How does Macbeth's character develop during act 2, scene 1, lines 33–64?

In the edition of the play I have, line 33 in this scene is Banquo's, "So I lose none." This is a pivotal scene and moment for Macbeth. Just before the section you have indicated, the two friends discuss the "three weird sisters," and Banquo reveals that he is concerned that they may have shown "some truth" to Macbeth. Macbeth tells Banquo airily, "I think not of them," which is an example of irony as the audience knows that Macbeth has thought of little else. After their conversation, Banquo says that he will keep his "bosom franchised and allegiance clear," which is then juxtaposed with Macbeth's sinister change of tone as he begins the famous "dagger" soliloquy.
Having dismissed the servant, we witness Macbeth begin to wrestle with his conscience. This speech, in which Macbeth asks, "is this a dagger which I see before me," is our first true indication that the guilt of what he is about to do is truly beginning to affect Macbeth's mind; he is hallucinating "a dagger of the mind . . . in form so palpable" that he feels sure it must be real. Macbeth is not sure whether his "eyes are made the fools o' the other senses / Or else worth all the rest"—that is, he is unsure whether his eyes are deceiving him, or whether, in fact, the dagger with its "gouts of blood" is showing him the clearest truth.
Macbeth attempts to steady himself so as not to become too preoccupied with what the dagger means—"There's no such thing"—and yet, we see already that he is having difficulty sleeping because of the effects of the guilt on his "heat-oppressed brain," even before he has committed the planned act. "Wicked dreams" assail Macbeth. However, as the soliloquy progresses, we see a turning point in Macbeth's deliberations. "Whiles I threat," Macbeth says, "he lives." He seems to have determined that Duncan should not survive, and then, after the bell tolls, Macbeth declares, "it is done." He interprets the bell for us as "a knell / that summons thee to heaven or to hell." The couplet here symbolizes the end of the scene, but also lends a decisive end to Macbeth's wrestle with his conscience. At this point, it is clear that he is going to commit the murder of Duncan.


First, it is important to note that different editions of the plays number the lines differently. I will use the popular Folger Shakespeare edition. Given that, this section begins a few lines before the famous "Is this a dagger" soliloquy and finishes a few lines before the soliloquy's end.
In the lines leading up to this speech, Macbeth promises Banquo "it will make honor for you," although of course he has already determined to murder Duncan, which would not be an honorable course of action should Duncan accede.
In the soliloquy, Macbeth reveals that his conscience is not, in fact, dead (yet), and he trembles at the potential consequences of the assassination he envisions. In fact, he hallucinates a dagger covered in blood. But, mid-way through the speech, he says, "There's no such thing."
From that point on, he is resolved to commit the murder and invokes the underworld to support him in his evil intent. At last, he says, no more words, just do it. "Whiles I threat, he lives / Words to the heat of deeds too cold breath gives." In other words, Macbeth basically says to himself, "stop talking to yourself about it and just go through with the murder." And he does.

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