Macbeth act 1 scene 1

Macbeth act 1 scene 1

1. plot

   • The witches plan to intercept Macbeth to persuade him to create disorder in Macbeth's life and Scotland as a whole.

2. character tracker

   • The witches represent temptation and evil.
     • they never lie but also never tell the truth- they speak in contradictions
       • their language is full of riddles, violence and spite

3. theme tracker

   • conflict
     • The witches set up conflict; this is reflected in their use of language. they speak in paradoxical statements
   • the supernatural
     • to show how Macbeth aligns himself to evil, the supernatural elements occur from the outset of the play

4. context

   • the supernatural
     • despite widespread belief in a supernatural world, some more educated people in Shakespeare's time were questioning its existence. The witches' paradoxical language perhaps reflects this newly emerging scepticism
   • stagecraft
     • Many people in Shakespeare's audience would have been fearful of witches, so would have seen their presence so early in the play as a hint of forthcoming tragedy.

5. key quotess

   • When the battle is lost and won
     • suggests that with each victory there is also a failure. This is true for Macbeth as with each win he secures he also suffers a loss. The witches' statements appear paradoxical; at first they seem to contradict themselves, but they are true.
   • fair is foul and foul is fair
     • what is good for some is bad for others, it is all a matter of perception. what is 'fair' to man is seen as 'foul' to the witches and vice versa. The witches do not see themselves as 'bad'