William Shakespeare was born in Stratford upon Avon in 1564 and later died in 1616. Shakespeare was educated at a local grammar school, but did not have a university education. During those fifty-two years he created at least thirty-seven plays and poems, including his famous sonnets. Most of his work was published after his death, often without his permission.Macbeth was written sometime between 1603 and 1606 with King James in mind. The play compliments James by making his ancestor, Banquo, a hero in the play. Historically, Banquo was an accomplice in the murder of Duncan. The play also explores the issue of kingship and loyalty, which was of great importance to James.The opening scenes of the play in Macbeth are important, as they have to capture the audience's attention. Shakespeare achieves this by introducing them to the main characters of the play, the main aspects of the plot and also by including effective sound effects, which create a captivating atmosphere.The play opens with a meeting of three witches up on a heath with the emphasis of lightning, thunder and darkness. Shakespeare instantly creates a mood of terror and unearthly evil. The audience is immedia

tely plunged into the midst of things and captures their attention by introducing them to the main themes, evil and good, in an effective way. The witches are highly ambiguous creatures that create a sense of mystery. As the witches do not invite Macbeth to or even suggest the idea of killing Duncan, I feel that they are only symbolic of evil and temptation, and that Macbeth is free to resist them." Fair is foul and foul is fair/Hover through the fog and filthy air"In this final couplet of the witches it is shown that they are truly evil by going against gods natural order and this suggests to the audience that, through out the play, the way things may not seem the way they really are.In Shakespeare's day there was widespread belief in the supernatural world and the existence of witches, so this opening scene would have shocked and even frightened the audience.In the following scene we switch from the shadowy world of the witches to the contrasting world of battle and action. Once again the audience is thrown into the middle of the action, a primitive and bloody battle, which is very common in Shakespeare's plays. King Duncan's first words in the play are: "what bloody man is that?" The image of spilled blood appears a lot in the play and it is ironic that Duncan should mention it first. The captain, who is the "bloody man", informed King Duncan that the loyalty and bravery of Macbeth and Banquo has defeated the invading army and the traitor Thane of Cawdor. Duncan declares that the traitor is to be executed and Macbeth is to receive his title and estates as a reward. The captain and Ross's descriptions of the proceedings emphasise Macbeth's heroic part in them. This is shown in the personifications- "disdaining fortune", "valours minion", a

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Approximate Word count = 1182
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)