Macbeth consulting the Vision of the Armed Head, Henry Fuseli, 1793. by Thomas De Quincey. "On the Knocking at the Gate in Macbeth" The author: Thomas De Quincey (1785-1859) was an English essayist and literary critic, best known for his autobiographical Confessions of an English Opium-Eater (1822), and for the short essay, "On the Knocking at the Gate in Macbeth," first published the London Magazine for October 1823. Macbeth is never happy with his actions—even when they have earned him his prize—because he is acutely aware of his own tyranny. Knock, knock, knock!

From my boyish days I had always felt a great perplexity on one point in Macbeth. In Act II, Scene iii, the Porter tells some knock-knock jokes (seriously) about who could be knocking at the doors of Macbeth's castle at such an hour.

The porter’s soliloquy in Act II of Macbeth is arguably one of Shakespeare’s most famous scenes.

... the audience will be well familiarized with the famous scene of the drunken porter who imagines himself guarding the gates of hell. Even the humor is bleak. It was this: the knocking at the gate, which succeeds to the murder of Duncan, produced to my feelings an effect for which I …

Come to think of it, if a man were in charge of opening the gates of hell to let people in, he would have to turn the key a lot. I have now read the second De Quincey essay in my collection; it's called "On the Knocking At the Gate in Macbeth," and it tries to explain why De Quincey finds the knocking that takes place after Duncan's murder so eerie.

In Macbeth , William Shakespeare's tragedy about power, ambition, deceit, and murder, the Three Witches foretell Macbeth's rise to King of Scotland but also prophesy that future kings will descend … Not surprisingly, this is not the only allusion to alcohol. Get free homework help on William Shakespeare's Macbeth: play summary, scene summary and analysis and original text, quotes, essays, character analysis, and filmography courtesy of CliffsNotes. The whole purpose of the knocking at the gate and the Porter's slowness in responding is to force Macbeth to come down in his nightgown to find out what is going on. This divided conscience continues to the end of the play, where there is a sense of relief when the soldiers arrive at his gate. Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth is an oil painting by John Singer Sargent.Painted in 1889, it depicts actress Ellen Terry in a famous performance of William Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth, wearing a green dress decorated with iridescent beetle wings.The play was produced by Henry Irving at the Lyceum Theatre, London, with Irving also playing Macbeth opposite Terry. I also think the allusion the porter makes that he is guarding the gates of hell is very interesting because that would mean Macbeth represents the …