When one disrupts the natural order, unnatural and unpredictable occurrences will result. Macbeth disrupts the natural order when he murders the king, God's chosen representative to rule (according to their belief). As a result, he "heard a voice cry, 'Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep'" (2.2.47-48). He's committed an unnatural deed, and now he fears that nature will not let him sleep peacefully anymore. Further, though it is midday, "dark night strangles the traveling lamp" and the sun does not shine (2.4.9); "a mousing owl" has killed a much more powerful falcon (2.4.15-16); and Duncan's horses turned wild and began to "eat each / other" (2.4.23-24). Strange and unnatural things begin to occur as a result of Macbeth's disruption of the natural order, as though nature itself rebels against the disruption.
Appearances can be deceiving. After Duncan's murder, Donalbain says, "There's daggers in men's smiles" (2.3.165). He and his brother, Malcolm, understand that someone who now pretends to be their friend has murdered their father and that they, too, are not safe. Moreover, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth appear to grieve heartily for Duncan's death; he claims, "Had I but died an hour before this chance, / I had lived a blessed time," and she pretends to faint as a result of her sorrow (2.3.107-108). However, as Duncan's murderers, the pair put on a good show of grief (as they had planned to do).
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