The witches are very evil and have very strange abnormal powers. Some of the powers they contain are the ability to control the weather ‘I’ll give thee a wind’. They are also very evil, bitter and vengeful creating suffering for their own revenge ‘her husband to Aleppo gone, master o’th tiger’.
Macbeth’s first words ‘so foul and fair’ echo that of the witches in act one scene one ‘fair is foul and foul is fair’ this is no coincidence this is the witches power coming in to play. Banquo highlights the fact that the witches are strange by commenting on the clothes they are wearing ‘so withered and wild in their attire’.
The three witches predict or foretell that Macbeth will be Thane of Glamis, Cawdor and he shall be king, this sends Macbeth in to complete disarray he is completely absorbed and fascinated by it all ‘that he seems rapt withal’ Banqous prediction’s are less of that of Macbeths. The witches tell him his sons will be king but Banquo will not, he thinks nothing of this whereas Macbeth wants to know more ‘tell me more’ Macbeth is susceptible to wanting power that the witches predicted for him.
The witches prophesy have been plaguing Macbeth and his wife lady Macbeth by pressuring and taunting the both of them to kill King Duncan. But Macbeth at this point is still not sure it is the right thing to do but Lady Macbeth is persuading him and taunting him ‘coward’. At the night of King Duncan’s death before it happens everyone seems to be joyful ‘in measureless content’ this contrasts with all the evil that happens this is the dramatic irony in this scene. Banquo starts to ask questions about the witches ‘to you they have shown some truth’ Macbeth then tells a direct lie ‘I think not of them’ but this is all he has been thinking of.
Macbeth is now alone waiting for the sign from his wife to commit the murder of King Duncan. Macbeth has a kind of vision before he actually kills Duncan he sees a dagger levitating; he can’t believe his eyes ‘a dagger of the mind, a fake creation’ Macbeth thinks he is seeing things due to all the pressure he is put under ‘proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain’. The daggers have blood on them pointing towards Duncan’s room representing that of King Duncan’s blood, he sees the daggers as a sign to kill Duncan. Towards the end of the scene there is a pivotal point in the play it is when Macbeth decides he has to do what he has to do and kill Duncan ‘I go and it is done’ Macbeth goes and kills him upon hearing the bell ‘the bell invites me, hear it not Duncan for it is knell’. A knell is a funeral bell and Shakespeare uses it very well here to create tension in the audience of the time.
Macbeth starts to see Banquo as a threat and his son Fleance because what three witches predicted in act one scene three so he decides to have them murdered but Fleance escapes ‘dies Fleance escapes’
Macbeth now decides to hold a banquet a few months after he is made king. The purpose of this is to keep all the people on his side, ‘at first and last the hearty welcome’ this is very clever thinking of Macbeth to keep people on his side with him. He also sees himself as one of the people and mingles with society ‘ourself will mingle with society, and play the humble host’ this is also tactful thinking to keep the people on his side, this would create impact on the audience showing two different sides to Macbeth from the previous scene when he was a bit unstable to playing host at his own party.
The murderer comes to the door but doesn’t want him to impinge on the party, he tells Macbeth that Banquo is dead ‘his throat is cut’ this is very dramatic and gruesome and the audience would be very much drawn in by this. Then Macbeth learns that Fleance escaped and he becomes very unnerved and shaky as we have seen him many times before ‘my fit again’. Macbeth thinks that if fleance was dead then he would be very powerful ‘whole as the marble, founded as the rock’ but Fleance is alive and Macbeth uses restricted words ‘cribbed, confined, bound in’ and once again he becomes very weary.
Macbeth wants reassured that Banquo is dead to bring back a little confidence back to him, the murderer tells him that Banquo is dead ‘ay my good lord’ He uses very graffic words to describe his death ‘ safe in a ditch’ and ‘twenty trenched gashes on his head’ these words are used to create horror in the audience.
Lady Macbeth then reminds Macbeth what this night is for and tries to get him back in the right frame of mind. Now Banquo ghost enters and sits in Macbeth’s seat and this is where dramatic irony takes place because Macbeth wishes that Banquo was there ‘were the graced person of our Banquo present’ and of course Banquo was there as a ghost, this is another dramatic incident created by Shakespeare and would have created a dramatic impact on the audience.
Macbeth now sees Banquos ghost he is emotionally moved ‘moves your highness’ he is shocked and can’t believe his eyes at seeing Banquos ghost. He thinks that one of the lords has played a trick on him ‘which of you have done this’ but of course they haven’t it is Macbeth because he is the only one that is able to see the ghost. Macbeth is showing signs of guilt ‘thou canst say I did it’ and showing that he is becoming weaker. Lady Macbeth starts to make excuses for him ‘my lord is often thus and hath been from his youth’ she does this to prevent everyone from leaving.
Macbeth starts to question himself on how things can come back to life if they are dead, and Lady Macbeth becomes very angry ‘fie for shame’ this is because she is trying to look after Macbeth when she thinks he should pull himself together. Macbeth returns back to his right frame of mind and apologizes for his actions and makes up some excuses ‘I have strange infirmity’.
Banquos ghost re-enters and Macbeth tries to rise above it by making a toast ‘to all and him we thirst’ but again the ghost gets the better of him and he starts to talk to the ghost ‘what man I dare you’ by this time the audience would be very nervy and on the edge of their seats because of all the dramatic tension that is happening in this scene.
Macbeth is now concerned about Macduff ‘macduff denies his person at our great bidding’ Macbeth now feels exposed, trapped, and is going to feel paranoid because of macduff not showing, Macbeth is now showing the signs of weakness and the audience would have picked up on this.
Macbeth is now extremely desperate to know what the future holds for him and he returns to the witches. The setting of act one four scene one is very dark and gloomy ‘pit of Acheron’ this describes the setting extremely well because ‘Acheron’ means hell and this relates to the three witches. The witches are still speaking in order as it is throughout the play and are also using rhyming couplets to shock the audience and keep them in a hypnotic state.
They use words to bring trouble ‘double, double toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble’ this is another example of their rhyming couplets. There language is very unholy and gruesome ‘nose of Turk and tartars lips, finger of strangled babe’ this would have a great effect on the audience bringing horror and disbelief.
Macbeths greeting to the hags is very powerful but yet insulting ‘how now, you secret, black midnight hags’ this is to show he is not afraid of them. He becomes very demanding ‘I conjure u’ but he also flatters them and he knows what kind of power they have.
Thunder is again used for the first apparition to create tension and an impact in the audience. After hearing the first apparition Macbeth learns nothing because he already knew about Macduff and was no surprise to him. Then learning of the second apparition he becomes very confident and thinks he is immortal ‘what need I fear of thee’ then his confidence increases more because the third apparition tells him he will never be beaten unless Birnam wood moves to high Dunsinane hill which he knows can never happen ‘that will never be’ and he thinks he will simply die of old age.
Macbeth is demanding once again ordering the three witches to tell him more, the witches worn him ‘seek to know no more’ but he demands to know and on hearing what the witches tell him which was inevitable his confidence begins to slip. For this the witches begin to mock him ‘that this king may kindly say, our duties did his welcome pay’ this was the worst day of Macbeth’s life and orders Lenox who has stayed loyal to Macbeth to kill every one in Macduffs castle.
Overall the witches affect Macbeth supernaturally by manipulating him with their powers he also has an effect on himself by returning to the witches this makes him very paranoid. The audiences of the time were very superstitious and would have felt all the witches powers and supernatural ability to be true. The affect on a modern audience would have a substantial difference because modern audiences are used to special effect and sound effects to create tension in plays and films.
In order to make a modern audience enjoy ‘Macbeth’ you would have to create an atmosphere that a modern audience can relate to. In act one scene one there is thunder and lightening here I would use visual and sound effects to create dramatic tension and atmosphere, also penetrating close up shots to create dramatic tension.
