Brief summary interwoven with commentary on Act II of Macbeth

The second act begins with an unpleasant atmosphere at night, when the moon is down and the sky is starless. As we've come to know, night is the hour of the evil. So the atmosphere at the very beginning is the foreboding of the events to unfold. In the first scene, Banquo and Fleance are talking casually on the courtyard of Macbeth's castle a little before midnight. Although Banquo is heavy with sleep he doesn't want to go to bed in fear of the thoughts that come to him while asleep. The witches' prophecies taunt him and he seems to be full of doubt and fear. His doubt and fear is obvious…