Macbeth Act 1 Summary PDF

# Act I Summary ## The Prophecies - The prophecies were the major force that drove the plot. - It seems that Macbeth would be the Thane of Glamis and of Cawdor and would not cause much of a disturbance without them. - The promise that Macbeth will one day be king sets off the actions for the rema...

# Act I Summary ## The Prophecies - The prophecies were the major force that drove the plot. - It seems that Macbeth would be the Thane of Glamis and of Cawdor and would not cause much of a disturbance without them. - The promise that Macbeth will one day be king sets off the actions for the remainder of the act. - Banquo was also told that he is greater and more fortunate than Macbeth in some ways. - More importantly, his descendants will become kings. ## Macbeth - Before the audience meets Macbeth, he is described as a brave warrior. - He risks his life to serve his king. - He also has a vicious mean streak. - He is said to have gutted and to have beheaded Macdonwald. - He is ambitious and becomes transfixed by the prophecies after he hears them. - He is not as willing a participant in the murder schemes as his wife is. - There is still hope for him to be a good man. ## Lady Macbeth - She is the dominant and "masculine" character in the First Act. - She immediately starts to plot how her husband will become king, after hearing the prophecy. - She recognizes that Macbeth will be hesitant in harming another, but she presses Macbeth to act. - She is perceptive enough to plan and know her husband quite well. - Lady Macbeth and Macbeth share as equal a partnership as we can expect to find. - One of the most frightening things in the play is the genuine power of Lady Macbeth's mind, her powers of both analysis and persuasion. - She seems to have intimate apprehension of her husband's deepest desires. - She perfectly understands what combination of arguments will prove irresistible to the masculine ego: "Be a man," and "If you really loved me you'd do it." ## Gender Roles - Men are supposed to be the strong, active, steady and dominant figures. - The wives are supposed to be secondary to their husbands. - Macbeth keeps changing his mind (like a girl changes clothes or perhaps her mind like in Sonnet 20). - Lady Macbeth and her husband share an equal relationship at the onset of Scene v. - However, quickly, Lady Macbeth ascends to the power position in the marriage. - This is an inversion of the common gender roles, with the woman being in charge of her husband. ## Banquo - Macbeth's foil: a character who serves to highlight one or more attributes of another character, often the protagonist, by providing a contrast. - After hearing of the prophecies concerning himself, Banquo astutely realizes that the witches could be instruments of darkness who are trying to harm Macbeth and himself. - Macbeth constantly considers what he should go after hearing the prophecies, and we do not have the access to Banquo's thoughts to the same degree. ## Ambition - By comparing the three main characters, the audience has an interesting juxtaposition of ambitions. - Banquo is the least ambitious. - It does not seem that he will act upon the words delivered by the witches. - If anything happens, it will be by fate intervening and not his own actions. - Lady Macbeth is willing to kill Duncan to give her husband a chance at the throne of Scotland. - She tosses away morals and is highly ambitious. - Macbeth is the middle ground between the other characters. - He does want to be the King of Scotland and starts to obsess over the prophecies, but he is not a totally willing partaker in his wife's malevolent plots. - It appears as if he could go either way. ## Fair is Foul and Foul is Fair - Perhaps relating to ambition, it is fair for a thane to have ambition, but it is foul to attempt to murder his king. - Macbeth, the real life figure, had a legitimate claim to the throne. - It is conceivable that the "woman" - Maybe the witches are telling the truth about the world of the play - that there really are no ethical standards in it, no right or wrong side.