Home > Macbeth Summary & Study Guide > FAQs > Why does Macbeth forget to take the daggers from the guards?

Macbeth | Why does Macbeth forget to take the daggers from the guards?

In Act II, scene ii., Macbeth reports to his wife that the foul crime is done, that Duncan is slain while his guards lay in a drug-induced sleep. Shaken by the experience, Macbeth's account is interrupted by Lady Macbeth as she spies the daggers in his hand that were meant to be left by the sides of the guards, thereby implicating them in the crime. When she directs him to go back and lay the daggers by the guards, he refuses, saying that he fears to look upon the aftermath of his bloody deed. She blurts out, "Infirm of purpose! Give me the daggers" (II, ii., 49-50). Macbeth's failure to...

[The entire page is 238 words long]

Join eNotes

The above is a free excerpt. Get total access to this content with the:

Summary and Analysis – Themes – Characters – And much more...