How Effectively Does Shakespeare Introduce The Major Themes Of The First Three Scenes?
How Effectively Does Shakespeare Introduce The Major Themes Of The First Three Scenes?
There are two main themes in the play Macbeth; these are the paradox "Fair is foul and foul is fair" and the tragic hero theme. These themes are introduced in the opening scenes and they are carried on throughout the rest of the play. I am going to analyse the ways in which Shakespeare introduces these themes in the opening three scenes of the play.
The theme of "Fair is foul and foul is fair" means that the moral values in the play, along with everything else, have totally been turned around. Shakespeare uses this paradox to illustrate the fact that, in the play, people will do foul things to achieve, in their eyes, fair results. The tragic hero theme simply shows Macbeth as a hero with a fatal flaw, who could be great if it wasn't for the fatal flaw, in this case his ambition, egged on by the witches and Lady Macbeth.
The first scene is a short but dramatic opening to the play. Firstly it informs the audience of two things: there is a battle somewhere and that the witches are planning to meet Macbeth. More importantly, however, this scene introduces some key ideas to the play. One of these is the idea of confusion and disorder. This is brought to attention with some key phrases:
* "Fair is foul and foul is fair; hover through fog and filthy air" - The witches say this, the paradox of fair is foul, foul is fair indicates confusion and disorder in itself but the second part of the line "hover through fog and filthy air" creates the idea that the witches are casting a spell that will fly across the land.
* " When the hurly-burly's done, when the battle's lost and won" - The word hurly-burly is another word for confusion and the fact that a battle is going on somewhere mean that all is not right at that time. This idea is helped by the fact in battle things that are usually considered foul, i.e. the killing of others, are rewarded and considered fair.
* "I come Graymalikin!" "Paddock calls. -Anon!" - In these two lines the witches are talking to their familiars (animals who lived with the witches that were believed to be demons in ...
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* " When the hurly-burly's done, when the battle's lost and won" - The word hurly-burly is another word for confusion and the fact that a battle is going on somewhere mean that all is not right at that time. This idea is helped by the fact in battle things that are usually considered foul, i.e. the killing of others, are rewarded and considered fair.
* "I come Graymalikin!" "Paddock calls. -Anon!" - In these two lines the witches are talking to their familiars (animals who lived with the witches that were believed to be demons in animal form). This was, in the 16th century, seen as supernatural and anything supernatural was feared and witches were believed to be agents of the devil. This involvement of the supernatural means that anything is possible and disorder and confusion will ensue.
* Rhymes, riddles and metre - Throughout the play, whenever the witches appear, they speak in a way different to anyone else in the play. First, they often speak in rhyming couplets and they finish off each other's sentences, which implies a connection. A connection like this would, in the 16th century, display unnatural powers and this would be associated with evil. The witches often speak in riddles, which would also be seen as supernatural. The main item though, is that the witches speak in a different metre to everyone else in the play, they speak in lines of seven syllables instead of the usual ten.
The ideas of confusion and disorder are very strong in the first scene. This is a strong contrast to the second scene, which is set in a military camp and this setting gives the idea of order. It is in this second scene we first meet Macbeth as a soldier recounts his brave acts to King Duncan.
In the second scene we hear more about the battle mentioned in the first scene. The battle is between a force of rebels and the army of King Duncan in which Macbeth is a high-ranking officer. A soldier who fought in the battle on the side of King Duncan enters, wounded. He is asked to tell how the battle is going and he then proceeds to tell how Macbeth is fighting bravely. Macbeth is mentioned many times, and all references to him show him to be a hero, a brave fighter and a good soldier:
* "Brave Macbeth (well he deserves that name), disdaining fortune, with his brandished steel". - This means that Macbeth is a hero that "disdains fortune", or does not accept what has been fated to happen, but he makes his own destiny, so strong is he in his actions.
* "Like Valour's minion, carved out his passage, Till he faced the slave; which ne'er he shook hands, nor bade farewell to him, Till he unseamed him from the nave to the chaps" - Macbeth "Like Valour's minion, carved out his passage", in other words, Macbeth is the favourite of the personification of Courage or Valour and he fought his way to the leader of the rebels and he "unseamed him to the nave to the chaps" which is a more poetic way of saying Macbeth cut open the rebel leader from his stomach to his jaw.
These two examples portray Macbeth to be a brave hero who fights for his king and shows no fear of death. He is rewarded for these traits with the title of Thane of Cawdor. The significance of this becomes apparent in the next scene. In the third scene we once again meet the witches as they prepare to meet Macbeth.
At the start of the third scene we meet the witches again. They are on a heath, waiting to meet Macbeth. We know there is something unnatural about the witches and it is confirmed as they talk about how one of them put a curse on a sailor, merely because his wife would not give her any chestnuts "He shall live a man forbid" - He shall live a life under a curse. As they are talking, they hear a drum. Upon hearing this they start to chant a curse. As they finish, Macbeth appears accompanied by his friend, Banquo. The witches tell Macbeth that he will become Thane of Cawdor and, later, King. They also tell Banquo that his children will be Kings but for Banquo's prediction the witches speak in riddles. This is used to emphasise the importance of the prediction of Macbeth's future. Macbeth, however, does not believe the witches and, after the witches vanish, he even starts to doubt if the event ever happened, and he didn't just imagine it "Were such things here, as we do speak about, or have we eaten of the insane root that takes reason prisoner?". Macbeth is still doubtful until Rosse and Angus arrive and announce to Macbeth that he has been appointed Thane of Cawdor. It is only now that Macbeth starts to believe that the witches were speaking the truth but still he does not want to act on the prediction. He decides that if he is going to be king, it will happen without him doing anything, he will leave fate to appoint him king "If Chance will have me king, why, Chance may crown me, without my stir". But we know from a previous statement that Macbeth will not just let fate take its course, his ambition pushes him to create his own destiny. It is this ambition, fuelled by the words of Lady Macbeth and the witches' encouragement, that is Macbeth's fatal flaw that leads him to be a tragic hero.
Shakespeare introduces the themes of the play very effectively in the opening scenes, he does so by:
* Creating an air of confusion and disorder by manipulating the beliefs of the 16th century audience using the supernatural.
* Highlighting the paradox "Fair is foul, foul is fair" by using a battle, where this paradox is most evident. He does this again by contrasting the foul theme of the first scene with the noble, fair theme of the second scene.
* Introducing Macbeth as a hero in the second scene but showing how he is corrupted by the words of the witches in the third scene, showing his fatal flaw and portraying him as a tragic hero.
In all, I believe Shakespeare has introduced the themes of the play very effectively, using many dramatic devices and contrasting scenes, such as the eyrie calm of the open heath and the bloody action of the battle, and the evil and deceitfulness of the witches in contrast to the nobility and valour of King Duncan.
