Editing Macbeth (section)

===Act II===
That night, despite his doubts and a number of supernatural [[omen]]s, including a hallucination of a blood-smeared dagger,{{Efn|This scene is open to various interpretations from readers and has been interpreted differently in adaptations.}} Macbeth goes offstage and stabs the sleeping Duncan to death. Returning, he is so shaken that Lady Macbeth finds him still holding the bloody daggers, which she scolds him for, reminding him they must be left on Duncan's sleeping servants. She takes the knives and places them back in Duncan's chamber. When the couple hears knocking at the castle gate, they hurry to bed.

A drunken porter opens the gate, admitting  Macduff (the Thane of Fife) and a nobleman named Lennox: they wish to visit the king. Macbeth, greeting them, leads them to Duncan's chamber. Macduff enters the chamber then returns to the stage, announcing with shock the murder of Duncan. Macbeth and Lennox rush into the chamber where, offstage, Macbeth impulsively kills Duncan's servants to prevent them from professing their innocence. He reappears and confesses to the other nobles that he has killed the servants, but lies that his intentions were to avenge the king's murder. Duncan's two sons flee the country, fearing that they will be killed next. Macduff explains that their flight makes them the main suspects in the king's death, and Macbeth, as Duncan's next of kin, assumes the throne offstage as the new King of Scotland. Banquo remembers the witches' prophecy about how his own descendants would inherit the throne, and he is suspicious that Macbeth might be Duncan's true killer.