Reading Journal Macbeth Act One

Act 1 Scene 1
The play starts off with a gothic element of ‘thunder and lightning’. This gives the audience the image of the setting being dark and cold. The audience are introduced with the three witches. This is another gothic element. The witches are planning something and say that they will meet
again. Macbeth is mentioned ‘there to meet with Macbeth’. It foreshadows the rest of the play ‘fair is foul, and foul is fair’. The dialogue has rhymes ‘again’ rain’, ‘done’ ‘won’ suggesting that the witches are doing a chant or a spell. A lot of questions arises from the audience such as what are the witches planning? Who’s Macbeth? What interests do they have with him? This makes them wanting to read ahead.

Scene 2
It is set in a battlefield. King Duncan, Malcolm, Donalbain, Lennox and attendants meet a wounded captain. The captain reports that Macbeth and Banquo have performed valiantly in the fight. His admiration of the noble yet brutal Macbeth is deep indeed ‘for brave Macbeth-well he deserves that name-disdaining fortune, with his brandish’d steel, which smoked with bloody execution, like valour’s minion carved out his passage....Till he unseam’d him from the nave to the chaps, and fix’d his head upon our battlements’ (Lines 15-20). Death and blood is another gothic element. It gives a strong image of war to the audience and they also see that
Macbeth is a noble character that people look up to, and also that he is a brave soldier. Ross enters telling the king that they have won the battle against Norway and that the treacherous
Thane of Cawdor has surrendered. At this happy news the king gladly hands over the Thane's title and all his land to Macbeth and decides to kill the former Thane of Cawdor. ‘Go pronounce his present death, and with his former title greet Macbeth.’ (Lines 67-68)

Scene 3
Again thunder sets the scene. The Witches meet on the dark and lonely heath to await Macbeth. To pass the time they exchange boasts about their evil deeds. ‘Where hast thou been sister?’ ‘Killing swine’, again they end their sentences with a rhyme and speak one after the other. Macbeth and Banquo come across the ‘Weird Sisters’ and we see immediately that Macbeth has a strange connection to the Witches, mimicking their famous words spoken earlier in
the play: "So foul and fair a day I have not seen"(line 37) . For the first time the audience gets a image of how the witches look like, Banquo says ‘her choppy finger laying upon her skinny lips. You should be women; and yet your beards forbid me to interpret that you are so’ (lines 43-46)
The Witches address Macbeth as Glamis, Cawdor, and King of the Scots. Macbeth is startled by what he sees clearly as a prophecy that he will be Scotland's next ruler. He is too stunned to speak and so Banquo asks the Witches if there is any more to their premonition. They do have something to add, not about Macbeth, but about Banquo. They talk in riddles, telling him he will be "Lesser than Macbeth, and greater"and "Not so happy, yet much happier” ( lines 64-65). They also tell Banquo that even though he will never himself be king, he will create future kings of Scotland. Then the Witches disappear into the darkness, despite the pleadings of Macbeth, whose shock has turned to the lust for more information. Once alone, Macbeth and Banquo pretend not to believe anything the Weird Sisters have said, but in secret they cannot help thinking that there is a little truth to the Hags' words. Banquo is not sure of what he saw and heard was the truth; he questions himself ‘were such things here as we do speak about? Or have we eaten on the insane root that takes the reason prisoner?’

Ross and Angus arrive and inform Macbeth that Duncan has appointed him Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth and Banquo are stunned by the turn of events, realizing that the Witches are right about one facet of the prophecy and Macbeth cannot help but focus on their other, greater prediction that he will be king, ‘Why hath it given me earnest of success, Commencing in a truth? I am thane of Cawdor. If good, why do I yield to that suggestion whose horrid image doth unfix my hair and make my seated heart knock at my ribs, against the use of nature?’ (Lines 131-136) This foreshadows the rest of the play and the audience see that Macbeth will do anything do get what he wants. He is planning to kill the king. ‘Come what come May, time and the hour runs through the roughest day.’ Macbeth and Banquo decide to talk about the prophecies between themselves later in the day. This scene brings the theme of destiny and prophecies.

Scene 4
Macbeth and Banquo reach King Duncan's castle and Duncan praises Macbeth for his loyalty and valour. He also embraces Banquo and thanks him for his courage during the rebellion. He announces that he has decided to visit Macbeth's castle at Inverness, and that he has chosen his son, Malcolm, to be the Prince of Cumberland and, therefore, the next king of Scotland. Macbeth proposes that he leave early for his castle to make sure everything is perfect for the King's arrival, and Duncan happily approves. But Macbeth is really only concerned with the King's choice of successor. With ambitious thoughts racing through his mind, Macbeth again finds himself lusting after the crown: "Stars hide your fires, Let not light see my black and deep desires" (lines 50-1) this shows the audience how determined he is to be king.

Scene 5
The scene starts off with Lady Macbeth reading a letter from Macbeth alone. She learns of the prophecy of the Witches and that one prediction has already come true. Lady Macbeth is ecstatic and she fixes her mind on obtaining the throne for Macbeth by any means necessary. But Lady Macbeth knows that her husband has a weakness that will prevent him from taking the steps required to secure the crown. She is sure that because Macbeth is an ambitious man, he has entertained the thought of killing Duncan, no doubt several times. But she fears that he is without the wickedness that should attend those murderous thoughts. Although the unusually vicious slaying of his enemies on the battlefield have us questioning his propensity for evil, Lady Macbeth feels that he is simply too full o' the milk of human kindness" to kill King Duncan ( line 15). She, however, thinks herself not as compassionate as her husband, and when a messenger arrives with word that Duncan plans to visit Inverness, she is overjoyed that the opportunity to murder the King has presented itself so soon. She summons all the evil spirits to ensure that no pleadings of any man will come between her and her monstrous deed ‘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! (Lines 38-41) Macbeth arrives at the castle and Lady Macbeth is ready to tempt him to join her in murder. She subtly hints at her intentions: "Your hand, your tongue: look like the innocent flower, But be the serpent under it. He that's coming must be provided for..." (Lines 63-65). Macbeth dodges the matter at hand and sheepishly tells her that they will speak further on the subject. Lady Macbeth confidently assures him, "Leave all the rest to me" (line 71).this shows the audience how manipulative and overpowering Lady Macbeth can be. She also will do anything to make the prophecy to; however Macbeth just wants someone to give him the title without doing anything.

Scene 6
Duncan arrives at the castle with his sons, and Banquo, Lennox, Macduff, and others his party. Ironically, Duncan and Banquo discuss the beauty of the castle while inside it reeks of moral decay. Banquo goes so far as to say that the "temple-haunting martlet does approve of the castle and its sweet smelling fresh air.' Unbeknownst to Banquo, this is a particularly inappropriate reference to the martlet, a bird known for building its nest near holy places. Lady Macbeth is the first to greet Duncan and his court. She welcomes them gracefully to her humble abode. As is the custom of the land, she tells the King that she has prepared an account of all that she owns so that Duncan may perform an inventory of his subjects' belongings. But Duncan does not want to discuss such matters. He again expresses his love for Macbeth and they all move behind the castle walls.

Scene 7
Macbeth is alone in a dining room in the castle. His conscience is acting up, and he is particularly worried about the punishment he will receive in the afterlife. In his soliloquy he says "If it were done, when 'tis done, then twere well It were done quickly." If there were no consequences to be suffered for killing Duncan, then Macbeth would not be so reluctant. But he concludes that even if heaven were not going to judge him, he cannot bring himself to kill Duncan, whom he believes is a good man and an excellent monarch. Lady Macbeth walks in on her husband and sees the indecision on his face. Macbeth tells her that he has changed his mind: "We will proceed no further in this business" (line 32). Lady Macbeth, who is ruthless beyond comprehension, refuses to accept Macbeth's decision. Instead, Lady Macbeth plays upon his emotions, calling him a coward and accusing him of not loving her. Her cunning words work well on Macbeth, and she turns his mind back to thoughts of murder. However, he is still afraid and he asks her "If we should fail?" (Line 58). With conviction and confidence enough for both of them, Lady Macbeth responds to her husband's doubts: "We fail! But screw your courage to the sticking place And we'll not fail" (lines 59-61). Macbeth is once and for all convinced -- they will proceed with the murder of the King. This again shows the audience how manipulative lady Macbeth can be to Macbeth and how Macbeth can be easily manipulated.

Gothic Elements in Macbeth

The play “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare is written in gothic literature, this is evident through an examination of the feelings of guilt, sin, madness, the battle between good and evil and omens and curses that take place throughout the play. The opening scene of Macbeth brings in the three witches on 'a desert place' in the midst of 'thunder' & 'lightning', thus introducing very early in the play an atmosphere of fearful suspense. Appearing in their eerie physical attributes & initiating a mysterious conversation, as well as making responses to Macbeth like 'graymalkin' and 'paddock'. Scene 2 offers us a detailed account of bloodshed and horrors of the battlefield: Macbeth's 'brandished steel which smoked with bloody execution'; Macbeth and Banquo meaning to 'bathe in reeking wounds, or memorize another Golgotha'. Lines 1-37 of scene 3 present the three witches engaged in some professional occupations which suggest their vulgarity and mischief-making. Further on, their 'wild attire', 'choppy finger' & 'skinny lips', as pointed out by Banquo, underpin the terrible and the supernatural. Supernatural beings are used to create dramatic emphasis in all forms of literature. Shakespeare uses witches, ghosts, and apparitions in his play, Macbeth, to generate this effect. Supernatural beings are effective in provoking a reaction in audiences today, so it is easy to imagine how these spectres would have alarmed the people of the Elizabethan era. The population of the Elizabethan era had certain ideas about witches, which the three witches in Macbeth were based upon. So the witches add an element of the supernatural (a characteristic of the gothic) and the emphasis on darkness and on blood are all elements of the gothic. First words of the play ‘What bloody man is that...’is also evidence of a gothic element.