Language Paper 1 Section A Macbeth Act 1.1

I’m year 11 and I don’t have my notes with me right now, but off the top of my head, some of the best points i would throw in are:

- Macbeth is enthralled by the supernatural, he believes in the witches even though everything they say has a double meaning, they are arguably the starting point of Macbeth’s downfall + the cause of his demise
- banquo does not trust the witches, it proves how he is a good person with morals
- explain, using quotes from the whole book, how this is the beginning of a cycle, where banquo + Macbeth become complete opposites and the irony of Macbeth (using the witches) gained the throne when in fact it is banquo (who rejected the witches) who actually gains the throne in the end through his ancestry. ( his descendant regain the throne)
- look at how the supernatural is always portrayed very negatively throughout the play
- CONTEXT = King James (King at the time Shakespeare wrote this play) hunted witches and hated anything supernatural, he even wrote a book about it called ‘Daemonologie’ so maybe Shakespeare is just making sure king James agrees with his portrayal of the supernatural in this play.
- there is a key theme - INVERSION OF NATURE - that is caused by the supernatural, where basically everything that was caused by the witches is warped and wrong. there is a key scene about this (I can’t remember exactly but I think it’s act 3) where the horses go crazy and the hawk is attacked by a smaller bird or something but it demonstrated how evil supernatural things is affecting everything.
- finally, the lady Macbeth scene, “unsex me here” is all about the supernatural, and she goes mad by the end of the play because of it, and you can imply that it is all because supernatural forces were involved. (Lady Macbeth parallels Macbeth himself)

SO BASICALLY, Macbeth was doomed from the beginning of the play because he turned to the supernatural, while banquo didn’t which is why he remained a good and honest character, and ALL SUPERNATURAL STUFF IS BAD.

Enjoy