The witches start to invoke in scene three which encourages the power of evil, but also reveals that their powers aren’t as strong as the audience first thought. They have the power to change shapes, but the shape they turn into isn’t complete so they powers aren’t strong enough, ‘ But in a sieve I’ll tither sail, and like a rat without a tail’. Macbeth is first portrayed as a hero as he is talked about as being a brave person in the battle, then the witches relations with him immediately associate him with evil again. The witches say a spell and declare to Macbeth that he will be king. When asked where she has been the second witch said she had been killing a swine, ‘Where hast thou been sister?’ ‘Killing Swine’ this is an example of the witches malice.
For the first time in the play we meet Macbeth. His first words are ‘so foul and fair a day I have not seen’. These words echo those the witches used in the opening scene. This makes the audience think that Macbeth and the witches have the same way of thinking. The witches tell Macbeth he shall be king ‘All hail Macbeth! That shalt be king hereafter.’ Macbeth would like to hear more from the witches ‘strange intelligence’ the witches’ touch a nerve already present in Macbeth, ‘Stay you imperfect speakers, tell me more’.
Banquo warns Macbeth concerns ‘instruments of darkness’ Macbeth ignores these warnings and as a result is betrayed by the so-called ‘truths’. Banquo describes the witches as evil, and is the only one at this point in the play who thinks the witches are evil. “ What! Can the devil speak true? Macbeth however cannot see the witches are evil. Ross enters and tell Macbeth that he is to be Thane Of Cawdor, ‘And for and carnest of a great honour, he bade me, from him, call the Thane Of Cawdor. In which addition, hail most worthy Thane! For its thine.’
Macbeth’s first soliloquy beginning ‘Two truths are told’ is straight away planning his next accession. No sooner has he been made Thane Of Cawdor his ambition gets the better of him and he is planning to become king. However the obstacle in his way is Duncan, the present king. So to fulfill his ambition to be king Macbeth starts to plot to kill Duncan. At this point the plan doesn’t seem like reality to the audience but just a morbid fascination in Macbeth’s mind.
In scene four we hear of the previous Thane Of Cawdors death. Duncan’s comment “There’s no art to find the minds construction in the face”, “He was a gentlemen on who I built on absolute trust”. Duncan is implying that he shall share the same relationship with Macbeth who is now the Thane Of Cawdor should also hold the same relationship with the king. To the audience this scene is ironic, as they know Duncan is placing trust with Macbeth, and that Macbeth is planning to kill him to fulfill his ambition to be king. However Duncan makes the announcement that his oldest son Malcolm will be heir to the throne. He also says that he is going to visit Macbeth at his castle in Inverness.
Even though Macbeth is planning to murder Duncan he speaks loyally towards him, he says it no more his duty to do everything to ensure the safety of his love and honour, ‘Your highness part is to receive our duties’. However aside he says ‘The eye wink at the hand’, what he means is let the eye not see what the hand is doing.
Macbeth admits that he is having ‘black and deep desires’-but is afraid to speak out about them openly and to even admit them to himself. He leaves to go back to his castle in preparation for the kings visit. Macbeth’s desires are those of wanting to be king, but he knows or that to happen he must murder Duncan.
For the first time we meet Lady Macbeth in scene five. She is reading a letter from her husband Macbeth. The letter informs her of his victory in the battle and most importantly his encounter with the witches. The letters show the audience that Macbeth’s and his wife share no secrets, he refers to her ‘dearest partner of greatest’
Lady Macbeth knows that her husband has great ambitions, but also knows that he doesn’t have the courage to fulfill them and is to honorable to ‘catch the nearest way’ She knows that she will have to convince him and is determined to persuade him to murder Duncan. Lady Macbeth knows this won’t be an easy thing to achieve on her own, so she calls on the help of the spirits. She says she will give up all the tender, gentle qualities of a woman, so that she can become a sexless pitiless fiend. She takes full control of the situation and Macbeth seems happy to let her. “That tend on mortal thoughts! Unsex me here”. This is the first time we hear of Lady Macbeth and she comes across as a cold and callus woman, who will do any thing to get to the top.
Scene six is relatively short, Duncan arrives at Macbeth’s castle with his sons, Malcolm and Donalbain. Duncan stops to admire the air “This castle hath a pleasant seat” to which Banquo agrees. This scene is again ironic, the air and the castle appear delightful, but to the audience in reality it is to be the setting of a foul murder.
Lady Macbeth meets Duncan and they exchange pleasant greetings with each other. Her attitude is showing her to be two-faced, one minute she is making plans for her husband to kill him the next she is being nice and welcoming him to her home. Duncan refers to her as “fair and noble hostess” but the audience can see through her niceness and know her as a cruel and ruthless woman who is planning to murder Duncan. Lady Macbeth is able to hide her thoughts and feelings better than those of her husband, Macbeth.
However, Macbeth doesn’t greet Duncan. This may suggest that he is nervous or already starting to feel guilty about the impending murder. In scene seven, Macbeth is alone for a period of time, and has the opportunity to think about the murder. This is where Macbeth’s second soliloquy takes place. In the soliloquy, Macbeth considers how what was just a fantasy is now becoming reality and a moral problem to him. He starts to worry, as he knows crime carries a punishment and a judgment in the next life. He considers the duties he owes Duncan and decides that he is not going to murder him, as he is a kinsman and his subject, as his position as Thane of Cawdor he should be protecting the king not trying to murder him and also he can find no other reason apart from his own to murder the king.
Macbeth tells his wife that he has changed his mind, “We shall proceed no further in this business”. However he is not prepared for her rage and abuse, she calls him a coward and insults him. She declares that she would have murdered her child while it was feeding at her breast rather than break such a promise like Macbeth has done. Macbeth finally gives in to his wife’s temper, and is persuaded by her encouragement, and agrees to the murder. “Who dares receive it other, as we shall make our grief’s and clamour roar upon his death”.
Throughout the play Macbeth shows significant character changes. However Lady Macbeth does not, from the moment she enters the play in Act 1 Scene5, Lady Macbeth is and evil women throughout, straight away the audiences impressions of her are clear. After she has read Macbeth’s letter, which explains Macbeth’s encounter with the witches, she immediately decides that Macbeth will murder Duncan so he can become king.
Lady Macbeth shows her true evilness in Scene 5 ‘come you spirits, that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here and fill me in, from the crown to the toe, top-full of direst cruelty!’ Lady Macbeth is asking for all her feminine emotions to be removed so that she will have the strength to carry out the evil deed she will help commit.
In Act 1 Scene 7 Lady Macbeth’s evil streak shows through dramatically, when she says ‘what beast was it then that made you enterprise me? When you durst do it, then you were a man, and, to be more than what you were, you would be so much more the man.’ Lady Macbeth is convincing Macbeth that if he does not kill Duncan then he must not love her, and he is not a real man.
Lady Macbeth’s character doesn’t change too much throughout Act 1. However towards the end she becomes more determined to get her own way and even resorts to blackmail. She is a very nasty and evil woman.
Macbeth however as the title character is the most insecure person in the play, ‘He is so valiant and in his commendations I am fed, it is a banquet to me’. As shown in Act 1 Scene 4, Macbeth is a highly respected person within the play even Duncan respects him. Macbeth is also labelled as a brave man, in Act 1 Scene 2 ‘for brave Macbeth’ but underneath the surface Macbeth is a truly distraught person. In Act 1 Scene3 Macbeth speaks to the witches and chooses to believe what they say, ‘Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!’ After his wife finds out she starts to plan Duncan’s murder, he just let’s he take control and doesn’t try to intervene. This shows that he is easily influenced and is willing to stand back and let other people to take control.
In Act 1 Scene 7, Macbeth decides that he does not want to commit the murder because Duncan is his king and also his cousin ‘We will proceed no further in this business.’ It is then that Lady Macbeth begins to undermine his masculinity because he changes his mind about the murder. Obviously Macbeth is insecure about his masculinity because he changes his mind again and says he will go ahead with the murder.
Macbeth is highly insecure about many things, so every evil thing he does. Is believed that he does it out of fear. Such as killing Duncan, he would not have done this if Lady Macbeth hadn’t challenged his love for her. I think that if Macbeth was a stronger person, possibly less insecure maybe he would never have murdered the king.