Act 1, Scene 1: The Witches' Opening Scene
Ever wondered why Shakespeare chose to start his tragedy with witches rather than the main character? This opening scene does loads of heavy lifting to create the perfect atmosphere for everything that follows.
The three witches meet in a desolate place during a thunderstorm, immediately establishing that we're in for something dark and supernatural. They're planning to meet again after a battle has finished - "when the battle's lost and won" - which creates this sense that they're watching and waiting to interfere in human affairs.
Shakespeare uses trochaic tetrameter (a rhythmic pattern) instead of his usual iambic pentameter, which makes the witches' speech sound unnatural and unsettling. It's like an irregular heartbeat that puts the audience on edge. The rhyming couplets make their words sound like spells or incantations.
Key Point: This controversial opening would have shocked Shakespeare's audience, especially King James I, who famously hated witches and wrote about them. The pathetic fallacy (using weather to reflect mood) with the thunder and lightning creates an immediately sinister atmosphere that shadows the entire play.
