In act one scene two we hear about Macbeth for the first time, but we do not see him. We are told about Macbeth’s and Banquo’s success in the battle for Scotland and hear about his bravery in the battlefields. The current Thane of Cawdor was discovered to be a traitor to King Duncan and so he was stripped of his title, which was then given to Macbeth “And with his former title greet Macbeth”. We the audience find out that Macbeth is the new Thane of Cawdor even before Macbeth does, so this gives the audience a sense of knowledge that they know what is happening. This scene build suspense for the next scene that involves the three witches again, this time prophesising. In act one scene three we see Macbeth for the first time with his loyal and honest friend Banquo. They both overhear the three witches talking aloud “FIRST WITCH: All hail Macbeth, hail to thee Thane of Glamis. SECOND WITCH: All hail Macbeth, hail to thee Thane of Cawdor. THIRD WITCH: All hail Macbeth, that shalt be King hereafter.” This creates strong tension because the audience knows that Macbeth is Thane of Cawdor but Macbeth doesn’t. It also shows more supernatural activities involving the three witches, which would maybe scare the audience. There is also a prophesy for Banquo, that he shall be the father of Kings but he will not actually be King himself. But Banquo doesn’t take much notice of the three weird sisters, not like Macbeth. Macbeth wishes to hear more of his future. He knows that he is already Thane of Glamis, so he believes that the other predictions from the witches will also come true, the audience already knows that another prediction has come true. But the idea of murdering the King would have shocked the audience immensely because it is challenging the world order that the King was chosen by God and to kill him would be the evilest of sins. Near the end of the scene Macbeth finds out that he is Thane of Cawdor. This makes the audience believe that the last prophesy must come true, that Macbeth will become King.
In act one scene four Macbeth is greeted by King Duncan and congratulated on his recent promotion to Thane of Glamis and Cawdor. But this scene is not so innocent for long, when King Duncan announces that his son, Malcolm, will take his place on the thrown Macbeth sees this as another obstacle in his way to becoming King. Shakespeare uses soliloquies to show when Macbeth, or another character, is thinking but needs the audience to hear it. “that is a step on which I must fall down, or else o’erleap, for in my way it lies”. Lady Macbeth, a key character to Macbeth’s success to the thrown is introduced in act one scene five. Lady Macbeth is very loyal and faithful to her husband and helps to keep him strong. When Lady Macbeth reads the letter that her husband had written her we see Macbeth’s desire to become King because of the witches’ prophesies. He tells her about the other two predictions that have already come true. Lady Macbeth is worried that Macbeth is not cold evil enough to murder the King. Lady Macbeth knows that she is too kind and unable to perform such a brutal and cold-blooded act such as murder, so she calls out to demons to make her stronger, more like a man. “Come you spirits, that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here”. When Macbeth arrives to his castle he greets Lady Macbeth and tells her about Duncan staying the night, but Lady Macbeth has other plans. Lady Macbeth has instantly started to persuade her husband to kill Duncan in his sleep. She says she will take care of everything else; this is to make Macbeth feel more comfortable about the situation. The suspense is very strong due to the reality of the murder of Duncan getting ever closer.
In this scene (act 1 scene six), Duncan is in Macbeth’s home, being cared for by the hostess of the night, Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is acting very pleasant towards Duncan, but the audience knows that she has other things in mind, and luring him into a false sense of security. In act one scene seven, Macbeth is having doubts about killing his loving King. He tells Lady Macbeth “We will proceed no further in this business”. Lady Macbeth still wants to go ahead with the plans and begin her persuasion of her husband. She begins to challenge Macbeth’s manhood and bravery for not carrying on with the plans “When you durst do it, then you were a man”. Lady Macbeth also says that she would rather kill her own child than miss an opportunity as good as this one “I would, while it was smiling in my face, have pluck’d my nipple from his boneless gums, and dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you have done to this”. This seems to change Macbeth’s mind and he carries on as planned.
In act two scene one we are met by Banquo and Fleance. We see that Banquo is nervous and quickly draws his sword when he hears a sound in the courtyard; maybe he is disturbed by the thought of the three witches. Macbeth is the sound that Banquo hears, much to his relief. The two friends begin conversation, which quickly turns to the witches. But Macbeth lies and says, “I think not of them”. After their little awkward conversation Macbeth tells his servant to tell Lady Macbeth to ring the bell when his drink is ready, this is his signal for when Duncan’s guards are asleep. Then the real stress of the situation hits the audience when Macbeth hallucinates and sees a dagger floating before him. This shows Macbeth’s mental anguish. The dagger is pointing towards the chamber of King Duncan, implying his murder. The dagger suddenly becomes covered with blood, as if to show the horror that is about to occur.
This is the scene that the story has been building up to, act two scene two. This is the most exciting scene so far and has a lot of tension in it. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are whispering, which creates suspense and lures the audience into the play. Lady Macbeth has drugged the guards and laid out the daggers ready for Macbeth to use. She says, “Had he not resembled my father as he slept, I had done’t”. This makes the audience see King Duncan in an even more sympathetic light because we now see him as a father figure as well as a king and gentle King and friend. After Macbeth has killed Duncan he and Lady Macbeth are both paranoid and are dreadfully frightened by every sound they hear. Macbeth tells us that when he watched two men saying their prayers that he couldn’t say Amen. This would be showing that God is angry with Macbeth for challenging the world order. All these events leading up to the murder of Duncan create suspense within the play.
