In act one, scene three Banquo and Macbeth meet the witches. They are returning from battle and so haven't heard of Macbeth's good fortune. The witches hail Macbeth with three prophecies. They call him thane of Glamis, which he already knows he is, then thane of Cawdor and King thereafter. They also tell Banquo that his children will be kings. Whilst Macbeth and Banquo are still in shock, Ross and Angus arrive to break the news to Macbeth. Macbeth is stunned and says, “Two truths are told as happy prologues to the swelling act of the imperial theme” He is wondering if the witches other prophesy can come true. But, of course the title 'thane of Cawdor' first belonged to a traitor.
We first meet Lady Macbeth in act one, scene five. She enters reading a letter that Macbeth has sent to her, telling her about the witches and their prophecies. In reading the letter we get an idea of the trust in their marriage. They tell each other everything. Lady Macbeth then starts to talk to herself about her husband. She worries about him, she says “Yet do I fear thy nature; It is to full o’ the milk of human kindness” meaning she doesn’t think that he is ruthless enough to get what she thinks he deserves. She decides to be too strong for Macbeth. She wants to be something she isn’t and she rejects good and heaven. She also wants to get rid of her femininity, “Come you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts! Unsex me here.” She wants to be made insensitive so her conscience won’t interfere with her plans.
When Macbeth enters she praises him with “Great Glamis! Worthy Cawdor! “Greater than both, by the all hail hereafter” Macbeth refuses to be swayed and sticks to his point, he tells his wife that Duncan is coming to stay tonight. Lady Macbeth then asks when Duncan intends to leave. When Macbeth says tomorrow, Lady Macbeth replies “O never shall sun that morrow see!” She then says that Macbeth is too open, that his face is like a book. She tells him he needs to be more seductive if he wants to be King. Macbeth senses he is losing control of the situation, if, indeed, he ever did have control, and says, “We will speak further.” He isn’t completely dismissing the idea but when he wants to talk
about it he wants it to be on his terms. Lady Macbeth, however, just ignores him and says, “We will kill him.”
This shows that Lady Macbeth is the driving force in the relationship. She uses imperatives such as “To beguile the time, look like the time,” to order Macbeth about.
In act one, scene seven, we see Macbeth preparing for murder. Here we see some of the weakness that Lady Macbeth commented on in act one, scene five. He is indecisive, he knows that what he is going to do is wrong but his wife has persuaded him that it’s his only option. He says, “I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o’er leaps itself and falls on the other.” He means ambition is his only motive for committing such a crime, and that is like something that jumps too high to get over something only to fall over on the other side.
Lady Macbeth then enters and asks what he is doing out here and why he isn’t tending to his guests. He wonders if Duncan has asked for him and she replies of course, don’t you know. Macbeth then tries to act strong and tough, like the warrior he is. He says, “We will proceed no further in this business.” Lady Macbeth then taunts him with things like “Art thou afeard to be the same in thine own act and valour as thou desire?” and “When you durst do it, then you were a man.” She also blames Macbeth for giving her the idea. Lady Macbeth has the upper hand in the relationship at the moment because she knows how to crush Macbeth’s act of trying to be strong and stand up for himself. She knows that by insulting his manhood she will get him to do what she wants and then she reassures him and gives him a plan so he knows that everything will be all right. The scene then ends with Macbeth seeming happy to do the deed.
