macbeth act one

• Paddock is a frog.
• The witches awaken Macbeth's ambition and set the dramatic premise. Their predictions also symbolize the desires of Macbeth's own heart.
• Graymalkin is a cat.
• The bloodied soldier that told the royal family what is happening on the battlefield is the same one that saved Malcolm from a kidnapping.
• Macbeth changed the tides of war and beheaded Macdonwald- the leader of the rebel forces against the King of Scotland, Duncan.
• The Thane of Cawdor is a traitor who helps the Norway army defeat Macbeth. It backfires and he is sentenced to death as well as revoked his title.
• The First Witch messes with a human by cursing her husband to a rat because she refused her a snack.
• The Second Witch admits to messing with local livestock.
• Macbeth's prophecies:

  FIRST WITCH  All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis! (past)SECOND WITCH  All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor! (present)THIRD WITCH  All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter! (future)
• Banquo's prophecies:

  FIRST WITCH  Lesser than Macbeth and greater.SECOND WITCH  Not so happy, yet much happier.THIRD WITCH Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none.
• Macbeth is not happy about the prophecies because to be king, something will have to happen to King Duncan.
• King Duncan and Macbeth are cousins.
• Thane Ross and Thane Angus come to Macbeth to deliver the news of his new title Thane of Cawdor. Two prophecies has just fell into his lap without his doing anything, and he hopes he won't have to do anything to fulfill the last prophecy.
• "What he hath lost, noble Macbeth hath won." -Duncan
• Macbeth has won the new title of Thane of Cawdor. Foreshadowing his betrayal as it has gone from one traitor to another.
• Duncan's fatal flaw is being naive and too trusting.
• Malcom is announced as the Prince and Macbeth knows he must me removed, fueling his ambition.
• Lady Macbeth is introduced. She is ambitious like her husband but more ruthless. She wants him to be king so she can rule with him.
• "There's no art.. an absolute trust. " Duncan had an absolute trust in the Thane of Cawdor. EXAMPLE OF DRAMATIC IRONY.
• Forres is Duncan's castle, the palace.
• Inverness is Macbeth's castle.
• Lady Macbeth gets a letter notifying her of the King's arrival and begins to plan her murderous plot.
• “you spirits

  That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,

  And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full

  Of direst cruelty” -Lady Macbeth
• Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth he is a coward and cannot kill Duncan therefore leave all the planning to her.
• Duncan arrives at Inverness and is relaxed- EXAMPLE OF DRAMATIC IRONY. He is marching to his death.
• Act I Scene 7- Macbeth is not truly evil, still has conscience but the temptation of power and his ambition get in the way of goodness and loyalty.
• Five reasons to not murder Duncan:

  1. Too bold of a decision.
  2. Parricide is bad
  3. Duncan has been a blameless king.
  4. As a host, he should be protecting Duncan.
  5. Serious dangerous consequences.
• The role of the witches in Act I Scene I is to:

  1. introduce paradoxes (nothing is as it seems)
  2. awaken Macbeth's ambition
  3. fulfill the supernatural element
  4. set tone and mood