We are told that Macdonald is weak, unreliable and his attempts and efforts were inadequate. The quotes, “Showed like a rebel’s whore, but all’s too weak..” backs up this point. The Captain praises Macbeth as he is ‘brave’ because he ‘deserves that name’. The audience is told that Macbeth split Macdonald from ‘the nave to th’ chaps. (Naval to his Jaw). He then fixed his head upon their battlements, as if to use it as a trophy. Throughout the Captain’s speech, he keeps referring to Macbeth as being brave, like ‘Valour’s Minion’. The way in which the ‘Brandished steel’, ‘smoked’ tells the audience that Macbeth has skill, and is competent with a sword, able to kill quickly, ‘with bloody execution’. Bloody execution shows his loyalty, and that he will attack / kill coldly, without emotions getting in his way. Hyperbole is used to give the scene a more dramatic effect. The way in which Macbeth is so highly regarded makes the betrayal later in the story all the more sinister.
King Duncan is impressed with this, as he refers to Macbeth as a “Valiant cousin, a worthy gentleman.” The Captain then continues his story, to what happened once after Macdonald’s death. Norway attacked, no sooner than he was killed, taking Scotland off guard. Duncan asks what their captains, Macbeth and Banquo did. The Captain, once again, praises their efforts. He uses a simile to compare them to top predators; “ as sparrows, eagles, or the hare, the lion.” Each animal has connotations of attributes needed to be a top predator; The lion is fierce, the hare is quick. They were relentless, as shown through the use of hyperbole in the phrase, “Doubly redoubled.” as they laid “Strokes upon the foe.” Shakespeare has compared Macbeth to these different animals, as it shows that he is a fine soldier. Towards the murder of King Duncan, these traits are diluted and are used for the opposite reasons to what he is being praised for; Killing Duncan, instead of protecting him.
All the qualities described by the Captain are all of being brave, relentless, quick and cold; Essential skills that make a good soldier. The whole of the second scene contrasts with scene 1, which confuses the audience. Later in the play, this loyalty he has been praised for leaves him, causing him to become corrupt, much like the witches.
In Act 1, scene 3, we learn more about the evil nature of the witches. The scene brings together the two ideas of the past scenes; The first being the supernatural ideas portrayed in scene one, then the realistic, human ideas in the second scene. This third scene starts with the witches meeting on the heath, the agreed meeting site from the first scene. The second witch, however, is late. When questioned about where she has been, she tells them that she has been killing swine. This gives off negative imagery and connotations of death. The third witch then asks the first where she has been. She explains that she has been to see a sailor’s wife, who had some chestnuts on her lap. She said “Give me”, which shows she doesn’t care about other people, and has no manners. The woman refuses, telling her to “Aroint, witch”. Apart from in the stage directions, this is the only time in the play that the word witch is spoken, which could mean that the witches don’t actually see themselves as supernatural beings, and take offence in being associated with the word. We then learn that her husband – the sailor – is travelling on his ship, ‘The Tiger’, on his way to Aleppo. In the next two lines, rhyming couplets are used, to show that the witch metamorphosis, and arose as the wind. The rhyming couplets are used to make it seem like the witch was enchanting and casting a spell. Imagery is used – “Like a rat, without a tail” – to help reinforce the severity of her actions, as well as the repetition of ‘I’ll do’.
The witches come together to form as one force, and for the next twelve lines, there are many rhyming couplets, reinforcing the idea that they are chanting spells. She tells the other witches that she can damage the boat, but “His bark cannot be lost”, which tells us that she cannot destroy it entirely, which she wants to do. However, she says that over time, it will waste away, and rot. The way in which the first witch tells the story to the other witches shows that she enjoys talking about what she is going to do in great detail. This curse also shows what will happen to Macbeth’s character as the play progresses; Slowly, the character of Macbeth changes from being a figure of respect at the beginning of the play, to a much eviler persona.
When Macbeth enters the scene with Banquo, he says “So foul and fair a day I have not seen”. This is a direct reference to the witches, as it was their first spoken line in the first scene. This foreshadows future events, hinting that Macbeth will have encounters with the witch. Moments later, he encounter them.
Upon seeing them, Macbeth describes them as “Withered” and “Wild” which shows that they looked savage, and like they were wasting away. Banquo is the first to try and communicate with the witches, who choose not to reply to him; “You seem to understand me, by each at once her choppy finger laying upon her skinny lips.” The witches remain quiet until Macbeth speaks. Each witch replies to Macbeths question – What are you? – In a different way, using language of equivocation to confuse the character; The first witch states his current status, the second says he will be the Thane of Cawdor, and the third says he will become king soon after. Macbeth is taken aback by this, and contemplates each of the witches prophecies. Banquo, noticing Macbeth’s instant interest to the prophecies, says “Of noble having and of royal hope, that he seems rapt withal.” He tries to offer advice to Macbeth, stating that the witches are “Instruments of Darkness”, implying that the witches will betray him if he trusts what they’ve said. This shows the audience the contrast in opinions about the witches; Where Banquo doesn’t trust them, - acting as the Voice of Reason - and thinks they are evil, Macbeth isn’t as sure. One of the reasons for this may be because of the spell in Act 1, Scene 1, which is cast upon Macbeth; The witches may have predicted what was going to happen, and now control his life, mind, and the decisions he makes. This triggers one of the main questions of the play; Do the witches predict the future, or do they change it? Do they suggest possible outcomes to the future, which Macbeth then decides to act on? His leadership qualities are shown in the way he demands to know what the creatures are, instead of being afraid. This is shown by the use of multiple imperative verbs, such as “Speak”.
As the Scene progresses, we can see that Macbeth’s thought process develops, as his aspirations become more obvious. He plans to kill King Duncan, to claim the title of King, which the third witch predicted. This ambition, in the end, leads to his death. Whereas at the beginning of the play he would think on own accord, he no longer does, accepting the prophecies and doing whatever is necessary to fulfil them; Macbeths initial impetus of standing on his own two feet gradually fades, driving him to murder Duncan for the title of King of Scotland.
Confusion arises at the fact that the current Thane of Cawdor lives. This is shown through the use of rhetorical questions by Macbeth.
The witches leave Banquo and Macbeth alone. As soon as the witches had left, the king’s messengers, Ross and Angus, enter. They praise him on his courage and tell him how valiant he is; “Came post to post, and everyone did bear thy praises in his kingdom’s great defence, and poured them down before him.”, “His wonders and his praises do contend.” The messengers then move on to deliver the news that Macbeth has been made Thane of Cawdor, by the wish of the king, as a pledge of his honour; This fulfils the first prophesy. This has elements of dramatic irony included, as the king is adding to the universal praise of Macbeth, even though the Thane of Glamis is plotting to kill him, to take his title as king. As a result of this uncontrollable greed and malevolence, Macbeth is killed, which makes contributes to this play being classed as a tragedy.
The news surprises Macbeth, shown through the metaphor, “The Thane of Cawdor lives. Why do you dress me in these borrowed robes?” Angus goes onto tell him that the Thane is still alive, but will be dead soon. Macbeth then enters an [Aside]. This stage direction is used to show the effects of the witches prophecies on Macbeth’s mindset and how he is going to reap the rewards; “Glamis, and Thane of Cawdor: The greatest is behind. – Thanks for your pains.” He then asks Banquo, “Do you not hope your children shall be kings, when those that gave the Thane of Cawdor to me promised no less for them?” His reply is “That trusted home, might yet enkindle you unto the crown.” This quotation shows that Banquo fears that if he did, it would awaken an ambition in Macbeth that is already latent in him; He doesn’t fall for the flaw like Macbeth does and instead of going with it, he tries to fight against it, as he knows the consequences. He then goes on to warn Macbeth that sometimes, mortal men can easily be tempted by sin; “To win us to our harm, The Instruments of Darkness tell us the truths.”
Macbeth, after hearing this, begins to question if he is doing the right thing. Here, he enters another [Aside] which leads into a soliloquy. He states that he is both the Thane of Glamis, and Cawdor, and relates to the ideology of him soon becoming king. In the second half of this paragraph, however, he beings to doubt himself, and his plan; “Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair And make my seated heart knock against my ribs, against the use of nature?”. This quote shows us that the idea of murdering the king unsettles him, as it’s the Ultimate Sin. “Shakes so my single state of man that function is smothered in surmise, and nothing is but what is not” looks at Macbeth’s crave for power, and his greed. The feeling is consuming him, which leads to one of the plays themes; Appearance / Imagination VS Reality. Paradoxical language and equivocation creep into the soliloquies lines, as well as sibilance in regards to supernatural intention; “This Supernatural Soliciting”, “Cannot be ill, Cannot be good, If ill, why has it granted me this success?”
The scene ends with Macbeth telling Banquo to think about what has been said, and that they will talk about the events in more detail when they cannot be overheard; “The interim having weighed it, let us speak our free hearts too each other.” As this is said privately, it shows that Macbeth wants to say something to Banquo which he doesn’t want to be overheard. This idea of Macbeth creeping shows the audience how he is slowly becoming more secretive and mysterious as the play progresses.
Act 1, Scene 4 presents a picture of royal order and justice. Malcolm appears once again, and this time explains to King Duncan what happened with Macdonald. He tells the King that the Thane of Cawdor died asking for forgiveness; “That very frankly he confessed his treasons, imploring your highness’ pardon.” Duncan says that, “He was a fine gentleman on whom [he] built an absolute trust.” In the next line, Macbeth enters. This is another example of dramatic irony. As Duncan speaks of “Absolute trust”, the man who is thinking about murdering him enters. Duncan says that he hasn’t been grateful enough to Macbeth, “The Sin of my Ingratitude”, and continues bathing him in more universal praise, linking to the theme of Appearance vs reality. Like Duncan says, “There’s no art to find the mind’s construction in the face.” – You can’t tell what people are like solely on their looks and honours. To show his gratitude, the king tells Macbeth that he will get what he deserves; wealth. However, he also claims that no matter what happens, everything he gives will never be enough for, “The services and the loyalty [he] owes”.
Further into Act 1, Scene 4, Macbeth enters another [Aside], where he talks to the audience about Malcolm, the prince of Cumberland, who is to be Duncan’s heir. Macbeth invokes darkness to hide his latentions, “Stars hide your fires, let not light see my black and deep desires.” The juxtaposition in imagery of starlight and darkness highlights the oppression between Macbeth and the king, and between good and evil.
Act 1, Scene 5 begins in a different way to the others, opening in a letter. Throughout it, we learn that it has been written for his Wife, Lady Macbeth, who is not with him. The letter describes his feelings and attitudes about the predictions, and how he thinks that they will come true. He talks of the witches, and how he thinks they are able to make predictions, and manipulate future events; “I have learned by the perfectest report they have more in them then mortal knowledge.” From this letter, we can see that Macbeth trusts Lady Macbeth, but the quotation, “my dearest partner of greatness,” shows the audience that although their relationship is strong, Lady Macbeth is more powerful then he is. The way in which Macbeth ‘reports’ to her reinforces this idea. Further into the scene, Lady Macbeth enters a soliloquy, where she shows her ruthlessness, and wickedness. She says that Macbeth is too nice, and to get what he wants, he needs to show the ruthless ambition and be evil, like she is; “Thou wouldst be great, art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it.” She then uses language of equivocation, and paradoxes to confuse the reader; “What thou wouldst highly, that wouldst thou holily; wouldst not play false, and yet wouldst wrongly win.” This means that she feels that to get what he wants, Macbeth should get it fairly; He shouldn’t cheat, but he should be happy to win unfairly. She fully understands her husband’s nature, as she analyses it, and describes elements of their personalities. “And that which rather thou dost fear to do, than wishest should be undone.”
We learn the extent of Lady Macbeth’s ruthless ambition where she calls upon the evil spirits to defeminise, dehumanise her and possess her. The use of imperative verbs, such as ‘unsex’ and ‘fill me’ shows how she orders evil to consume her, without giving it a second thought, probably because she feels that if she has human qualities, such as pity and morals, she will not be able to furfil the murder. She begs for the spirits of evil to, “Come to [her] woman’s breasts, and take [her] milk for gall,” which shows how she wants to be defeminised, placing something beautiful and good, with something sour and evil. This suggests that Lady Macbeth may have been pregnant. As the soliloquy comes to an end, she asks Darkness to shield her actions from prying eyes, and her own, so she cannot see the damage and the murder which she had committed. “ Come thick night, and pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell. That my keen knife see not the wound it makes.” These repeated links to death and hell also links to the witches, and the supernatural.
In Act 1, Scene 7, Macbeth and his wife discuss the murder of Duncan. This is one of the more important scenes of the play, as it shows us the inner thoughts of both Macbeth, and Lady Macbeth. The scene shows the audience that Macbeth does have a conscience, and still doesn’t feel like the murder of the king is morally right. In the latter half of the scene, we also see how manipulative Lady Macbeth is, and how her ruthless ambition has corrupted her.
The scene opens with a soliloquy by Macbeth, highlighting his fears and doubts about the murder. Even in the first line, we can see that Macbeth is unsure if he wants to proceed; “If it were done when ‘tis done, then ‘twere well it were done quickly.” This line is saying that if everything could finish as soon as Duncan was dead, it would be easier to commit murder. Throughout this soliloquy, Macbeth also uses procrastinations and euphemisms to hide his own true feelings from himself; He never actually says the word ‘murder’ throughout the scene, but instead refers to it as ‘The Deed’ or ‘The Taking Off’.
Macbeth uses imagery to portray his feelings. He says that he is ‘upon this bank and shoal of time’, making the reader imaging him on a sand bank, surrounded by a sea of eternity, representing Heaven. Shakespeare also uses a metaphor; “We still have judgement here that we but teach. Bloody instructions. Which being taught, returning to plague th’ inventor.” This metaphor basically says that we must suffer the consequences of our actions, as the murder is immoral, which is ironic, as both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth die. Macbeth knows that if he kills Duncan, than he will suffer the consequences, either in this life, or the next. The theme of trust is evident throughout the lines, as he is torn between his duties, and to violate these would be to violate the moral code; He is trusted by both his wife, and the king, which he should be protecting, not murdering.
The repetition of the phrase, “I see”, shows the audience how Macbeth is becoming delusional. This is reinforced by the fact that Macbeth starts to doubt his own senses, as he thinks that his eyes are deceiving him, making his other senses weak. There is use of repetition, and graphic imagery, such as “Bloody business”, which is important, as it shows he is more willing to use darker imagery, which reflects his current state of mind. This imagery, coupled with the use of enjambment throughout some lines , and monosyllabic words within lines also helps enhance the soliloquy’s poetic rhetoric, which makes the speed the lines are read at increase, building tension.
Macbeth’s morality is lost throughout the lines, and he becomes rationalized. Throughout the scene, he starts to talk about the supernatural, relating to Hecate, the goddess of witchcraft. We can also see that Macbeth becomes paranoid. The quotation of, “ Thy very stones prate of my whereabouts”, shows that he thinks that the stones will betray him, and talk about his intentions, denying him the killing of Duncan. He feels this way, because if he kills the king, Fate will come back to haunt him in the afterlife. Macbeth blames the dagger, and it’s purposes for him wanting to kill the king. He takes responsibility away from himself, saying that he has had no choice in the matter; “The bell invites me.”
In conclusion, I feel that Macbeth goes through lots of different character changes throughout the play, which start of quite simple, but becomes much more complex as the story unfolds. At the start, he is highly regarded, and is known for the brave and loyal feats that he had provided for the king. However, after the meeting with the witch, we immediately notice that the character is not what he seems, as the viewers thoughts about him clash. This is confirmed with the introduction of Lady Macbeth. She is used as a writing tool, which Shakespeare uses to unlock more information about Macbeth, all of which contradict with our initial thoughts and feelings about the character. Coming to the end of Act 1, Scene 2, the audience finally sees what has become of Macbeth; He has turned paranoid, and doesn’t trust anyone, even his senses.
This play is a good example of how power, greed, and ruthless ambition can corrupt anyone, even the people most trusted and loyal to you.