Macbeth

Extract 1 (Act One Scene 3) 1. This scene is Macbeth’s and Banquo’s entrance scene. This extract is set after Macbeth and Banquo have learned of their respective prophecies during their unintentional first encounter with the Witches. At that time, Macbeth was saluted as the Thane of Cawdor by one of the Witches. 2. The 3 purposes of this extract: a. Are to demonstrate the truth of the prophecy b. to show the audience that Macbeth’s ambition is greatly stirred by the supernatural forces. 3. Moving on to my 3 points of discussion a. The use of language and literary devices to show Macbeth’s state of mind and stark ambition i. One such device is a stage direction device, which is the use of asides. Since Macbeth is a play, William Shakespeare can only use asides to reveal Macbeth’s inner thoughts. At the beginning of the extract, Macbeth says “Glamis, and Thane of Cawdor; the greatest is behind”. This line reveals Macbeth’s inner thoughts, and how strong an influence the prophecy has on him. Macbeth thinks to himself that there is still good fortune to come, as said in the witches’ prophecies. This stirs his hidden ambition of becoming a king to replace Duncan. Macbeth states that ‘Two truths are told as happy prologues to the swelling act of the imperial theme’. Two out of three prophecies have been fulfilled. The first being the Thane of Glamis (original title) and the second being the Thane of Cawdor, his newly attained title. The third prophecy, that of Macbeth being the King baffles him because it has caused him to contemplate murdering Duncan for the throne. He deliberates that either he will have to fulfill the prophecy himself(by killing the king), or fate will make him the king without his interference(“if chance will have me king/ without my stir”). Macbeth tries to tell himself that killing the king is wrong and that it is a “horrible imagining”, but still entertains the thought of killing the King. He contemplates on leaving it to fate, but is uncertain at the end. ‘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’. From this, the audience can clearly see that Macbeth is experiencing an internal conflict and dilemma, whether or not he should trust the witches’ ambiguous prophecy. It also foreshadows many other intense internal conflicts to come. b. The presentation of characterization of Banquo i. Shakespeare makes Banquo the main challenger of the Witches instead of Macbeth in this extract. While audience has formed firm image of Macbeth’s standing from the earlier description, from Duncan, Thane of Ross and Captain, as a worthy kinsman, great warrior and savior of Scotland, Banquo has zero characterization prior to this scene. In order to gain credibility to weigh Macbeth’s morale, Banquo must catch up in his standing as well. ii. Contemporarily, Banquo explains to Ross and Angus as to why Macbeth is keeping to himself throughout the conversation, explaining that “New honours com upon him, like our strange garments, cleave not to their mould but with the aid of use”. This shows that Banquo is a very observant person, able to deduce that Macbeth is having trouble coming to terms with the witches’ prophecies coming true. iii. Banquo’s asides reveal his character as a wiser person compared to Macbeth. Banquo understands that the Witches are ‘instruments of darkness’ that may have other motives and may not necessarily have spoken the whole picture of the truth. ‘But ‘tis strange, and oftentimes, to win us to our harm, the instruments of darkness tell us truths, win us with honest trifles, to betray us in deepest consequence’. Here, Banquo knows that the elements of evil, in this case the witches, can hide truth within lies to trick the good people. In response, in his aside to Macbeth, it seems that Banquo is aware of Macbeth’s desire to become a king; hence, he cautions Macbeth from the evils of the prophecies. c. Theme of appearance versus reality Moving on to my last point, Shakespeare uses dramatic irony to expound on the theme of appearance versus reality. In the previous scene, Act One Scene Two, audience has known that Duncan appointed Macbeth as the next Thane of Cawdor and Duncan was sure ‘no more that Thane of Cawdor shall deceive [his] bosom interest’. However, in this extract, Macbeth’s thought of killing Duncan proves him wrong. Although Macbeth is still deliberating, his hesitation gives rise to the possibility of regicide. Also, Banquo suspects Macbeth’s ambition, which is highlighted in his speech in line 143 ‘Like our strange garments, cleave not to their mould’. The garments here refer to status. This in turn suggests that others not deserving the status may easily usurp the title. Hence, this creates suspense in audience to what will happen to Duncan should Macbeth choose to overthrow him. In conclusion, this scene serves to foreshadow the multitudes of conflicts that are going to happen in the latter part of the play.