Act 1, Scene 7 is the scene where it all begins to fall apart. Macbeth opens the scene with a long monologue in which he clearly shows his hesitancy towards the act he is about to commit. He doesn't know for sure if he really wants to kill the king - after all, it was his wife who put him up to it.
Lady Macbeth shows her true colours in this scene as she goads her husband into killing the man he loves: What beast was ’t, then, That made you break this enterprise to me? When you durst do it, then you were a man; And to be more than what you were, you would Be so much more the man. She questions his masculinity and forces him into a position where he has to act with a final, heartbreaking piece of manipulation - she mentions knowing what it was like to 'give suck' - feed a child - suggesting a child they may have once had, who has since died. She then goes on to tell Macbeth that she wouldn't think twice about hurting said child if he asked her to: I would, while it was smiling in my face, Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you Have done to this. Ultimately, Macbeth gives in to this goading and takes it upon himself to head to the chamber. Again, I'll hand you over to Mr Bruff:
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In Act 1, Scene 6, the Macbeths' plan comes into play as Duncan arrives at the castle. Note his opening lines:
This castle hath a pleasant seat. The air Nimbly and sweetly recommends itself Unto our gentle senses. This ironic utterance, showing Duncan's positive attitude towards the place he is about to be murdered in, emphasises the tragedy of his death. It gets worse when his "honoured hostess" Lady Macbeth enters, basically 'sucking up' to the King (and creating a whole heap of dramatic irony in the process: All our service, In every point twice done and then done double, Were poor and single business to contend Against those honors deep and broad wherewith Your majesty loads our house. For those of old, And the late dignities heaped up to them, We rest your hermits. She's basically saying 'whatever we do for you, even if you doubled our efforts, it would not match the honour of your being here.' The lying so-and-so. It's a short scene, but it works well at showing us just how two-faced Lady Macbeth can be - which is important later on in the play. I'll hand you over to Mr Bruff:
This is a key scene of the play - it's where we see Lady Macbeth's darker side, as she speaks to spirits and ghosts, drawing on their dark power to give her the strength to carry out her evil deeds.
This is the infamous "unsex me" scene, where Lady Macbeth asks for her milk to be turned into "gall" (anger/rage), and "make thick my blood/stop up the passage and access to remorse" - she is asking for all that makes her feminine (and weak) to be blocked, for her to become stronger, and therefore more able to commit evil deeds. Controversial as this scene is, it's important to fully understand it as it helps us to understand Lady Macbeth's role in the play as a whole. She is a subversion of a stereotypical female character, and this scene makes that very clear. It leads us quite well into the latter half of the scene, where Lady Macbeth exerts her power over Macbeth, giving him clear instructions to look like "the flower, but be the serpent under't". Here is Mr Bruff's analysis:
Try to familiarise yourself with a scene a day. It'll really help, believe me.
These videos are great for revising the plot of the story. I'd recommend watching one per evening and making notes on each as you go. It really helps you to remember the plot if you look at it little and often, rather than all in one big go. Trust me. I learned the hard way!
Act 1, Scene 2 is where we really get to understand the setting of the play. We learn that there is a war going on, and that the Thane of Cawdor has been found to be a traitor (irony alert: he is replaced by Macbeth, who commits treason - and is therefore more of a traitor than Cawdor himself!).
By learning about Macbeth's rise in this way, we can see that the Witches had nothing to do with Macbeth's promotion... Or did they?
OK, I'm clearly developing some kind of dependence on Mr Bruff, but he's put these videos on YouTube and I'm spending most of my time getting poetry videos together, so who am I to forego an opportunity to save myself some time?
This is a really great analysis of Act 1, Scene 1 of the play, focusing on the importance of the witches. Enjoy. |
In a Nutshell...After returning from war, Macbeth meets three witches who tell him that he is to become King. His wife persuades him to kill the existing King in order to win the throne - but this comes with a whole heap of problems, as Macbeth has to continually kill people - including his best friend - in order to hide the truth. ArchivesCategories
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