The introduction of the main character Macbeth into the play is a bit unusual as he is absent for the first two scenes as King Duncan, Captain and the three witches set him up in contrasting views. The captain talks of how Macbeth led the Scottish army to beat the Norwegians. He describes him as ‘brave Macbeth’, ‘noble Macbeth’ and ‘valiant cousin’ as described by Duncan. In the opening scene though, the witches predict that they will meet Macbeth creating immediate interest. Through the juxtapositioning of the two views of the same character, it brings doubt in the audience as to whether Macbeth is as brave, noble, and loyal like the Captain says he is or whether he will be evil and untrustworthy like the witches. Our interest and questioning is maintained when Macbeth and Banquo first meet the witches, Macbeth says ‘so fair and foul a day I have not seen’, which probably refers to winning the battle and the eerie weather, but there is also the relation to the witches line ‘fair is foul, and foul is fair’ which I feel gives the audience more information than the characters so creates dramatic irony. Macbeth and Banquo also hear the witches salute Macbeth not only as his title but titles he doesn’t possess such as King of Scotland. Macbeth is very inquisitive towards the witches and demands for them to elaborate and tell him more, so we can see he is engaged by them whereas Banquo and the audience are more wary. Macbeth is very demanding and thoughtful towards the witches’ predictions whereas Banquo treats the matter as if the witches are out to trick them. This suggests that the witches will have power over Macbeth and will influence him maybe to do evil things. This makes the audience want too continue watching to see how the relationship develops.
The fact the witches can predict becomes a major aspect of the play and is apparent from the opening. The audience realize the witches have the power to predict the future when Macbeth hears news he has been pronounced Thane of Cawdor. Also in the first scene, the witches predict they will meet Macbeth and they foresee a battle is happening: ‘when the hurly-burly’s done, when the battle’s lost and won’. The introduction of the witches’ powering the first scene adds to the dramatic effectiveness of the opening. It is important because the rest of the play revolves around the witches’ predictions and whether they come true.
In most Shakespearean tragedies, the play revolves around a man climbing to a high status, and then taking a dramatic fall through a fatal character flaw; in Macbeth’s case it is ambition and greed. He climbs from a thane or a lord, to king of Scotland by evil, treason, treachery and murder, then is slain by Macduff at the end.
The opening to Macbeth is dramatically important, as it is here where we first discover the witches’ talent to predict which is what the main plot revolves around. Also an eerie, suspicious and daunting atmosphere is created, and together with the supernatural aspects, the opening is very memorable, and also anticipating as the audience wants to know whether or not the predictions will come true.
