Macbeth Act 1 Scenes 1 to 7 Summary

Act 1 - Scene 1

• The Three Witches meet during a rainstorm.

• In eerie, chanting tones, they make plans to meet again after the battle to confront Macbeth.

• As quickly as they appeared, they soon disappear again.

Analysis:

• The bleakness of this scene is a dramatic representation both of the physical landscape in which the play is set, and the mere wilderness of man's existence.

• The imagery of thunder and lightning create an eerie and magical setting for the beginning of the play. 

• The short, rhyming verse from the witches imitates the casting of a spell. 

• The lines "When the battle's lost and won" and "Fair is foul and foul is fair" are contradictory statements by the witches to create a sense of mystery that will continue throughout the play. 

Important Quotes:

• "When the hurly-burly’s done,
  When the battle’s lost and won."

• "Fair is foul and foul is fair" 

Act 1 - Scene 3

• The Three Witches appear after a clap of thunder.

• Macbeth and Banquo enter on their way to see the king, shocked to see the witches.

• The witches make three prophecies to Macbeth and Banquo. They predict that Macbeth will be named Thane of Cawdor and will later be King of Scotland. They then turn to Banquo, saying that he will be happier than Macbeth and while he will not be king himself, his descendants will.

• Before questions can be asked, the witches vanish.

• Ross and Angus enter to bring news from the king. Ross tells Macbeth that the king has made him thane of Cawdor, as the former Thane is to be executed for treason, this confirms one of the prophecies of the witches.

• Macbeth is excited at this news but Banquo soon warns that sometimes one truth is told in prophecies to tempt people into danger. Macbeth doesn't listen to his words, wondering how he will get the crown instead.

Analysis:

• The story given by one of the witches about a sailor loosing sleep and becoming weak can be compared to Macbeth in later scenes. When he murders Duncan, he announces that he has "murder'd sleep".  The metaphor of the storm at sea can be used to describe the confusion of Macbeth later in the play.

• Macbeth's first words ("So foul and fair a day I have not seen") ironically recall the Witches' "foul is fair" in the first scene.

• There is ambiguity in the prophecy of the witches. They announce both fact (that Macbeth is Thane of Glamis) and prediction (that Macbeth will be king), this contrast between what is uncertain and what is certain is central to the atmosphere of the play.

• Shakespeare combines Macbeth's and Banquo's confusion at the Witches' vanishing with their disbelief at what has been predicted. The mentioning of "the insane root that takes the reason prisoner" suggests the working of a powerful drug, suggesting that they had been dreaming. 

Important Quotes:

• "Lesser than Macbeth and greater.

  Not so happy, yet much happier.
  Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none."  - The Three Witches

• "And oftentimes, to win us to our harm,
  The instruments of darkness tell us truths,
  Win us with honest trifles, to betray’s
  In deepest consequence."  - Banquo  

•  This supernatural soliciting
  Cannot be ill, cannot be good. If ill,
  Why hath it given me earnest of success,
  Commencing in a truth? I am Thane of Cawdor." - Macbeth

Act 1 - Scene 5

• The scene starts with Lady Macbeth reading a letter from Macbeth, recounting his meeting with the witches.

• Lady Macbeth says that she knows Macbeth is ambitious, but fears he is too full of “th’ milk of human kindness” to make himself king. She resolves to make Macbeth take the steps necessary to make himself the king.

• A servant enters with news that King Duncan will be staying with them for the night. Lady Macbeth plans to murder Duncan while he is in the castle so that Macbeth becomes king.

• Macbeth enters and Lady Macbeth reveals her plan. They both agree to discuss the matter further.

Analysis:

• The letter from Macbeth repeats the prophecy from the witches but does not mention Banquo at all, perhaps out of fear.

• Lady Macbeth is introduced as Macbeth's "dearest partner of greatness", this sets up her role as not only his partner in future scenes, but the one who pushes and controls him.

• Lady Macbeth is one of the strongest female characters to be introduced into a Shakespeare play. The fact that she is alone on stage means that we can hear her innermost thoughts, which are filled with the imagery of death and destruction. Her soliloquy is particularly dark, calling on spirits to deprive her of her femininity, to thicken her blood, and to stop her ability to weep, turning her bitter. From here, Lady Macbeth reverses the traditional gender roles of this time period, becoming a "man of action" character. 

• In this scene, the audience are introduced to how Lady Macbeth views her husband. It is clear that she wants him to succeed and knows he will be great, but he lacks the ambition needed to become great. She says there is only one solution to this problem, she must "pour my spirits in thine ear."

• Lady Macbeth's speech to her husband at the end of the scene is filled with metaphors of concealment. The line "Look like th' innocent flower,
  / But be the serpent under ’t" references the story of the Garden of Eden in the Bible and reflects the evil within Lady Macbeth.

Important Quotes:

• "Yet do I fear thy nature;
  It is too full o' th' milk of human kindness
  To catch the nearest way" - Lady Macbeth

• "Hie thee hither,
  That I may pour my spirits in thine ear
  And chastise with the valor of my tongue
  All that impedes thee from the golden round,
  Which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem
  To have thee crowned withal." - Lady Macbeth

• "Come, you spirits
  That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,
  And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full
  Of direst cruelty. Make thick my blood.
  Stop up the access and passage to remorse,
  That no compunctious visitings of nature
  Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between
  The effect and it! Come to my woman’s breasts,
  And take my milk for gall, you murd'ring ministers,
  Wherever in your sightless substances
  You wait on nature’s mischief."  - Lady Macbeth

Act 1 - Scene 7

• The scene opens with a soliloquy from Macbeth, pondering the assassination of Duncan. 

• He thinks about his reasons for murdering the king, but is nagged by self-doubt arising from his fear of retribution both in heaven and on earth and by his likely loss of reputation.

• Lady Macbeth enters, dismissing his fears and taunting him. She calls him a coward and questions his masculinity. She promises that if they are bold, the plan will definitely be successful.

• Then she tells him her plan: while Duncan sleeps, she will give his maids wine to make them drunk, and then she and Macbeth can slip in and murder Duncan. They will then smear the blood of Duncan on the sleeping maids so the blame will turn to them.

• Macbeth is astonished at her brilliant plan and hopes that she will "bring forth men-children only"  so they can be like her.

Analysis:

• Macbeth's soliloquy at the beginning of the scene highlights his confusion and insecurities about the plan. He is unsure about the effect of his actions on the afterlife and his reputation.

• The vivid imagery of Lady Macbeth trampling her own child adds to the tension in this scene and shows the audience how dark-minded she is. She creates this imagery in an effort to manipulate Macbeth into killing Duncan.

• The relationship shown between Macbeth and his wife in this scene is rather uneven. Lady Macbeth pushes Macbeth to murder Duncan by manipulating him and mocking his weaknesses. Like in Scene 5, she alters existing gender roles, this time by questioning his masculinity. His fear in this scene contrasts her self-proclaimed masculinity.

• In Macbeth's actions, that which is gold, the king himself, will be killed and Macbeth's golden reputation will be reduced to worthlessness.

Important Quotes:

• "If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well 
  It were done quickly . . .
  . . . He’s here in double trust: 
  First, as I am his kinsman and his subject, 
  Strong both against the deed; then, as his host, 
  Who should against his murderer shut the door, 
  Not bear the knife myself" - Macbeth

• "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

• "I have given suck, and know
  How tender ’tis to love the babe that milks me.
  I would, while it was smiling in my face,
  Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums
  And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you
  Have done to this." - Lady Macbeth