Macbeth

Explain the scene of porter in macbeths castle gate in detail?

What is it all abot the gate of hell and people who come

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The porter scene is comic relief. Duncan has just been murdered and the tension is high. The drunk porter comes out babbling about equivocation and expectations. Certainly this is in line with the themes of Macbeth and his expectations. His description of the confusion and lust provoked by alcohol caricatures Macbeth’s moral confusion and lust for power. Moreover, his remarks about the ineffective lechery inspired by drink eerily echo Lady Macbeth’s sexual taunting of Macbeth about his ability to carry out his resolutions. The porter’s joke that the door of Inverness is like hell’s gate is ironic, given the cruel and bloody events that are taking place within the castle. When he cries, “Who’s there, i’ th’ name of Beelzebub [the devil]?” the analogy between hell and Inverness becomes even stronger (2.3.3). Instead of receiving a welcome and a blessing when they step into Macbeth’s castle, guests are warned that they are putting themselves in the hands of the devil.

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