Macbeth-Act 1

Macbeth-Act 1

1. Scene 1 - witches plan to meet Macbeth

   • Play starts with thunder and lighting- sets dark and violent mood
     • the wild weather hints that unnatural events are occuring
   • The witches speak in rhyming couplets e.g "When the hurly-burly's done", "when the battle's lost and won"
     • only supernatural characters use rhyme
   • "Fair is foul,and foul is fair"
     • THEME- REALITY AND APPEARENCES
       • The witches introduces the idea that nothing is as it seems. Central themes to the play.

2. Scene 2- King Duncan hears reports of the battle

   • Duncan describes Macbeth "brave" and "valiant" who at this point is loyal to king and country
   • CHARACTER - MACBETH
     • At the start =celebrated for his bloodthirsty nature by chopping the traitors head off
       • irony-this violence eventually leads to his downfall.

3. Scene 3- The witches make 3 predictions

   • wit hes are accompanied by thunder again = motif (recurring symbol)- hints at chaos and danger
   • WRITER'S TECH- METAPHOR
     • "I will drain him dry as hay: Sleep shall neither night nor day" (on about a storm on a sailor's ship)
       • sailor is a metaphor for what will happen to Macbeth, who's made sleepless by guilt.