Macbeth: An Analysis of Act 1, Scene 1OK, I'm clearly developing some kind of dependence on Mr Bruff, but he's put these videos on YouTube and I'm spending most of my time getting poetry videos together, so who am I to forego an opportunity to save myself some time?
|
These videos are great for revising the plot of the story. I'd recommend watching one per evening and making notes on each as you go. It really helps you to remember the plot if you look at it little and often, rather than all in one big go. Trust me. I learned the hard way!
Oh, Hecate. This is the scene that has been widely debated over the years - did Shakespeare write it, or was it included as an afterthought by another writer, in order to further the plot/help it all make sense?
Whatever side of the argument you're on, it's worth noting this scene as many others won't have studied it. It shows Hecate chastising the witches for toying with Macbeth, and vowing to make Macbeth see his destiny through a set of illusions.
It's interesting to see the power and control being ripped from the witches' hands here - ultimately, they hold a lot of control over Macbeth in that they direct him towards different choices. However, here we see that even the Weird Sisters have a chain of command, and at times even supernatural beings can break the rules.
One of Shakespeare's most famous scenes, Act 4 Scene 1 returns us to the Weird Sisters as we see them creating a potion in their cauldron.
Delivered in trochaic tetrameter, as all of Shakespeare's supernatural speeches are, we are party to a creepy, unsettling scene that shows us just what the Weird Sisters are capable of.
This is an interesting scene, as Macbeth arrives demanding answers but leaves with a little less than he hoped for - a series of vague predictions, unclear ideas and an ultimate warning that he may or may not choose to heed.