Macbeth then speaks his thoughts. These thoughts were of regicide. This would of created a tension for the audience because it was an absolute sin to even think about the murder of a king because it was thought that the King was a man chosen by God. The witches, again in this scene, would have created a feeling of evil and terror. Once again clever thought can apply to the sophisticated audience because they might think that the witches´ prophecies may all become true but would all have an evil, twisted outcome. It was thought that witches were purely evil and so could not predict anything of happiness.
In act 1, scene 4, Macbeth praises the king aloud but the audience knows that Macbeth has had visions of regicide. Duncan then names Malcolm his son, as the successor to the throne. When Macbeth hears this he says to himself that this is another obstacle to get to the throne, this creates suspense in the audience as they will be uncertain whether the witches prophecies will be have a true outcome.
"…that is a step
on which I must fall down, or else o´er leap".
This scene creates tension between the audience and Macbeth by using irony. We know that Macbeth has evil in mind and that his ideas are now becoming more serious but he is still quite scared of the evil thoughts he is having.
Act 1, scene 5, introduces us to Lady Macbeth, Macbeth´s faithful wife. We gather from the letter that Macbeth sends Lady Macbeth that they keep no secrets from each other. He addresses her as,
"…dearest partner of greatness…"
Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth of all that has occurred. He commences with how the witches´ prophecy of him becoming 'Thane of Cawdor´ became true and how he 'burned in desire´ to question them further. Then he tells her of the prediction that he will become King. The audience gathers from this letter that Macbeth believes that the witches´ predictions will come true.
Lady Macbeth understands her husband well. She and the audience knows that he has great ambitions, but she also knows that he would not like to betray his king after Duncan is so kind to him. She knows that she will have to encourage her husband on to become king, so she calls for evil spirits to help her. This would have created tension because it is to do with supernatural again.
Lady Macbeth then talks about how she will give up her woman qualities, so that she can become sexless and pitiless.
"…unsex me here,
and fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty"
Lady Macbeth uses violent imagery in here monologue. She uses images of blood and darkness such as,
"…make thick my blood,
stop up the access and passage to remorse…"
The violence would again appeal to the non sophisticated crowd.
Stagecraft
The Elizabethan theatre that would of hosted Shakespeare’s plays was relatively small and open aired and was called the playhouse . Before entering the theatre, people paid money at the door into a box held by one of the staff who was called the gatherer. The playhouse had a capacity of 2,000 people. There were a variety of areas to sit each one reflecting a different cost. Lords and members of royalty would have sat in the gentleman and lords rooms where they could show off their fine clothes whilst smoking tobacco. These rooms cost 12 pence per seat. The wealthy people such as merchants and lawyers would have sat in the galleries which cost 2 pence. But they didn’t always get a good view because Elizabethans liked to wear large extravagant hats to reflect there richness. The poorest people in the theatre would of sat in the groundlings which could hold an uncomfortable 1000 people.
The plays were formed on a stage that was around 1.5m high which was in the middle of the yard. There was no curtain so at the end of the play the dead bodies would be carried off stage with the audience watching. The stage was bassed on a heaven and hell theme above the stage there was a ‘hut like building’ which was the symbol for heaven. The building was also used off stage for things like raising and lowering heavy props. There was also an area beneath the stage why symbolized hell. For example in the play Macbeth the witches would of leaped out of a trap door to symbolize there evilness.
When the play was started a trumpet and a flag would have been raised to signal the beginning of the play.
There was no lighting so the theater had to be kept open aired to let the sunlight in this meant that the people in the 1 pence seats could get very wet. To make the most of the sunlight the plays were done at 2pm. To symbolize a night scene the actors would come out with candles.
There was also a gallery at the back of the stage which was for the musicians.
Themes
For themes I will look at the conflict of good and evil in Macbeth.
It is clear from the start of the play that the witches are the main source of evil. The witches have an enormous effect on the play, not only are they evil, but this is emphasized by the strong feelings against witchcraft in Elizabethan times. The Convicted witches were regularly tortured and executed. Almost everyone believed in witches and there was hardly any opposing persecution. King James the 1st was also interested in the superstition, and he interrogated the accused witches himself.
It is clear from the start of the play that the witches play a key role. The first scene is the witches planning to meet Macbeth. The setting of this scene is shows that they are evil; they meet on a moor in thunder and lightning. These surroundings show an evil image; the moor is a very empty place, while thunder and lightning make it even scarier which all adds to the evil image. So even though only the first scene has been shown, we already know there will be lots of evil in the play. The witches use rhyming sentences which contradict each other and each sentence has a lot of meaning.
“Fair is foul, and foul is fair’
This quote tells us about the witches´ hatred for all things good, and their love for things that are evil. Shakespeare adds rhyme and rhythm to the witches´ language to enhance their evilness.
The first meeting between Macbeth and the witches is significant as they make two predictions, “Hail to thee thane of Cawdor” and more importantly, “That shalt be king hereafter.” These predictions astonish Macbeth due to their sudden nature. This enables the witches to be able to lure Macbeth into a false sense of security and make Macbeth do their evil dirty work. The witches do manipulate Macbeth and when he tells Lady Macbeth of the predictions, an evil plan is constructed and the witches plan is going according to plan.
“I’ve done the deed.”
This deed is the worst possible crime, Macbeth has murdered king Duncan in cold blood, evil has triumphed over good. Macbeth, the good brave warrior at the beginning of the play has been driven by his ambition powered by the witches to be king.
“Look like the innocent flower, But be the serpent under´t.”
Lady Macbeth plants the seed of murdering king Duncan in Macbeth’s mind. The language Shakespeare uses here is very significant to the whole good vs. evil theme; the flower is associated with beauty and goodness while the snake is associated with evil.
It is only at the end of the play that Macbeth finally discovers his fate. After being told that Macduff had been, “Untimely ripped from his mothers’ womb,” describes the witches as “Juggling Fiends.” Macbeth is accusing the witches of deliberately juggling their words so that he could not understand them. This is a clever quote as Macbeth has just realised his life is in ruins, but the audience knew this earlier. The witches have changed Macbeth from a brave warrior to an evil, murderous, traitor, underlining the conflict of good and evil.
“By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes.”
This quote is significant as it illustrates the change in Macbeth throughout the play, now even the witches consider Macbeth to be evil. However, when looking at the path of destruction that Macbeth has left behind him it isn’t very surprising. Just one man driven by his ambition to be king has led to a chain reaction of murders
In Summary the whole play is about the battle of good versus evil; at the opening of the play Macbeth is fighting for good, for gracious Duncan against rebels, the witches mostly bring out the evil in Macbeth. 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.
