Macbeth, Act 1 Scene 1
Robert Nixon GCSE media - Macbeth, Act 1 Scene 1 This scene of Polanski's film "Macbeth" features 3 witches. He has to try and convey this to the audience that they are real witches, and has to make them appear that they are not normal people, because people would not understand who or what these people are, but also not so they are stereotypically like a witch that the audience would find them comical. In Shakespeare's time, witches were believed to exist as real people that lived in communities in England and Scotland, so when it was performed on stage in those times, it was not hard to convince the audience they were witches. Then, witches were perceived by society as evildoers and were responsible for crops failing or other such things that they could not explain, so they used witches as scapegoats to blame it on. Many thousands of people were executed for such deeds, despite there not being any proof of them doing anything. Nowadays, witches are perceived very differently than the way they used to. They are now regarded as figures of a comical nature, often imagined to have pointy hats, broomsticks and pet cats, and appear in such things as fairy tales and pantomimes. This is why Polanski must be wary of these stereotypes, as he wants the audience to realise that these are people who are evil, and not something to be laughed at. Polanski had a lot of material from the
Macbeth - Act 1, Scene 5, Act 1, Scene 7 and Act 5, Scene 1.
Macbeth - Act 1, Scene 5, Act 1, Scene 7 and Act 5, Scene 1 William Shakespeare was born in Stratford in 1564. He was one of eight children. The Shakespeare's were well-respected prominent people. When William Shakespeare was about seven years old, he probably began attending the Stratford Grammar School with other boys of his social class. Students went to school year round attending school for nine hours a day. On November 27, 1582, Shakespeare married Ann Hathaway who was twenty-eight years old. On May 26, 1583, Ann bore their first daughter, Susanna. In 1585, a set of twins was born, Judith and Hamnet. Hamnet died at the age of eleven in 1596. No evidence was found of Shakespeare between the years of 1585-1592. These years of Shakespeare's life were called "The Hidden Years". Shakespeare left London in 1611 and retired. On March 25, 1616, Shakespeare made a will. He died April 23, 1616 at the age of fifty-two. The cause of his death was unknown. Many people believe that Shakespeare knew he was dying; however, he didn't want anyone to know that he was. During Shakespeare's time, after the graveyard was full, they would dig one's corpse up and burn the person's bones in a huge fireplace. Some people would strip the corpse after the burial. Shakespeare hated this type of treatment after death, so he wrote his own epitaph. Ambitious, enthusiastic and assertive are only few
Act 1 Scene 1 and Act 3 Scene 4 Macbeth
Louie Jones Atkins 8/07/2002 GCSE Shakespeare Macbeth Coursework Unit/Essay The two scenes that the essay will be focusing on are Act 1 Scene 1 and Act 3 Scene 4 of the Shakespeare novel, Macbeth. The first scene Act 1 Scene 1 is the opening scene to the play, it starts with a supernatural theme where the three witches are upon the heath discussing when to meet with Macbeth, Macbeth may be implicated by the three witches. Act 3 Scene 4 starts with Macbeth being told that Banquo's son Fleance has escaped, this displeases Macbeth. This scene shows signs of the unnatural because Macbeth sees Banquo's ghost, this startles him and all the guests in his palace. As the scene progresses Macbeths behaviour changes. My impressions of the witches in Act 1 Scene 1 are that they would be old female women that where very wrinkly and wear very old rags and cloaks. I also thought that they would speak very slowly and croaky and that they would mumble whenever they spoke. I thought that they would walk slowly and stagger because they're very old and feeble, I thought that they would have walking sticks, as they are old. They probably like each other because they stay together wherever they are. I don't think that they are that much different to each other because they look and speak the same.
Macbeth Act 1 Scene 1 Analysis
MACBETH The classroom analysis (generalized) (Previous analysis was June holiday homework) Act1 Scene 1: / 7 /11 A desert place. The setting of ‘Thunder and lightning’ depicts bad weather, which shows the eerie atmosphere and tense mood. The play opens on a note of noise and disorder, foreboding much evil to come. Witches, who seem to enjoy the chaotic weather, appear to hold alien values and preferences compared to normal men and women. The mood is sinister, dangerous and ominous; the immediate appearance of the witches starting from the first scene is used to inform readers of the underlying note of darkness. The witches speak in riddles, and seem to know Macbeth’s secret desires and are seen as mischievous, otherworldly and evil beings. By saying that the ‘battle’s lost and won’, many meanings emerge, such as the ‘battle’ refers to the fight with Cawdor and though Macbeth may have ‘won’ against him, he has ‘lost’ a battle to himself, by afterwards caving into the witches’ tempting words. They seem to refer the dark ‘ere’, which means after, ‘the set of sun’. This hints of their evil natures that seem to relate to their preference of bad weather and dark skies. They decide on the ‘heath’ to meet Macbeth. The rhyming words lead us to think of the ‘heath’, which is a wild and barren place, in relation to Macbeth
MACBETH Act 4 Scence 1
MACBETH Act 4 Scence 1 Having considered my own expectations of Act 4, scene 1, I expected it to be a turning point for Macbeth and to highlight Macbeth's lack of control at this time. The scene creates an eerie atmosphere from the beginning with the witches round a cauldron. This atmosphere and sense of what is going to happen draw's the audience's attention at this time. During the scene Macbeth goes to the witches for reassurance. He has committed a crime. He has murdered to become king. It is in his mind, and he feels guilty. Scotland is in turmoil and he is struggling to hold onto power. He needs more information to make himself feel better. He sees the witches as being able to show him this information because they have told him what was going to happen before. This is not the first time we see the witches, infact they open the first act and reoccur throughout the play. The first time Macbeth meets the witches they tell him that he will be king and that Banquo would not be king, but his children will be. Macbeth hopes they will tell him more. The scene is important because it represents the place of evil in the plot. Macbeth has become king through evil means and now goes and sees the witches who are also evil. His vision of the apparitions is not the first time he sees something from the unnatural world. Also in the play he sees a death vision of a dagger pointing
Macbeth And Lady Macbeth In Act 1
5th October 2001 Macbeth And Lady Macbeth In Act 1 In the first act of Macbeth, we learn many different things about both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. These include how they appear to other characters on stage, and also how they are with each other and when they are by themselves. Their true feelings are also revealed in their speech, but are hidden. It shows how they feel about other characters, each other, and the happenings of the act. We learn in different ways, by their hidden messages, by their soliloquies, by their asides, and also by what other characters sat about them at different times to different people. Within the first two scenes of the play, we don't see either Macbeth or Lady Macbeth. The audience don't actually meet Lady Macbeth until Act1 Scene five in which she receives Macbeth's letter. Before we meet either of the two main characters, we hear about them in one main way. Many of the other characters that know them tell as about them in conversion to other actors, which means we begin to make an image of them before we actually see them ourselves. These reports tell us about the "innocent flower" outlook of the characters, and us hearing of them via reports initially has great advantages. For Macbeth, it makes him seem mysterious and as we hear of his fight against MacDonwald in scene two, we can envision him as having a heroic status like the great
Comparing Lady Macbeth in Act 1 & Act 5
Comparing Lady Macbeth in Act 1 & Act 5 The Task: Discuss Shakespeare's presentation of Lady Macbeth in Act 1 Scene 5 and Act 5 Scene 1 of 'Macbeth.' Account for the changes and differences you notice and suggest how a contemporary as well as a modern audience might respond to these scenes. Shakespeare's shortest and bloodiest tragedy, Macbeth tells the story of a brave Scottish general (Macbeth) who receives a prophecy from a trio of sinister witches that one day he will become king of Scotland. Consumed with ambitious thoughts and urged to action by his wife, Macbeth murders King Duncan and seizes the throne for himself. He begins his reign wracked with guilt and fear and soon becomes a dictatorial ruler, as he is forced to commit more and more murders to protect him from hate and suspicion. The bloodbath swiftly propels Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to arrogance, madness, and death. Macbeth's wife is a deeply ambitious woman who desires for power and position. Early in the play she seems to be the stronger and more ruthless of the two, as she urges her husband to kill Duncan and seize the crown. After the bloodshed begins, however, Lady Macbeth falls victim to guilt and madness to an even greater degree than her husband. Her conscience affects her to such an extent that she eventually commits suicide. Interestingly, she and Macbeth are presented as being deeply in love, and
Macbeth Act 1 Scene 7
Act 1 Scene 7 The interaction between the Macbeths in the above scene portrays the nature of their relationship, until this point. The main message conveyed in this scene is that Lady Macbeth is the dominant partner in their relationship, which is shown through the ease of her manipulation of him. In act one scene five, Shakespeare explains Lady Macbeth's understanding of Macbeth's personality, when she receives his letter and states "I do fear thy nature is too full o'th'milk of human kindness". This also succeeds in describing Lady Macbeth's cruelty and unwomanly nature - even though she knows Macbeth is too kind to kill Duncan of his own accord, she will force him against his own will, and persuade him to murder, breaking the laws of human nature. Later in the scene, Lady Macbeth puts forward her plans for Duncan's murder, to which Macbeth's response is "we shall speak further - ". This is the first introduction of Lady Macbeth's dominance; Macbeth is a kind, loyal person, and when Lady Macbeth first puts the idea of murder in Macbeth's mind, rather than completely objecting as he normally would, his reaction to his wife is a feeble appeasement - she is in control. Lady Macbeth further portrays how deceptive and malicious her character is, in Act One Scene Six. After previously contemplating the murder of Duncan, she greets him with elaborately courteous language,
Macbeth Act 4 scene 1
Macbeth Act 4 scene 1 When Macbeth enters he speaks to the witches as if he knows them well and is quite friendly with them. He also talks as if he is of higher power then them, as if they were under his power and as intended that they should obey his every demand, he shows all of this in rude speech to the witches calling them 'midnight hags'. You can see Macbeth is desperate for this information that will tell him his future. Macbeth goes about this information in a demanding way rather than a grovelling way, he will stop at nothing even if he has to get the information from the devil himself! I think that Macbeth soon realises that he should be humble when the apparition came, the higher power. He doesn't talk in the same rude tone, he says thank you and is rather humble, I think he is rather scared as well. But as the information is delivered Macbeth's confidence grows as the apparitions tell him what he wants to hear and what he thinks will never happen. One apparition says that 'no man born of a woman' would harm Macbeth, and Macbeth clearly thinks that every man is born of a woman. Another of the apparitions told him that Macbeth wouldn't die until the Great Birnam wood came up to Dunsiane. The wood moving? Macbeth doesn't believe this, ' this will never be.' This makes Macbeth think he is invincible his confidence and ego has a boost. He asks the witches if the
Macbeth - Directing Act 1, Scenes 1 and 2.
Macbeth - Directing Act 1, Scenes 1 and 2 At the end of act 1 Macbeth has decided to kill Duncan. In Act 1 scene 1 Banquo is telling Macbeth how much Duncan admires him and how he likes him. Macbeth then lies to Banquo when he asks about the witches. Banquo doesn't want to be involved with the killing of Duncan. Macbeth then sees a dagger in front of him guiding him towards Duncan's room. Macbeth starts to regret the killing at the start of Scene 2. Lady Macbeth won't listen to him and she takes the daggers to go and put the blame on someone else. At the start of Act 2 I would like the weather to be bleak and foggy so that Birnam wood can be seen through the fog in the distance. There wouldn't really be any noises, maybe a bird, or a servant makes a noise while taking a tray past, something that makes Macbeth look up for a distraction. When Macbeth meets Banquo he strolls up to him with all his king's robes on whilst Banquo is dressed in common clothes to show the difference in their status. Whilst Macbeth is talking the slightest sound would make him look up. When Banquo mentions the diamond, 'This diamond he greets your wife withal', I would have Banquo carefully slipping it out of his pocket with both hands. The diamond would be in a small pouch and Banquo then takes it out of the pouch to show Macbeth. The diamond would gently glitter in the candlelight from the
