Gothic Eliments

CAST LIST;  There are already just by looking at this gothic traits, there are the three witches (or weird sisters) which co notates with the supernatural and it shows us already that there will be strong elements as we also have a Hecate, three apparitions and three other witches, this mirroring the biblical reference of the holy trinity. Shakespeare also gives us three murderers which is pretty self explanatory. Under Macbeth we have ‘thane of Glamis, later thane of Cawdor, later king of Scotland’ which tells us that this play will include the gothic theme of ambition.

ACT 1 SCENE 1; the setting is important to this scene as Shakespeare rarely uses stage directions. Here Shakespeare describes it a ‘a desolate place’ which is gothic because the word ‘Desolate’ has connotations with absence and places which have been withdrawn from modern day society, this is another common gothic element along with the ‘thunder and lightning’ which it is set in. the way the witches use chiasmus creates ambiguity and confusion “fair is foul and foul is fair”, this in turn eliminates any possibility of the audience working out whether the witches are a good or evil, human or supernatural force.

ACT 1 SCENE 2; here the audience are introduced to Macbeth, he is said to be “brave” and “noble” which is usually the case with main gothic protagonists, he is seen to be ‘set up for the fall’ that is typical of gothic texts. Shakespeare starts to use blood as a motif here, the captain is described as a “bloody man” and the way Macbeth uses his sword is that of “which smoked with bloody execution”. This starts to link the motif to war and the aftermath of it. The grotesque is also slightly explored here with the captain saying “my gashes cry for help” and Macbeth “unseamed him from the nave to the chaps”. The harmony in the play is also broken by the old thane of Cawdor who is a traitor, this again exploring another common theme of treachery and deceit which crops up again a couple of times in the play.

ACT 1 SCENE 3; here the ambiguity of the witches thicken in that Macbeth says “you should be woman but your beards forbid me to interpret that you are” which fits with deception and also verges on transgender of the sexes (of which we see more in Lady Macbeth later). The witches equivocation fits in well here with the whole theme of Ambiguity here “lesser then Macbeth and greater” and then with the following “all hail Macbeth, hale to thee, thane of Glames...thane of Cawdor…king hereafter” this prophecy is important as it is the set up for Macbeths ambition.

ACT 1 SCENE 4; in act four Macbeth starts to realise what he has to do in order for the witches prophecy to come true “I’ll be myself the harbinger”, this having a more sinister back line to it which is explained through Macbeths ‘aside’ “let not light see my black and deep desires”. This contains light and dark as a recurring motif that will crop up soon and also the theme of ambition.

ACT1 SCENE 5; lady M is full of sinister and gothic parts so I will just list them here. “I burned with the desire to question them further” (Macbeth about witches). She wonders whether Macbeth will be able to have the strength to do the evil deed “it is too full o’th’milk of human kindness” she asks the spirits to posses her “chastise with the valour of my tongue” she uses symbolism for the devil “the raven himself is hoarse” as well as “come thick night and pall me in the dunnest smoke of hell”. The transgression of sexes comes across again with “unsex me here and fill me to the toe topfull of direst cruelty”. The motif of blood crops up again “make thick my blood”. And then it ends with my favourite line of the whole play “look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under’t”

ACT 1 SCENE 6; nothing really happens…

ACT1 SCENE7; blood crops up as a motif again “bloody instructions” Lady M explores the grotesque more “have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums and dashed the brains out” and then ends with Macbeths parrelellism of “false face must hide what the false heart doth know”.