Macbeth, Part 1: Context, Characters and Act 1

Hook: three strangers and a promise

Imagine walking home from the biggest win of your life when three strange figures step out of the fog and say: You'll be captain next year... and one day, you'll run the whole league. Then, an hour later, the coach names you captain. Would you start believing the rest? Would you wait for it, or make it happen?

That is the question at the heart of The Tragedy of Macbeth, the Shakespeare play you'll study over the next four lessons.

Getting the context

• Author and date: William Shakespeare wrote Macbeth around 1606. It is one of his tragedies and is often called his shortest one.
• The king watching: in 1603 James VI of Scotland also became King James I of England, and Shakespeare's acting company became the King's Men. James was fascinated by witchcraft; he had published a book about it, Daemonologie, in 1597. A Scottish play with witches and a royal murder suited the moment.
• The source: Shakespeare adapted the story loosely from Holinshed's Chronicles, a history book of his time. He changed a lot. There was a real King Macbeth of Scotland in the 1000s, but the play is not an accurate history.
• Where to read it: the play is in the public domain. Free full texts are available online, for example from Project Gutenberg or the Folger Shakespeare Library website. Line numbers differ between editions, so these lessons cite act and scene (for example 1.3 means Act 1, Scene 3).

Who's who

Reading Shakespeare's language: a decoder

Shakespeare's English is Early Modern English, not Old English. Most words are ones you know. A few patterns unlock most lines:

Strategies for reading the play (before, during and after, from Lesson 1):

1. Before each scene, read a short summary so you know what happens. Knowing the plot doesn't spoil Shakespeare; it frees you to notice how he does it.
2. During, read aloud, to the punctuation, not the line ends. Paraphrase hard lines in your own words. Keep jot notes on each character's motivation: What does this person want right now?
3. After, watch a filmed or live performance of the scene if you can, and compare it with your reading.

Act 1 in brief

• 1.1: On a stormy heath, three witches plan to meet Macbeth. They chant Fair is foul, and foul is fair: / Hover through the fog and filthy air.
• 1.2: A wounded captain tells King Duncan how bravely Macbeth fought the rebels. Duncan orders the traitor Thane of Cawdor executed and gives his title to Macbeth.
• 1.3: Macbeth and Banquo meet the witches. Macbeth's first line echoes them: So foul and fair a day I have not seen. The witches hail him Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor, and king hereafter. Minutes later, messengers bring news that he is now Thane of Cawdor.
• 1.4: Duncan names his son Malcolm heir to the throne (Prince of Cumberland). In an aside, Macbeth reveals a dark thought: Stars, hide your fires; / Let not light see my black and deep desires.
• 1.5: Lady Macbeth reads Macbeth's letter about the witches. She fears he is too full o' th' milk of human kindness to seize the crown. When she hears Duncan is coming to stay the night, she plans his murder and tells Macbeth to look like th' innocent flower, / But be the serpent under 't.
• 1.6: Duncan arrives at the Macbeths' castle and praises its pleasant seat.
• 1.7: In a soliloquy, Macbeth lists reasons not to kill Duncan and admits his only motive is Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself / And falls on th' other. He tells his wife they will not go ahead. She challenges his courage and his love, and lays out a plan: drug Duncan's guards and blame them. Macbeth agrees.