Macbeth Act 1 Summary

1. Macbeth Act 1 Summary

2. Act 1 Scene 1 • The witches are seen meeting. • They ask where they shall meet again. • They say upon the heath after the battle. • The witches are called by their familiars so they start to get up and leave. (demons, supernatural?) • They chant “Fair is foul, and foul is fair, Hover through the fog and filthy air.” (Shakespeare pg 3, line 12)

3. Act 1 Scene 2 • The bloody beat up captain reports to Duncan about a battle. • The battle was Macbeth and Banquo against Macdonald and the Norwegians. • Ross and Angus then appear and report to Duncan about a second battle that was Macbeth and banquo against the Thane of Cawdor and the Norwegians. • Macbeth was the cause of victory for both battles. • Duncan tells Ross and Angus to find Macbeth and name him the Thane of Cawdor.

4. Act 1 scene 3 • At the beginning the witches put a spell on Macbeth that won’t let him sleep, toss his emotions around and just change Macbeth. • Macbeth and Banquo show up. • The witches tell Macbeth of his future, how he is Thane of Glamis, and will be Thane of Cawdor and then King! • Banquo then asks the witches to tell him his future, they say “lesser than Macbeth, and greater, not so happy but much happier”. (Shakespeare pg 13, line 63) and that his children will be king. • The witches then vanish. • Banquo asks Macbeth if what they just saw was witches “ or have we eaten on the insane root, which take the reason prisoner?”. (Shakespeare pg 13 line 81) • Ross and Angus tell Macbeth he is the Thane of Cawdor. • Macbeth ponders this, is it good or bad? Does he have to do anything? • Macbeth then tells Banquo they will talk later.

5. Act 1 scene 4 • Duncan asks if the Thane of Cawdor was executed and says “He was a gentlemen of whom I built an absolute trust”. (Shakespeare pg 19, line 13). • Macbeth, Banquo, Ross and Angus walk in. • Duncan tells them that Malcom (his son) will be the Prince of Cumberland (next in line for the King) • Macbeth tells himself “The Prince of Cumberland: that is a step On which I must fall down, or else o’erleap”. (Shakespeare, pg 21, line 48) • Duncan invites himself over to Macbeths for dinner.

6. Act 1 Scene 5 • Lady Macbeth reads a letter from Macbeth. • Tells herself Macbeth can’t kill Duncan, he’s too kind. • She is alerted that Duncan is coming for dinner. • She wants to lose all female feelings, “unsex me here” (Shakespeare, pg 25, line 39) • She wants to be pure evil “come to my women’s breasts and take my milk for gall”. (Shakespeare, pg 25, line 45). • Macbeth appears and she tells him that they need to kill Duncan, but Macbeth is too easy to be read, she says “your face my thane, is as a book where men may read strange matters”. (Shakespeare, pg 27, line 61) • "Your hand, your tongue; look like th’ innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t”. (Shakespeare, pg 27, line 63), they need to put on an act, be deceiving, be nice, then strike like a snake. • Macbeth leaves and is pondering the murder.

7. Act 1 Scene 6 • Lady Macbeth greets Duncan and his kinsman at the door, acting like a flower. • Duncan asks where Macbeth is and Lady Macbeth ignores the question, ushering the Noblemen inside the castle.

8. Act 1 scene 7 • Macbeth is thinking about assassinating but he looks up to Duncan, he thinks Duncan to be a great King. " Besides, this Duncan hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been so clear in his great office, that his virtues will plead the angels, trumpet-tongued against the deep damnation of his taking-off” (Shakespeare, pg 31, line 16) • He says there is no spur in my side telling me to do this, “I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition which o’erleaps itself and falls on th’ other” (Shakespeare, pg 31, line 25) • Lady Macbeth walks in and tells Macbeth how he could break his word about killing Duncan, thinking about it. • Lady Macbeth says she would kill her own baby if she swore to, “I would, while it was smiling in my face, have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums and dashed his brains out, had I sworn” (Shakespeare, pg 33, line 56) • Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth of her plan, and he agrees. • They walk off to attend the guests.

9. Works Cited Page • Théodore, Chassériau. "Macbeth and Banquo meeting the witches on the heath“. 29th Feb 2008 http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/MacbethAndBanquo-Witches.jpg&imgrefurl=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:MacbethAndBanquo-witches.jpg&h=597&w=800&sz=88&hl=en&start=7&um=1&tbnid=skKQRFq47lCX7M:&tbnh=107&tbnw=143&prev=/images%3Fq%3DMacbeth%2Band%2Bthe%2Bwitches%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rls%3DGGLD,GGLD:2004-36,GGLD:en • Colin, Alexandre-Marie. The Three Witches from "Macbeth," 29th Feb 2008 http://www.emory.edu/ENGLISH/classes/Shakespeare_Illustrated/Colin.Witches.html • Macbeth, Act 1 Scene 2. BBC News. 29th Feb 2008 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/6648199.stm • Cawdor Castle. Undiscovered Scotland. 29th 2008 http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/usbiography/monarchs/macbeth.html Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Cambridge University Press, 2005. • Spek, Edward. “Macbeth , Banquo and a soldier”. 29th Feb 2008 http://www.geocities.com/mmphotoalbum/macbeth-photos.html • Towle, Ben. Macbeth Sample Panel. 29th Feb 2008. http://www.benzilla.com/?m=200512 • McCall, Kathleen. Tour of Duty. 29th Feb 2008 http://www.tcg.org/publications/at/Feb05/macbeth2.cfm