please help :( Contrast is one of the most effective devices a writer can use to add vividness to the depiction of characters. W
rite an essay in which you explain how the characterizations of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are enhanced by contrast in the scenes that precede and follow the murder of Duncan in Act II of The Tragedy of Macbeth.
Students should explain how Macbeth's imagination works, giving examples from the act to support their ideas. For example, they might mention the dagger he imagines, which actually seems to lead him on to do the deed and in a sense helps him go through with it. They might also mention the voice he imagines after the murder saying that "Macbeth does murder sleep," as his guilty conscience asserts itself and ensures that he will suffer more after the deed than before; it frightens him so much that he cannot complete the final details of the plot.
Sample Answer: Students should recognize the contrast between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in the scenes of Act II. Students might say, for example, that although Macbeth’s imagination runs wild before he commits the murder, he is able to carry it out, but not really deal rationally with the details of the plot. Details are left to Lady Macbeth, who makes it all work by drugging the guards, readying their daggers for Macbeth, and planting the false evidence afterwards. She is much more rational, confident, and fearless than her husband. Students might suggest that Macbeth begins to grow into the role of successful assassin when he murders the supposedly guilty guards near the end of the scene.
