossibilties and sure enough those impossibilities can become possibilities. Sleep helps bring order into chaotic lives and if it is said that Macbeth had killed sleep, he had not only killed time to rest, but he had kiled order. Consequently, a man who had once had his life in order had brought about disorder by his desire for kingship.

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  14. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have many times of disorder. The one time i am talking about is Act I Scene vii lines 1-28 when Macbeth is in a monologue. In that monologue he talks about how he doesn't want to kill Duncan but if he does he can become king and if he doesn't he could stay on Duncan's good side and still be a loyal friend to Duncan. Also if he doesn't do this Lady Macbeth will think he is not ready to be king. During this monologue Macbeth is avoiding Duncan because he is afraid if he see's Duncan he will not be able to go through with the murder.

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  15. Lady Macbeth shows a lot of disorder and basically gives way to any doubt surrounding the murder of Duncan. Lady Macbeth says, "Yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o' th' milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way." (I.v.16-18) She tells Macbeth she has doubt of him here and that he is too kind to murder Duncan. This obviously creates a sense of doubt in Macbeth's mind and gives way to disorder on an individual level, both in Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. That sense of doubt can hold them back and even cause them to over-think the situation. Later on in that scene Lady Macbeth says, "And yet wouldst wrongly win." (I.v.23) She is admitting that what they are doing is wrong and that Macbeth's title as king would be wrongly won. This definitely causes Macbeth to think about what he is doing, and creates a sense of disorder on an individual level. Now Macbeth questions his morality and begins to think if he would even appreciate his position if it was wrongly won.

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  16. During Act II scene iii, the entire estate of Inverness is in disorder over the turmoil and shock of the discovery of Duncans muder. Macduff, being the first to discover the corpse, freaks out and starts yelling "Awake, awake!" (II.ii.85-86) and yells again and again for "Bonquo, Donalbain, Malcom, awake!" (II.iii.87) He yells for them again and rings the bell to wake everyone in Inverness. Macbeth, even though he was the true murderer, killed the servents who he and Lady Macbeth framed, saying it was out of passion and rage. Even if it really was not out of fury from Duncans death, he still killed two more innocent people, and no one so much as batted an eye about it, another example of the disorder happening at that moment. Malcom and Donalbain are even already discussing their plans to flee to different countries out of fear, saying that "Our seperated fortunes shall keep us both the safer." (II.iii.163-164) They are deciding to split up and flee their own country because of the chaos and disorder that has insued. All of this disorder on a social level has Macbeths estate on the brink of anarchy, with everyone running around terrified that the king is dead. In all of the chaos, they still blame Malcom and Donalbain for the murder, even more so after they "stol'n away and fled" (II.iv.37) Because of Macbeth and Lady Macbeths deed, they have set off a powder keg of social disorder not just through out Inverness, but through Scotland, as the rumors fly about Malcom and Donalbain.

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  17. Macbeth suffers supposedly an individual disorder of rage when he learns of Duncan's murder. Macbeth is so enraged by the murder of Duncan that he kills the king's guards, then says "O, yet I do repent me of my fury,/That I did kill them."(II.iii.124-125) Which everyone assumes is out of loyalty for the king, because Macbeth explained that he did it out of love for Duncan. This causes disorder for the people trying to find Duncan's killer because they have lost witnesses. To find the killer the people must "Against the undivulged pretense I fight/ Of treasonous malice."(II.iii.153-154), and meaning that they are fighting to get information from other sources and to find other clues as to who did it. The disorder is trying to find other information about the king's death now that the guards are dead. The resolution of this conflict is not found in Act II, but perhaps later on they will. For now this has only led to temporary resolutions of suspicions against Duncan's sons, Malcolm and Donalbain, instead of Macbeth.

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  18. In the beginning of Act 2 Scene 1 Banquo and his son Fleance walk down the hall of Macbeth's castle with torches before them. Banquo talks to his son Fleance, and tells Fleance that he can't sleep because his sleep inspired cursed thoughts lately. He tell's Fleance "A heavy summons lies like lead upon me, And yet I would not sleep. Merciful powers, Restrain in me the cursed thoughts that nature, gives way to in response" (I.i.8-11). With this qoute brings the act of disorder in hand. Another momment in the scene that carries out disorder is when Banquo greets Macbeth in his Castle and tells him that "I dreamt last night of the three Wierd Sisters. To you they have showed some truth" (I.i.25-26). Macbeth's response is that he doesn't care about the witches right now but he cares about killing Duncan. In this period of time I find disorder in Banquo. The disorder Banquo deals with is on a natural level. Banquo finds that his prophecy is a lie and that it wont come true do to his dreams.Duncan finds himself in a bad situation that makes him feel sad and unprepared for his sons and the truth in his prophecy. Throughout the book the reader can see that Banquo is having trouble with his porphecy coming true, while Macbeth has a better prophecy at stake.

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  19. Walking towards his fate, Macbeth hallucinates that there is a floating dagger right in front of him. He keeps having thoughts about killing Duncan; this is where his mind comes to disorder on an individual level. His “heat-oppressed brain” (II, ii, 51) is the reason why he imagines the dagger. There are different situations pulling him in different directions, like the witches' premonition, how King Duncan is an amazing king, and the fact that Lady Macbeth keeps pressuring him to kill the king. He finally goes through with it, thinking that he will stop thinking about it, but it only causes him to get more and more paranoid. He says when he "had most need of blessing, [...] "Amen" stuck in [his] throat" (II,ii,43-44). He can't get rid of the quilt he has inside of him even if Lady Macbeth assures him that everything will just get better. His desire to be king has made him obsessed with the idea of killing Duncan.

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  20. Walking towards his fate, Macbeth hallucinates that there is a floating dagger right in front of him. He keeps having thoughts about killing Duncan; this is where his mind comes to disorder on an individual level. His “heat-oppressed brain” (II, ii, 51) is the reason why he imagines the dagger. There are different situations pulling him in different directions, like the witches' premonition, how King Duncan is an amazing king, and the fact that Lady Macbeth keeps pressuring him to kill the king. He finally goes through with it, thinking that he will stop thinking about it, but it only causes him to get more and more paranoid. He says when he "had most need of blessing, [...] "Amen" stuck in [his] throat" (II,ii,43-44). He can't get rid of the quilt he has inside of him even if Lady Macbeth assures him that everything will just get better. His desire to be king has made him obsessed with the idea of killing Duncan.

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  21. After the battle in the beginning of Macbeth, there is much disorder due to slow communication. Duncan decides to greet Macbeth with the title of Thane of Cawdor but since he cant speak to Macbeth right away, he must send the information with his nobles to Macbeth. Meanwhile, the witches greet Macbeth by saying "Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor" (I.iii.52). This prophecy causes some confusion in Macbeth, but when Macbeth is later greeted by Ross and Agnus he is told "call thee Thane of Cawdor" (I.iii.110). The first part of the prophecy of the witches coming true caused Macbeth to wonder if the second part, "that shalt be king hereafter" (I.iii.53) may have some validity to it. Macbeth then started fantasizing becoming king and creating excuses to take the throne from King Duncan. Therefore, due to the ideas it presented to Macbeth, the prophecy brought disorder.

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  22. Disorder can be seen in the life of Macbeth while he struggles through his face of goodness, and heart of evil. In Act 1, Macbeth is haunted by the idea of killing Duncan. He is in a constant mental battle in the decision making of if, and how he is going to kill Duncan. This brings great disorder to his mental well being as he trys to make the decsion. Although, in reality, Macbeth does not have a choice in the end, but in stead will be manipulated by his wife. As Lady Macbeth says, "Look like th' innocent flower, But be the serpent under 't. He that's coming Must be provided for; And you shall put This night's great business into my dispatch" (II.vi.76-80). Lady Macbeth is not giving Macbeth the option as she informs her husband of the plan she has to kill Duncan. She wants him to carry on his evil acts while covering up the evidence so he can at last become king. Macbeth must go along with this plan while doubting himself of carring out this deed of murder. This will cause an enormous amount of distress and disorder to Macbeth's state of mind.

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  23. in Act 2 scene 2, they show disorder when Macbeth loses it after her murders Duncan and says "Still it cried "sleep no more!" to all the house. Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor"(II,ii,54-56). The context of this line is that Macbeth is telling Lady Macbeth of what he thinks he heard while he was murdering Duncan. This is disorder because its disorder in Macbeth's brain. He is losing his ability to think clearly, and is seeing, and hearing things. When people are completely healthy and normal they dont have hallucinations, but when ur brain is so piled up with stress, and guilt, it may cause you to be so jumbled up in your thoughts that you cant clearly determine whats going on.

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  24. The battle during Act I scene II of Macbeth is all disorder on a societal level. Macbeth is introduced in a scene of complete disorder. He is introduced in a scene of rebellion, betrayal, political maneuvering by the now deceased Thane of Cawdor, and lightning quick execution courtesy of Macbeth. This just sounds like chaos. Anyway, the now deceased Thane of Cawdor showed this by siding with the Norweigans during the war between Scotland and Norway. Macbeth shows disorder on the battlefield, "For brave Macbeth, Disdaining Fortune, with his brandished steel, Which smoked bloody execution"(I.II.18-20). I find it a little coincidental that the now deceased Thane of Cawdor was a traitor and Macbeth who is the current Thane of Cawdor is also a traitor. Which shows disorder on the individual because with treachery comes guilt and paranoia. Macbeth is already feeling guilt. An example of this is when he says in Act II scene II Lines 66-67, "I am afraid to think what I have done. Look on't again I dare not". Macbeth is so guilty over what he has done he does not even want to think about it and the paranoia will come soon. If Macbeth can kill the King of Scotland. Macbeth, most likely, think it can happen to him especially since he got rid of Duncan with such ease.

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  25. I think that Zach did a really good job when he described all the disorder in Act II scene iii becuase that whole scene is a total cluster. Yeah,I also completely agree with what he said. Macbeth is off killing servants, Macduff finds a dead king, Lennox finds the servants romm with blood on their pillows, Lady Macbeth fake faints. I mean that scene is the epitome of disorder. well done. roffle.

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  26. The part in the book that causes most disorder is when Lennox asks Macbeth "Goes the king hence today?" "He does. He did appoint so." (II,iii,59-60) Macbeth then goes on to tell the group that he killed the servants after they killed Duncan because they were in a "rage". "O, yet I do repet me of my fury that I did kill them,"(II.iii,124-125). Macbeth gives away that he already knew the king was dead when he told them that he was alive, "I'll bring you to him,"(II,iii,52). When he says this he acts like the king is alive, when later he tells them that he knew the king was dead because he said he killed the servants. This incident will lead into suspicion upon Macbeth. All in all, i believe that when Macbeth lied to everyone that caused the most disorder in acts I and II.

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  27. Last...Good. A scene which causes the most disorder through out the play is the scene where Macbeth and Banquo meet the three Witch's. After Macbeth gets his Future told to him by the Witch's Banquo demands the same saying "Speak then to me, who neither beg nor fear your favor nor your hate" (I,iii,60-61. This is a sigh of a flaw with is pride. he is to proud to accept that only Macbeth told his future so he got jealous and demanded his own. In Shakespeares plays Jealousy is indeed a sigh of madness. An example of a play were a character was lead into madness is Othello the Moor, were the character goes mad from jealousy. Banquo is now like Macbeth starting to go mad because of the Witchs all be it more slowly. he told Macbeth that he had indeed started to dream of them. so the Witch first meeting with Macbeth and Banquo causes the most disorder through out the play.

    Nathaniel Rosenberg (I wrote it here because I really do not understand this website and the fact I do not want to have to write thsi darn thing from scratch for the fourth time! I really dont care if you take half of because of it...)

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  28. As a recurring theme, the balance and shift of disorder and order can be seen throughout the play. The very first instances of Shakespeare’s representation of disorder literally happen in the first sentence of the book. The Thunder and lightning themselves is the first sign of natural instability, which in its self represents further instability to come. The witches soon enter the scene, and discuss their next meeting’s location and time. It is at this time they reference the future of Macbeth without the readers knowing anything about him. The Witches then say that they would decide to meet him “when the battle’s lost and won”, but to us that means nothing. If you understand the witches’ role in the play then you understand that the instability going on at the time foreshadows the disorder soon to come. As the prophesiers of the play, the natural disorder occurring to them right now will only logically preview a disorder for their topic of matter in the future. In this case this topic of matter is Macbeth and his battle. This battle which they refer to epitomizes the sense of instability. A battle itself is a fight, but beyond that it is a symbol of change. When someone wins, things will inevitably change either to a stable society or an instable society. This foreshadowing suggests the latter. However, the most noticeable reference to future disorder occurs at the end of their encounter when they chant “fair is foul and foul is fair”. As it is in instance before, this is another reference to future instability. What might be thought of as stable might actually be instable. This representation of societal disorder in the future as the natural representation of disorder set the stage for the theme that will reoccur throughout the book.

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  29. In the book The Tragedy of Macbeth, the part where it showed the most moment of disorder was when Macbeth was hallucinating about the dagger. "Thou marshall’st me the way that I was going, And such an instrument I was to use" (II.i.54-55). This causes Macbeth to go crazy. Whick leads us to question if Macbeth can really keep this a secret.

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  30. A momment of disorder in Macbeth would be in (II.ii.pg:59) when after killing Duncan Macbeth ends up bringing the daggers back up to the room with him instead of leaving them by Duncan's servants and when he goes back to the room with lady Macbeth he says "ill go no more. I am afraid to think what i have done. Look on't again i dare not" and this show that Macbeth is just so shaken up about what he did so leaving the daggers there didnt even occur to him. so Lady macbeth ends up having to take it for him.

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  31. I agree with Marc Jacome, the book itself starts out with a scene of disorder, with witches and evil. The presence of the witches, makes you imagine a dark, stormy night with the witches wanting to cause disorder and distruction.

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  32. Disorder is showed by animals after Duncan's murder: the horses eat each other. It showes that nature has been troubled.

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  33. YAAAYY I AM THE FIRST PERSON TO WRITE IN THIS BLOG IN 2011!!!! :)))

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  34. Mr. Cowlin, your a bitch

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  35. To the Anonymous above me,i think you mean *you're. This just proves how much of a dumb fuck you are.
    Sincerely Mr. Potato Head

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  36. Hahahahahaha this is hilarious

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  37. To all the people who use this website as a laugh, kindly refrain from doing so as this is actually an assignment for my year 11 English class.
    Thank you.

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  38. I like this I think i can pass my exam because of all your writing thenks

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