Macbeth Act 1 Scene 1

Type Mr Bruff notes on Macbeth

Reviewed

Structure

The play opens with the three witches, which suggests they will be significant

It creates confusion and mystery because we arrive at the end of their

meeting

The witches’ first appearance is shrouded with mystery and confusion which
symbolizes how their role in Macbeth’s future actions is just as unclear

“Fair is foul, and foul is fair: Hover through the fog and filthy air”

Suggests that this is a mysterious and frightening world where the

supernatural holds some power

Introduces the theme of appearances vs reality

Context

This scene would have been immediately very interesting for the Jacobian
audience because during Jacobian times practicing witchcraft was a crime
punishable by death

King James was particularly interested in the subject of witches and he wrote
a book about it called Daemonology

Beginning the play with this scene would grab the attention of both the
contemporary audience and the king, who was an important source of
revenue

King James was already king of Scotland at the time but came to power in
England in 1603, and Macbeth is believed to have been written two or three
years later

Macbeth Act 1 Scene 1 1

 The King was a big fan of theatre and became a patron of Shakespeare, so
there are many signs that Shakespeare tried to impress his patron.
Shakespeare wrote this opening scene with the witches and the play is set in
Scotland which is where King James was from

Form

In this scene, the witches speak in rhyming couplets

Shakespeare uses language to show the power or rank of characters

For example, all the nobles in Macbeth speak in iambic pentameter, which is
where a line has 5 pairs of syllables, each pair made up of one unstressed
syllable followed by one stressed syllable

This is known as blank verse which is a verse without rhyme, especially which
uses iambic pentameter

The witches don’t speak in iambic pentameter but instead speak in rhyming
couplets, which sounds like the rhythm of a spell of chant

They speak in trochaic tetrameter (stressed syllable followed by an unstressed

syllable)

Creates a clear divide between the witches and the other characters in the
play which emphasizes their supernatural nature

Macbeth Act 1 Scene 1 2