How did Shakespeare capture the audience’s interest in the first three scenes of Macbeth. Is his opening still successful with the audience 400 years later?

Hayley Woodall

English Coursework

Shakespeare: Macbeth

How did Shakespeare capture the audience’s interest in the first three sense of Macbeth. Is his opening still successful with the audience 400 years later?

In the first three scenes of Macbeth we are introduced to most of the main characters such as; The Three Witches, Duncan, Malcolm, Ross and Macbeth. You are not introduced to other main characters such as Lady Macbeth and Macduff until later on in the play. During the play of Macbeth the story of Macbeth the Scottish Lord is told, in the first three scenes it starts with the three witches meeting in a wild and stormy place and they are talking about their plans for the future: meeting with Macbeth at the end of a battle. Then on in scene two King Duncan is told about the brave Macbeth killing a rebellious Macdonwald, the title Thane of Cawdor is also given to Macbeth this is due to the old Thane of Cawdor being of aid to the Norwegians who were involved in the fighting. In scene three Macbeth and Banquo meet the witches, the witches then tell Macbeth of his upcoming titles of Thane of Cawdor, then later on to be King, Macbeth at this moment in time did not know about being Thane of Cawdor. The witches disappeared and Macbeth was told he was Thane of Cawdor; this news then fills Macbeth with fear.

Shakespeare produced this play with the opening being of thunder and lightning, the thunder and lightning alone gives off a dramatic impact and grabs the audience’s attention, it also represents evil with dramatic sound effects with an eerie sense to the play. It creates a supernatural atmosphere, which Shakespeare would have wanted. It introduces the play as a dark and dangerous play and the theme of evil is central. The appearance of the witches would have not been expected the audience would have expected to see Macbeth first but instead they saw three horrible, ugly women, with the Shakespearean audience they would have believed in witches so it made more life like to them than it would do to today’s people. In there day there would have been no music or sound effects or lighting as there was no way to produce it. The words used also would have built up the audience’s expectations with the build up to Macbeth’s entrance in Act 1 scene 2.

Quote ; "Show’d like a rebel’s whore : but all’s too weak ;

For brave Macbeth-well he deserves that

Name-"

Hayley Woodall

English Coursework

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Quote ; "Show’d like a rebel’s whore : but all’s too weak ;

For brave Macbeth-well he deserves that

Name-"

Hayley Woodall

English Coursework

The appearence of the King would have been powerful as to an Elizabethan audience a king mean’t power he woukld have been dressed in armour and crowned. The audience would react badly to the way that the captain explains the battle when Macbeth fights so fiercely, because it would not be something that the audience would be used to. The audience also would react badly to the way that the captain looked with his bloody appearance and the way he explains the battle as Shakespeare explained this in detail to give the audience an insight to the horror of the fighting and what Macbeth was involved in. Act 1 Scene 2 lines 16-24.

Quote : "Which smok’d with bloody execution,

Like valour’s minion carv’d out his passage

Till he fac’d the slave ;"

A modern audience would have a much larger interest in the scences containing voilence because in the world today there is lot of voilence and some people like this for entertainment, so while this play would shock and possibly scare the shakespearean audience it would be normal and exciting to a mordern audience.

In act 1 scene 3 the witches are casting a spell on a sailors ship as the sailor’s wife had upset them, this would be scary for the audience as the witches would be chanting their spells and shouting out loud causing a fright for the audience.

Quote : "Her husband’s to Aleppo gone, master o’ the Tiger :

But in a sieve I’ll thither sail,

And, like a rat without a tail,

I’ll do, I’ll do, and I’ll do."

Macbeth at the moment would be covered in blood due to the battle and his involvement in the fighting. He would have appeared in amour and blood stained yet they did not explain the way he looked in depth. Banquo in scene 3 mentioned how the witches looked ;

Quote ; "What are these,

So wither’d and so wild in thier attire,

That look not like th’ inhabitants o’ the earth,"

Hayley Woodall

English Coursework

This shows what the audience would be seeing from another actor’s point of view. Macbeth would show his reaction to what the witches had told him about becoming Thane of Cawdor and then later to be the King by his body language, then to hear Ross telling him that he is to be Thane of Cawdor like the witches had told him he would be in shock and surprised that the witches were correct.

This play compared to a modern production that I have seen would have been very different as there would have been no scenery or setting so the audience would have had to imagine where the actors were and then they may not have understood the play properly as you have to understand that the witches are in a strange, dark dangerous place to understand that the play contains evilness. In the Shakespearian time the witches would not have had great costumes that we would have in today’s modern time, but they would have been more life like to the audience then because they were believed in then. In a modern performance they would be dressed in black and would be more for the imagination, as people of today do not believe in them. The play would also have a lot more sound effects and music so it would be easier to set the scene for the audience, as music nowadays is very important in the theatre. The play would also be update to modern day language so that it would be easier to understand and probably update it to a similar play just under different circumstances. I think that it would be more popular with today’s audience if it was changed slightly so that people would go to see it if they knew that they would be able to understand the language and the moral of the story.

The appearance of the King in the Shakespearean time would have looked very powerful. In the modern day play a King does not have such power s the costume for the King in modern day would not be armour like in Shakespeare’s play he would still have to show some power but in a different way.

In a modern day production Macbeth would not enter the way he did in the old play he would enter on such thing as a motor bike to show that he is a brave and strong person and capable of doing anything. It would appeal to the modern audience because people like motorbikes and would recognise that Macbeth is an important person. The witches to a modern audience would not seem frightening as stories about witches have brought the fright of them down, so they would not affect people the same way that they would in the Shakespeare’s plays. The reason of

Hayley Woodall

English Coursework

This is because now in the year 2002 people don’t believe in witches or fortune telling so it would not have much of an affect on them.

I think that Macbeth does not appeal to a modern days audience tin the same way that it did in Shakespeare’s time. The reason of my thoughts on this is because people of today including myself are not interested in this kind of play any more and people don’t want to go and see them. I have seen a few videos and to back up my thoughts is the fact that not many people enjoyed the show. I think that there are to many new style plays and movies out and there is to little time for people to watch it anymore.