ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -A porter hears knocking at the gate of Macbeth’s castle. It’s Macduff and Lennox, who have come to rouse Duncan. Macbeth arrives and tells them the king is still sleeping. Macduff heads off to wake the king, and promptly returns, screaming bloody murder.

Detailed explanation-2: -Lennox is a young Thane attending on Duncan. He accompanies Macduff the morning of Duncan’s murder, and notes that he cannot remember as stormy a night as the preceding one. He joins Macbeth’s court, but is soon convinced of the usurper’s guilt, which he cautiously exposes to similarly-minded lords in ironical phrases.

Detailed explanation-3: -It is the noblemen Macduff and Lenox who have arrived to call upon the King. Macduff goes to wake Duncan and re-enters horrified, raising the alarm for his murder. The household gather and Macbeth announces that he has slain the two guards, considering them primary suspects.

Detailed explanation-4: -The other lord reveals to Lennox that Macduff has fled from Scotland to join forces with Malcolm in England. Moreover, they have requested help from England’s King Edward the Confessor.

Detailed explanation-5: -As Macduff enters the king’s chamber, Lennox describes the storms that raged the previous night, asserting that he cannot remember anything like it in all his years. With a cry of “O horror, horror, horror!”