The document summarizes scenes from Act 1 of Macbeth. It describes Macbeth's victory over Macdonwald in battle, earning him praise from Duncan. It then discusses Macbeth and Banquo encountering the witches and their prophecies. Lady Macbeth urges Macbeth to murder Duncan when he stays at their castle that night, claiming it will help Macbeth become king.

1. ACT ONE
SCENE 2

2. • Macdonwald was a rebel
against Duncan, Macbeth
literally ripped him apart in
battle.
• “Till [Macbeth] unseamed
[Macdonwald] from the nave to
the chops” (Captain).

3. • What are the qualities of a
military hero?

4. • Macbeth is an extremely skilled
and dedicated soldier, one
with no mercy for the enemy.
He is a military hero.
• “Dismayed not this our captains,
Macbeth and Banquo?” (King).
• “As sparrows eagles, or the hare
the lion” (Captain).

5. • Banquo was fighting alongside
Macbeth.
• Macbeth and Banquo were as
frightened as eagles are of
sparrows and lions are of
rabbits, in other words, not
frightened at all.

6. • Duncan is making Macbeth
the new Thane of Cawdor,
thus bestowing him with honor
and property.
• “What [Cawdor] hath lost, noble
Macbeth hath won” (King).

7. • Macbeth is brave, strong,
loyal, skillful, ruthless, persistent,
bold, and self-confident.
• He is described as wanting to
bathe in the blood of his
enemies and as the husband
of the goddess of war.

8. • The Thane of Cawdor is guilty
of treason and will be
executed.
• Thane = An old Scottish title for
the chief of a clan, roughly
equal to “Earl”.

9. DO NOW:
• It is better to be feared than loved.
• Do you agree with this statement?
Explain.

10. ACT ONE, SCENE III
• Vocabulary and Allusions
• Tiger – the name of the ship
making the journey to
Alleppo, a city in northern Syria

11. • Thane = An old Scottish title for
the chief of a clan, roughly
equal to “Earl”.

12. • Weird = from the
Old English “wyrd”
meaning fate or, in
the plural, “the
Fates.”
• (In Roman
mythology the
three goddesses
supposed to
control the course
of human life.)

13. • Cawdor – located in
northwestern Nairnshire,
between Inverness and Forres.
• Glamis – A village north of
Forfar.
• Check Map of Scotland

14. INSANE ROOT
• A herb or root causing insanity.
Shakespeare may have had in
mind such plants as hemlock,
henbane, or deadly
nightshade.

15. ACT I, SCENE 3
• Like the witches in the first scene,
Macbeth speaks of a mixture of
foul and fair.
• The witches are old and dressed
wildly. They have bony fingers
and thin lips, and they wear
beards.

16. MACHIAVELLI AND THE PRINCE
• At the very
beginning of the
16th century, an
Italian politician,
philosopher, and
writer named
Machiavelli wrote
The Prince.

17. • In this book, he described the
characteristics he saw as
necessary to an effective political
leader.
• The book attained notoriety and
sometimes condemnation both in
Italy and elsewhere.

18. • Machiavellianism was a hot topic
in Shakespeare’s England and is
reflected in plays like Macbeth.
• Watch for evidence of the
following as you read the play.

19. • A good ruler must know how to do
wrong and be able to use that
ability when necessary.
• Virtue can ruin a person, and vice
can bring success.
• Generosity can ruin a person.

20. • Sometimes a successful leader will
have to be cruel.
• It is better to be feared than to be
loved.
• A good leader must be crafty and
capable of dissembling.

21. • It is more important to look virtuous
than to be virtuous.
• A leader must not give an
impression of being greedy, fickle,
or cowardly.

22. ACT I, SCENE 4
• The first four scenes surface a
number of images that pervade
the play as a whole.
• Night and darkness come up over
and over again, almost as objects
of prayer.

23. IMAGERY
• Blood drenches the text from the
description of Macbeth’s merciless
slaying of MacDonald to other
murders in the text.
• Animals are frequently mentioned-
toad, cat, horses, owls, falcon,
dogs, a bear, scorpions and more.

24. • Shakespeare also makes
interesting use of clothing
imagery.
• The witches “so withered, and so
wild in their attire.”
• “Why do you dress me in
borrowed robes,” (Macbeth,
scene iii)

25. SCENE 4
• The King welcomes Macbeth and
cannot praise him enough for his
actions in battle.
• The King gives the title “Prince of
Cumberland” to his eldest
son, Malcolm.

26. • At the time of Duncan’s reign, the
throne of Scotland was not
hereditary.
• If the King’s successor was
designated during the monarch’s
lifetime, he received the title of
Prince of Cumberland, as a sign of
his future succession.

27. • Macbeth discusses how this will
now stand in his way of the throne.
• “That is a step on which I must fall
down, or else o’erleap, for in my
way it lies” (Macbeth, scene iv).

28. DO NOW
• Describe Macbeth’s thoughts as he
makes his decision to carry out
Duncan’s murder. What are some
reasons for his hesitation? (p. 55)

29. ACT I, SCENE 5
• Lady Macbeth reads a letter from
her husband as the scene opens.
• What does the letter state and
how does this stir her?

30. • “Yet do I fear thy nature; It is too
full o’ th’ milk of human kindness
… Art not without ambition, but
without the illness should attend it”
(Lady Macbeth, scene 5)
• Illness = the evil quality-
ruthlessness- which should go
along with ambition

31. • She wants Macbeth to hurry home
so she can “get in his ear” about
attaining the golden crown.
• She calls on the spirits to “unsex”
her. She is asking to be free of
mercy and gentleness, qualities
traditionally associated with the
female sex.

32. • Macbeth arrives and gives her
news of Duncan’s stay as guest at
their castle that night in Inverness.
• She tells Macbeth to “look like th’
innocent flower, but be the
serpent under it.”
• What does she mean?

33. • How can Lady Macbeth’s attitude
be characterized as
“Machiavellian”?

34. • She tells Macbeth to receive
Duncan with a welcoming eye, a
handshake and conversation.
• Make him think he is an honored
guest = false sense of security.
• Macbeth must leave the rest of
the planning to her and keep an
innocent face.

35. ACT I, SCENE 6
• Lady Macbeth skillfully applies her
own advice to “look like the
innocent flower, but be the
serpent under it.”

36. • The King is totally trusting, and lady
Macbeth says all the expected
social things, while in fact she is
trying to convince her husband to
kill Duncan.

37. ACT I, SCENE 7
• Do Now:
• Paraphrase Macbeth’s first
soliloquy using the pages in your
handout.

38. • Inside the castle, while
preparations are made for the
evening’s feast with King Duncan,
Macbeth ponders his idea of
assassinating the king.

39. • Lady Macbeth understands
that she will have to
manipulate her husband into
acting on the witches’
prophecy.

40. When Macbeth is hesitant
about murdering Duncan, lady
Macbeth questions his
manhood.

41. • She compares his willingness to
carry through on Duncan’s murder
with his ability to carry out a sexual
act.
• “Art thou afeard to be the same in
thine own act and valor as thou
art in desire?”
• Desire=Sex

42. • Throughout the play, whenever
Macbeth shows signs of
faltering, lady Macbeth implies
that he is less than a man.

43. THE PLAN…
• While Duncan sleeps, she will give
his servants wine to make them
drunk, and then she and Macbeth
can slip in and murder Duncan.
• They will smear the blood of
Duncan on the sleeping servants
to cast the guilt upon them.

44. • Macbeth tells her that she
should “bring forth men-
children only” because she is
so bold and courageous.

45. • “False face must hide what the
false heart doth know”
(Macbeth).
• Mirrors the “innocent flower” lines
from lady Macbeth.
• Reflects Machiavelli’s ideas