Macbeth Act I Analysis

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Macbeth

Act I

Act II

Act III

Act IV

Act V

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Summary

-By Xi Cao & Hang Chun Ke

Summary for Act I, Scene1, 2, and 3

Macbeth and Banquo, two generals of Scotland were crossing the heath, Macbeth saw three bearded women withered in appearance and wild in their attire. The Three Witches surprised Macbeth in the moment of intoxication of victory; they told Macbeth that he would be the Thane of Cawdor, “Hail,/ Macbeth,/ thane of Glamis,” “Hail,/ Macbeth,/ thane of Cawdor” (Act I, Scene 3) Macbeth’s reaction to the prophecy was ambivalent. On one hand he thought he should accept the power that the Goad mandated to him; on the other hand, he thought it would be a betrayal. The Weird Witches also augured that Banquo would become the father of the Kings of Scotland. The prophecies of The Weird Witches would make great influences on Banquo and Macbeth's life.

Summary for Act I, Scene 4, 5, 6, and 7

For Duncan, Macbeth was his loyal and brave general. He trusted Macbeth and all the people viewed Macbeth as a hero. However, people never know the inside world of Macbeth. "Fair is foul and foul is fair" means that we can not judge some people by its appearance. The Duncan’s visiting of Macbeth’s Castle at Inverness was a great chance for Macbeth. Betrayal or not, these two incompatible cerebrations became inveterate in Macbeth’s mind, which gave Lady Macbeth an opportunity to spur her oscillated husband's ambition. She repeatedly questioned about Macbeth’s manhood with fiery eloquence, “…and live a coward in thine own esteem/ like the poor cat i' the adage/ when you durst do it/ then you were a man/ to be more than what you were/ you would be so much more the man…” Lady Macbeth’s insinuation provoked Macbeth's motivation to kill Duncan in order to prove his man power.

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Act I Glossary

hurly-burly:   commotion
ere:   before
Graymalkin:   the name of the first witch’s "familiar" (an attendant spirit serving her in the form of a cat)
Paddock: a toad, the "familiar" of the second witch
Anon: immediately (perhaps, the response of the third witch to her "familiar")
Alarum: trumpet "call to arms"
sergeant:   soldier, officer (also called Captain in the Folio stage directions and speech prefixes)
Broil:   battle
spent:   exhausted
choke their art: prevent each other from using their skill (in swimming) art: skill
to that:   to make him that (ie, a rebel)
villainies: shameful evils
western Isles: the Hebrides (islands off the west coast of Scotland)
kerns and gallowglasses:   lightly armed undisciplined foot soldiers and soldiers heavily armed and well trained (the terms were usually applied to Irish soldiers.)
damned quarrel:   the accursed cause (for which he fought)
showed…whore:   appeared to have granted the rebellious Macdonwald her favors; all: everything that Macdonwald and Fortune can do
valor’s minion:   the chosen darling of valor
slave:   villain (ie. Macdonwald)
unseamed…chops:   ripped him open from his navel jaw
his reflection: its apparent backward turning
the norweyan lord:   i.e. The king of Norway; surveying vantage: seeing his chance
say sooth: speak truthfully
cracks: i.e.   Explosive charges
except: unless
memorize another Gilgotha:   make the event (or place) memorable by turning it into a second golgotha Golgotha: "the place of dead men’skulls" where jesus was crucified
smack: have the flavor, taste
thane:   a title used in Scotland as the equivalent of "baron"
should:   is likely to
people: ie. Troops
Norway himself: i.e. The king of Norway
dismal: ominous
bellona:   roman goddess of war (her bridegroom would be the fiercest of warriors.); lapped in proof: dressed in proven armor
him: the king of Norway; self-comparisons; (attacks) that matched his own
lavish: unrestrained
norways’: norwegians’; craves compositions: asks for terms
saint colme’s inch: i.e. Inchcolm, a small island in the firth of forth colme’s: pronounced "kollums"
deceive/ our bosom interest: betray my dearest concerns our: i.e. My (the royal "we")
present: immediate
aroint thee: begone; rump-fed: fed on rump meat; fat-rumped; runnions: perhaps "scabby woman" or "fat woman"
tiger: the name of the sailor’s ship
like: in the form of
the other: i.e. The other winds
and…blow: and (I have) the ports from which the winds below
quarier:   i.e. Directions
card:   compass card
penthouse lid: eyelid
forbid:   under a curse
bark:   ship; lost: destroyed
pilot: helsman
wracked: wrecked; also tormented
weird:   fateful, fate-determining ( In the Folip, the spelling is "wayward" or "weyard") weird is the Scottish form of wyrd, the old English world for fate or destiny.
Posters:   those who post, i.e. Travel rapidly
wound up:   coiled (i.e. Like a spring ready for action)
have not seen:   have never seen before
is ‘t called: is it said to be
choppy:   chapped; or, deeply wrinkled
should be: must be (i.e. Most of your features indicate that you are)
fantastical: figments of the imagination
present grade:   i.e. The title of the "Thane of Glamis," already possessed by Macbeth
noble having:   i.e. Possession of noble titles; royal hope: hope of royal status
that he sense rapt withal: so that he seems transported by it all
neither… hate:   neither beg your favors nor fear your hate
happy: fortunate
get: beget, father
sinel: Macbeth’s father
owe: own
insame root:   plant that causes insanity
happily: with satisfaction
his wonders… his:   i.e. The wonder he feels, which makes him speechless, vies with his desire to offer praise (sine he is silenced, his wonder wins the battle.)
tale:   count
earnest: a small payment to seal a bargain; thus, a promise of a greater reward to come
addition: title
combined: in conspiracy
line the rebel: i.e. Reinforce macdonwald
the greatest is behind:   the greater part of the prophecy is already accomplished
home:   i.e. Fully
betray’s:   betray us
happy:   fortunate
soliciting: seduction, temptation
ill:   evil
unfix my hair: make my hair stand on end
seated:   i.e. Fixed in its place
against… nature: unnaturally use: custom; present fears; causes of fear that are present
horrible imaginings: imaginary horrors
fantastical: imaginary
function: ability to act; surmise: speculation
but: except
stir:   stirring, taking action
our strange garments:   i.e. New clothes, cleave... mold: do not fir the body’d

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*Thanks for Macbeth, published by Folger Shakespeare Library providing the resources

Famous Quotes From Macbeth Act I

"Fair is foul, and foul is fair"
                                        -By the Weird Sister (Act I, Scene 1)
"So foul and fair a day I have not seen."
                                        -By Macbeth (Act I, Scene 3)
"Nothing in his life became him like the leaving it."
                                        -By Malcolm (Act I, Scene 4)
"Yet do I fear thy nature; it is too full o’th milk of human kindness."
                                        -By Lady Macbeth (act I, Scene 5)
"Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here…"
                                        -By Lady Macbeth (Act I, Scene 5)
"Look like th’ innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t."
                                        -By Lady Macbeth (Act I, Scene 5)

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Creative Writings

-By Xi Cao

1) A Diary from Macduff

2) Examples and Interpretations of Ten Literary Elements from Macbeth

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1) A Diary from Macduff

March 12, 1603
England
Cloudy Day

Country First or Family First?

I feel ambivalent for my family and my country. These two things are all paramount in my lifetime. I can’t determine which one is more significant for me. Right now I am tearing into two parts, one for my wife and son, one for my citizens. When I faced to my family I can’t forget my suffering citizens under the despot-Macbeth. When I faced my country, my decorous wife and arch, bright son would appear in my suppressed mind.

Oh, god! Please help me, let me become two identical individuals, one for my "big menage," one for my "small home". But my hope did not come true. I am lacerating with myself incessantly. I choose my country indubitably, there were hundreds of thousands people waiting me to rescue them from the hell. Sorry! My wife and son, I need to carry my mission on, I know my leaving will put you in danger, so raise your fortitude and plucky spirit, wait for you husband and father come back to stay with you forever...

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2) Examples and Interpretations of Ten Literary Elements from Macbeth

Literary Elements	Examples	Interpretations	From (Text)
Metaphor	"Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown and put a barren scepter in my grip."	On my head they placed a sterile crown and in my hand I hold a seedless scepter.	Act III, Scene 1 Line 62 to 63
Irony	"Duncan is in his grave; after life’s fitful fever he sleeps well, treason has done his worst; nor steel, nor poison…nothing can touch him anymore."	Duncan is in his grave. After an eventful life he sleeps peacefully. Treason has done its worst. Neither sword, nor poison, nor revolutions in this land, nor foreign foes can touch him now.	Act III, Scene 2 Line 24 to 28
Hyperbole	"With twenty trenched gashes on his head, the least a death to nature."	Lying in a ditch with twenty trench-like gashes in his head. Even the least of them would have been fatal.	Act III, Scene 4 Line 27 to 28
Simile	"Approach thou like the rugged Russian bear, the armed rhinoceros, or the Hyrcan tiger."	Approach me like a Russian bear, a horned rhinoceros or a fierce tiger.	Act III, Scene 4 Line 101 to 102
Personification	"Stones have been known to move, and trees to speak."	Gravestones have been move, and trees to speak.	Act III, Scene 4 Line 124
Rhythm	"And the crow makes wing to the rooky wood; good things of day begin to droop and drowse…thoy marvel’st at my words, but hold thee still. Things bad begun make strong themselves by ill."	The good things of the day begin to droop and feel drowsy while the night’s black agents prepare to hunt their prey. You marvel at my words! But there’s more: ‘Things with a bad beginning only get stronger with more of the same.	Act III, Scene 2 Line 54 to 58
Figurative speech	"Whose heavy hand hath bowed you to the grave…"	When his tyranny has bent you to the grave…	Act III, Scene 1 Line 90
Symbolic	"I am in blood stepped in so far that…"	I am in the river of blood…	Act III, Scene 5 Line 137 to 138
Repetition	"O, treachery! Fly, good Fleance, fly, fly, fly!"	Treachery! Run, Fleance, run, run, run.	Act III, Scene 3 Line 22
Image	"We have scorched the snake, not killed it. She’ll close and be herself, whilst our poor malice remains in danger of her former tooth…"	We scorched the snake, but didn’t kill it. It will come back and give us its requital.	Act III, Scene 2 Line 15 to 17

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Critical Analysis

-By Xi Cao

Critical Analysis- Supernatural power or ambition that dominates Macbeth's decisions?

Macbeth, from a venerable hero of Scotland to a notorious villain, does supernatural power, or Macbeth’s ambition dominates his decision? In fact they both make effects, as well as other factors.

Supernatural power "insinuated" Macbeth to approach his goal. At the beginning, Macbeth met the Weird Sisters; their prophecy, which declared that he would become the King of Cawdor, roused his sunken aspiration of becoming a king. At this moment, supernatural power let Macbeth’s ambition triumphs his probity in order to make he achieves his mandated regality venomously. When Macbeth nominated two of his murders to kill Banquo, there was third murderer appeared to help the two murderers to kill Banquo. This third murder was considered as supernatural power, which helped Macbeth achieved his contemplative murdering.

The witches led Macbeth to a tragic road, it was architected by The Three Witches, but also by Macbeth's own aspiration of the kingship. Macbeth’s ambition was the most significant fact that made him a contemptible villain. It took away his fame and destructed his reputation. If he has no ambition to become a king, he would be apathetic about the kingship and considered the Three Witches’s prophecy as a blather or gibberish. However, Macbeth had the ambition, it was hid for many years. His status was the second highest in the country, Macbeth wanted to be first highest person because of his remarkable contribution as a general. The Three Witches’ augury made Macbeth’s ambition unequivocal and it gave him an excuse for his betrayal. The prophecy pushed Macbeth to act cruelly to kill people who hamper his progress of being a king.

There is another crucial factor predominates Macbeth’s decision, Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth was an atrocious woman. In some considerations, Lady Macbeth was more ambitious that her husband. When she perceived the Macbeth would be the King of Cawdor, she decided she would try any way possible to accomplish the prophecy. Macbeth, in other hand, emphasized his wife’s thought. When he planned to give up his sinful killing, Lady Macbeth would consider him as a coward. In the early of the scenes, Macbeth is a puppet of Lady Macbeth in order to get her a higher position.

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Interpretations

-By Xi Cao

1) Interpretation of Macbeth's soliloquy from Act Two, Scene 1. ("Is this dagger which i see before me...Words to the heat of the deeds too cold breath gives")

2) Interpretation of Macbeth's soliloquy from Act Three, Scene 1. ("To be thus is nothing But to be safely thus...Rather than so, come fate into the list and champion me to the utterance! Who is there!")

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1) Interpretation of Macbeth's soliloquy from Act Two, Scene 1. ("Is this dagger which i see before me...Words to the heat of the deeds too cold breath gives")

Soliloquy (From the Text)

Interpretation

Is this a dagger which I see before me,
The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.
I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.
Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible
To feeling as to sight? or art thou but
A dagger of the mind, a false creation,
Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?
I see thee yet, in form as palpable
As this which now I draw.
Thou marshall'st me the way that I was going;
And such an instrument I was to use.
Mine eyes are made the fools o' the other senses,
Or else worth all the rest; I see thee still,
And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood,
Which was not so before. There's no such thing:
It is the bloody business which informs
Thus to mine eyes. Now o'er the one halfworld
Nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse
The curtain'd sleep; witchcraft celebrates
Pale Hecate's offerings, and wither'd murder,
Alarum'd by his sentinel, the wolf,
Whose howl's his watch, thus with his stealthy pace.
With Tarquin's ravishing strides, towards his design
Moves like a ghost. Thou sure and firm-set earth,
Hear not my steps, which way they walk, for fear
Thy very stones prate of my whereabout,
And take the present horror from the time,
Which now suits with it. Whiles I threat, he lives:
Words to the heat of deeds too cold breath gives.

I can’t grab the dagger but I still see it there. It is so realistic in my mind which I could feel the sharpness of it. It can be see but can’t be touched. Is the dagger just an illusory, fictitious image in my tumultuous mind? No, no, no, the dagger is palpable; it is just as palpable as the dagger I now draw from my sheath. It is an auxiliary weapon I was going to use in order to help me to accomplish my goal and ambition in the future. My eyes are being ridiculed! Or are they worth more than my other senses combined. It is still there! Now the dagger is spattered and smelted in my sanguinary soul. The crimson,bloody business that fills my mind is making me see this. Half of the people are sleeping, wicked dreams control the deep, sinister willing of man. Witches sacrifice their offering to Hecate. Howling wolves tell murderers now is the time and serenade Tarquin as he stalks his prey. The earth mustn’t hear my footsteps now, even the stones mustn’t be allowed to betray my whereabouts. No one can see through the vicious dagger beneath my pretension of devoted heart. Nothing must detract from the deed. Now is the time! The time take the power that god mandates to me. All this talk only prolongs his life. It is a confidence between me and my benumbed, callous heart. How words cool the heat of the moment!

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2) Interpretation of Macbeth's soliloquy from Act Three, Scene 1. ("To be thus is nothing But to be safely thus...Rather than so, come fate into the list and champion me to the utterance! Who is there!")

Soliloquy (From the Text)

Interpretation

To be thus is nothing;

But to be safely thus.

To be simply king is not enough for me, I must make my regality fixed.

Our fears in Banquo

Stick deep; and in his royalty of nature

Reigns that which would be fear'd: 'tis much he dares;

We must be vigilant of Banquo, he is a plucky man filled with fidelity

And, to that dauntless temper of his mind,

He hath a wisdom that doth guide his valour

To act in safety.

He is a gallant man with acumen, this avoids him to be a foolhardy person.

There is none but he

Whose being I do fear: and, under him,

My Genius is rebuked; as, it is said,

Mark Antony's was by Caesar.

He is the only one I fear. I will be hampered if I stay together with Banquo. Mark Antony felt the same way when he met Caesar just as my feeling when I met Banquo.

He chid the sisters

When first they put the name of king upon me,

And bade them speak to him: then prophet-like

They hail'd him father to a line of kings:

When the Weird Sisters first said I would be king Banquo chided them and insisted they foretell his future. Then like prophets they hailed him father of a line of kings.

Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown,

And put a barren sceptre in my gripe,

Thence to be wrench'd with an unlineal hand,

No son of mine succeeding.

I am wearing a sterile crown and holding a barren sceptre, these all meant that I wouldn’t have posterity to carry on my regality after I die.

If 't be so,

For Banquo's issue have I filed my mind;

For them the gracious Duncan have I murder'd

If that is to be so, then it has been for Banquo that I've murdered a gracious king and haunted myself.

Put rancours in the vessel of my peace

Only for them;

I do this entire vicious thing for Banquo’s descendants?

and mine eternal jewel

Given to the common enemy of man,

To make them kings, the seed of Banquo kings!

I've succumbed to the temptations of Satan for Banquo and his sons! No!

Rather than so, come fate into the list.

And champion me to the utterance! Who's there!

Rather than that I will challenge Fate to the death! I will protect my position and receive greatest harvest from my assiduous effort.

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Questions and Analysis

-By Juan Guerrero

Part 1) How does the play Macbeth fit in with the term’s theme of illusion and reality, blindness and sight? (Plato’s Allegory of the Den, Sophocles: Oedipus Trilogy, The road not taken) Please reflect on insights you have gained…or not…this semester.

The play Macbeth as the other plays and stories read throughout the term, relate closely to the theme of illusion and reality in which all of them use apparitions and sights to explain their main idea. For example Plato’s Allegory of the Den reflects the idea of how people sometimes can be blinded by reality. Then there’s a point where someone gets to see how the real world is and it can sometimes have a great impact on him and on those who he tells.
In Oedipus Rex: Trilogy you can see how its characters try to escape fate, but sooner or later fate will reach up to you and surprise you. This is what was proven in the play when Oedipus tried to escape from what the Oracle at Delphi had told him, but later on he found himself caught up in what was supposed to be his destiny yet ending his life in the way the gods had decided.
After all the plays read in class, it has changed me a lot in which it has made me think on how the world really is and how it does relate to the information given. Now thanks to Ms. Shore and how she has taught me I see things how they really are, because sometimes as a human you are “blinded” by something and you need that extra touch to make you realize the truth. I am thankful for this and to say the truth I enjoyed the class a lot, it has made me mature more than what I was and given me a new way to reflect on life and things. I will leave school with this knowledge and to be totally honest I hope I get to use this information for my future life, thanks Ms. Shore.

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Part 2) Fill in the right names:

In the story of Macbeth, Malcolm enters the play as a heroic fighter who defends the Scottish King Duncan against his Norwegian foe who is being aided by that traitorous Scottish Thane Macdonwald. Macbeth gains another thanedom as a reward for his military successes but assumes it is gotten through the supernatural help of The Three Witches. Macbeth is pushed by Lady Macbeth to become a traitor himself. The slain king’s sons run off in well deserved fear Malcolm to England and Donalbain to Ireland. As an example of the brutal tyranny of King Macbeth, we witness the tragic murders of Lady Macduff and their sons. It is only when Macbeth faces off with his nemesis Fleance who fights for the rightful king, Malcolm, that Macbeth falls.

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Part 3) Pick any 3 of the following quotations. Who said it? To whom? Give act, scene, and line. What does it reveal about the character who is speaking?

“Fair is foul, and foul is fair”
By: Witches
To: Themselves
Here the witches are talking themselves about where to meet Macbeth and tell him part of his future.

“Is this the dagger, which I see before me, the handle toward my hand?”
By: Macbeth
To: Lady Macbeth
Here after Macbeth has committed the murder of King Duncan he sees this dagger which represents the action he has done.

“Come you spirits that tend on mortal thought, unsex me here”
By: Lady Macbeth
To: Herself
Here Lady Macbeth talks to herself and sounds crazy when she starts planning the death of King Duncan by using her own husband for the murder.

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Bibliography:

The background image is based on the flowing source:

http://www.american-pictures.com/genealogy/descent/photos/Macbeth.2.jpg

The images on Macbeth Newspaper are based on the flowing source:

http://www.bencelstudios.com/images/Artwork/king.jpg
http://ishtarg.cdemusic.org/macbeth/Banquo-2.jpg
http://www.tate.org.uk/collection/T/T00/T00733_9.jpg
http://www.theatrehistory.com/british/macbeth.jpg
http://x5452.landeck-manor.de/026_022.jpghttp://www.notfallseelsorge.de/Bilder/Funeral%20%20Judge%2005.jpg

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