How do the events of Act 1 prepare the audience for what happens in the rest of the play?
Daniel Leigh 11Saul
How do the events of Act 1 prepare the audience for what happens in the rest of the play?
The play 'Macbeth' was written by William Shakespeare as early as 1606 and is thought to have been written for King James I who was especially afraid of Witches, who are important characters and affect many of Macbeth's decisions throughout the play.
Macbeth starts the play as a noble in the service of King Duncan I of Scotland. He starts as Thane (noble) of Glamis and soon becomes Thane of Cawdor, after putting down the rebellion in that region.
In the play "Macbeth", there are many interesting sections that concentrate on the suspense and the involvement of the supernatural. The use of the supernatural in the witches, Lady Macbeth, nature, the vision, the ghost and the apparitions are all key elements in making "Macbeth" as a tragedy play. With the sense of the supernatural and interference of the spirits, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are led to dangerous tempting things. Macbeth's character becomes completely different from the brave soldier to the evil king and to his tragic death where he discovers humility again when it is too late. Lady Macbeth's character also changes from being a loving wife and masculine woman to madness woman. The use of supernatural also makes the play interesting to the audience. Examining certain scenes of the play, it is noticed that the supernatural is definitely a major factor on the play's style.
On their way home from the battle between Norway and Scotland which they won, Macbeth and Banquo meet the witches. The witches foretell that Macbeth will become the Thane of Cawdor and eventually the king of Scotland and that Banquo will become
"Not so happy, yet much happier"
and that one of his (Banquo's) descendants will become king. These predictions for consequences later in the play as the supernatural events in Act 1 are the first in the series, therefore preparing the audience for later incidents, for instance in Act 4 when the witches start concocting spells.
When everybody gets home from the battle, there is a joyous celebration for the victory over Norway. Included in the party, Duncan proclaims his successor to reign after he dies, he proclaims that Malcolm will take over his throne- Macbeth is disappointed to say the least.
When Duncan does this, the audience sees Macbeth's ambition in his soliloquy,
"that is a step On which I must fall down, or else o'er- leap,
For in my way it lies.", therefore the audience is not surprised at how far he would go to be the ...
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When everybody gets home from the battle, there is a joyous celebration for the victory over Norway. Included in the party, Duncan proclaims his successor to reign after he dies, he proclaims that Malcolm will take over his throne- Macbeth is disappointed to say the least.
When Duncan does this, the audience sees Macbeth's ambition in his soliloquy,
"that is a step On which I must fall down, or else o'er- leap,
For in my way it lies.", therefore the audience is not surprised at how far he would go to be the king of Scotland.
She acts as a
"honoured hostess" towards Duncan whilst plotting to murder him. This ability is again recognised by the audience after the murder when she shows her shock and horror that Duncan has died in her house.
Duncan is betrayed by the original Thane of Cawdor, and is again betrayed by Macbeth as the Thane of Cawdor and Duncan's cousin.
Macbeth is startled by the witch's prophecies. His reaction can only mean one of two things: one he had never thought of his ambition before and now he realises what he can accomplish; two he had already contemplated the idea of being king and the prophecy has intrigued him further.
In Elizabethan times people believed in witches. This theme recurs throughout the play and they are the first thing that the audience see and the first time the audience hear of Macbeth is through them (not the eponymous hero) as they plan to meet him.
People in this era believed that witches could predict the future (predictions cannot be trusted because witches are evil and can backfire)
In Act 1 Scene 2, Macbeth makes the mistake of trusting their prophecies which eventually causes downfall.
The witches start the predictions by fore-telling the end of the battle,
"When the hurly burly's done...When the battle's lost and won"
and then meeting Macbeth and going on to telling him that he is perfectly safe,
"for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth".
These predictions prepare the audience for proceedings later in the play when Macbeth goes to or calls upon the witches to help.
Not only are the witches evil themselves but their evilness spreads to other characters throughout the play. I think there is little doubt that without the influence of the witches, Macbeth wouldn't have murdered king Duncan.
We meet Lady Macbeth by reading a letter that Macbeth has sent to tell her about the news of his promotion. Lady Macbeth calls on black magic and the evil forces,
"unsex me here", meaning that she does no more want to be a woman- without any feelings or emotion. She has the idea of speeding up Macbeth's promotion to the king of Scotland by murdering the current king.
The audience realises what type of 'person' she is (from their first impression). She is the more dominant of the pair, mentally as she later plans Duncan's murder. Lady Macbeth knows that Macbeth is too weak.
As he is
"too full of the milk of human kindness
To catch the nearest way".
The audience is not surprised when, later on, after the murder of Duncan, she is organised. Another time she takes charge is when Macbeth sees Bantuo's ghost. Macbeth starts ranting and raving and Lady Macbeth waves it off by explaining to the guests that this has happened before and is probably due to drinking too much.
Lady Macbeth realises that Macbeth is ambitious but is only willing to get what he wants the right way. The audience is prepared to witness his indecision to go through with the murder or not later on. Lady Macbeth wants power (this is why she is organising everything for Macbeth to do in the way of murder just to be promoted to the position of king) and does not care how far she has to go to get it. After the murder, we see this characteristic again. Macbeth was disturbed by the guards praying (from their dream of Duncan dying under their guard) praying when they woke up, but his wife replies
"Consider it not too deeply".
Whenever Macbeth hesitates, Lady Macbeth drives him on, When Macbeth says that he wants to discuss the plan of the murder of Duncan
she says
"Leave all the rest to me".
After the murder, Macbeth is unstable as every slight noise deeply shocks him, but Lady Macbeth is the forceful one saying
"My hands are of your colour, but I shame To wear a heart so
white".
Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are ambitious. Lady Macbeth is especially single-minded in persuading Macbeth to murder Duncan, so that he will become king. At first Macbeth is unwilling to give in to desire, but the witches and Lady Macbeth tempt him. The result is a tragedy and Macbeth loses everything. He finds that being king gives him no contentment. One of the play's main themes is that when people allow their sense of what is right to be overcome by their ambition, and so they are doomed by disaster.
The nature and effects of evil dominate the action of the whole play. The potential for evil is present in nature, in man and in animals and the play's imagery evokes this.
Evil is one of the many supernatural forces, manifested in the shape of the three witches, also known as "the weird sisters", whose successful seduction of Macbeth threatens to plunge the world back into the chaos from which, as the Elizabethans assumed, God released it, when he created order and morality.
The witches have changed Macbeth from a brave warrior to an evil, murderous, traitor.
The people in Shakespeare's time thought that every single person, animal and thing had a fixed, natural place determined by God. Macbeth's main crime is in disrupting this natural order. He murders people so that they die before their time, he throws the political stability of Scotland into chaos, destroys his marriage and dissolves his mental 'order' just for the sake of following his ambition. Lady Macbeth actually goes insane, breaking natural order again by destroying her own life.
In the play, loyalty to the true king and the State is shown as god, and rebellion against it is evil.
Under Macbeth, Scotland becomes 'drowned with weeds' and he fears the children of King Duncan, Macduff and Banquo, even though they are the good friends of Macbeth, because they are capable as to grow into something that could exterminate his (or Lady Macbeth's) sinister world.
Images of light are related to a state of innocence and purity. King Duncan says that the signs of nobility and honour are
'like stars'. Light is a symbol of truth, sincerity, and righteousness.
Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are creatures of the dark because darkness symbolises treachery, injustice, cruelty and evil. Macbeth tells the stars to 'hide their fires' and Lady Macbeth calls up the 'blackest smoke of hell' to conceal her actions.
Towards the end of the play, when Lady Macbeth is overwhelmed by remorse, she is afraid of the dark and has to have a candle next to her all night.
In conclusion, these predictions prepare the audience for the proceedings later on in the play.
This play, in Elizabethan times would have been very successful because people were often very afraid of witches and the play shows the audience what they could presumably concoct.
