What do you learn of the characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in Act 1?

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Macbeth

                                                                

        

GCSE English – Pre 1914 Drama Text Assignment

‘Macbeth’ by William Shakespeare

What do you learn of the characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in Act 1?

The story of Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare is based on episodes in the life of Macbeth. The play is a tragedy, a penetrating, concentrated, and harrowing study of ambition that backfires drastically on Macbeth and his wife Lady Macbeth, who plot to kill the king. They both have an overriding ambition for Macbeth to become king but their actions backfire in such a way that Macbeth looses his respect honour and sadly his life. It is a story of morals and deals with the difference between what’s right and wrong.

The story of Macbeth is a tragedy told in five acts. William Shakespeare wrote it in 1766. It was written for James Ι to flatter him and is often called a story ‘fit for a king’. Macbeth is based on a true story, and the characters Banquo and Fleance were James Ι ancestors. However, in the true story Banquo sided with Macbeth against Duncan, but obviously Shakespeare wasn’t going to be tactless with James Ι and changed the story. James  Ι wrote a book about witchcraft, ghosts and apparitions, so when Shakespeare wrote his adaptation he decided to include these things in an effort to make the king enjoy it more.

When the play first opens three witches deliver a prologue of evil and are planning to meet Macbeth straight after the battle. The prologue is in rhyme which shows the witches are chanting, ‘fair is foul, and foul is fair hover through fog and filthy air. The witches leave the scene as their ‘familiar spirits’ call them away in a mist of fog. The ending of this scene sets the moods for the rest of the play. The witches leave behind a bad atmosphere as it is thundering and lightening.

Scene one is very short but it arouses the audience’s interest. Three witches are delivering a prologue of evil on the moor and announce that they want to meet with Macbeth, ‘there to meet with Macbeth’. This scene leaves the audience with anticipation of what is going to happen next.  Our impression of Macbeth from the first scene is one of evil; we immediately assume this due to his association with the witches.

In scene two the action starts to unfold. The setting has changed dramatically, from the witches’ shadowy world to the physical world where there is battle and action. However we still do not meet Macbeth but hear about his involvement in the war between Scotland and Norway from Sergeant and Ross who talk about him with relation to the battle. They describe the battle as horrible and bloody, but portray Banquo and Macbeth as heroes and emphasize Macbeth’s part in the battle as very heroic, ‘for brave Macbeth, well he deserves that name’. Macbeth was at first portrayed as bad and is now been portrayed as good, so now the audience is confused. Duncan uses ‘irony’ by saying that the Thane Of Cawdor shall no longer deceive him, but he is oblivious to the fact Macbeth will be a traitor too, and that in becoming the Thane Of Cawdor makes Macbeth’s ambition to be king grow.

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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 ...

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