Macbeth: Act 1 - Scene 1

Macbeth: Act 1 - Scene 1

1. Setting

   • "Thunder and lightening"
     • Pathetic Fallacy
       • foreshadows the dark and dismal events to come
       • establishes a omnious atmosphere
   • "A desolate place."
     • Connotations
       • harsh
       • dark
       • unfriendly
       • bare

2. Imagery

   • "In thunder, lightning, or in rain?
     • Pathetic Fallacy of the tri-colon
       • establishes a omnious atmosphere
       • foreshadows the dark and dismal events to come
   • "Fair is foul, and foul is fair; Hover through the fog and filthy air.
     • aliteration (f/f/f)
       • soft, creepy, disturbing sounds
         • emphasises contradiction between the stereotypical harsh witches and these soft witches.
           • aperance is not reality
             • something is not as it seems
             • foreshadowing Macbeth's betrayal
     • meaning: beautiful is disgusting and disgusting is beautiful
       • Juxtaposition
         • everything is muddled up
       • Contradiction
         • emphasises the difference in the witches (they're soft not harsh)

3. Structure

   • "When shall we three meet again?"
     • rhetorical question
       • draw in the audience
   • "When the battle's lost, and won. That will be ere the set of sun."
     • rhyming couplet
       • normally given to characters high in the hierarchy system (e.g monarch)
         • there is something out of place
         • the witches play an important role in the play

4. Language

   • "shall"
     • strongest verb