Gothic elements in Macbeth, Act 1

The very first scene of Macbeth has got gothic written all over it. Immediately the setting ‘Thunder and lightning’ gives a ominous tone to the play, moreover the fact that the only characters introduced so far are 3 witches also sets the mood for the gothic themes to follow. The imagery used in this first short scene alone really set the mood for the rest of the play, simply by describing the weather to set the scene and also with the language used by the witches ‘fair is foul and foul is fair:’, this riddle style dialogue used by the witches, adds mystery to their characters and also to the scene. Already within the first scene as a reader we get the idea that something bad is going to happen from the setting and mysterious language.

Moreover throughout the act there is evidence of prophetical speech not only from the three witches but also from Banquo and Lady Macbeth, this emphasises the theme of methaphysicality within the play and thus the gothic element that this entails. In Scene 3 (Line 120-126) Banquo says 'instruments of darkness tell us truths...to betray consequence', meaning that the witches tell part of the truth in order to cause trouble - this prediction as we know is spot on, but it is strange that Banquo makes this judgement especially since he makes such an almost impartial part in the play. Also in Scene 6, immediately Lady Macbeth doubts Macbeth's character 'Yet I do fear thy nature, it is too full o'th' milk of human kindness', in scene 7, this prophetical dialogue is proven true by Macbeth's immediate doubts of the murder of Duncan, ‘bloody instructions which being taught, return to plague th’inventor’.

An interesting gothic element of Act 1 which stands out to me is the idea of darkness/lack of light and goodness; both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth make a reference to this. In Scene 4 Macbeth in a soliloquy says ‘Stars, hide your fires, let not light see my black and deep desires’ (L50-51). This suggests that Macbeth doesn’t want the stars to shine their light so that his evil deeds can be concealed in darkness, however I also interpreted this in a different way, that the ‘light’ of the stars refers to the good within people, and Macbeth does not want this good to shine on his evil deeds, as he knows he will be influenced, possible reference to Banquo? Or his own conscience? I feel this quote displays the dark, sinister torment that is going on inside Macbeth’s head. Also, Lady Macbeth creates similar imagery in scene 5 (L 48-52) ‘come, thick night, and pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell..nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark to cry, ‘hold, hold.’ The last part of this in particular reiterates the sense of fear of influence that Macbeth displays in the previous act, Lady Macbeth knows she is doing wrong, and desires darkness so dark that not even God can shine through and tell her what she is doing is wrong. Does this suggest that she would be influenced by God if the night was not so dark? Does she really fear influence? Is she just as weak as Macbeth? The idea of darkness as a cover emphasises the gothic theme of the play, as darkness in itself is an ominous and sinister factor, yet the way in which they both desire darkness could suggest how dark they have become or even how they are trying to convince themselves that they are dark and capable of the deed that they are going to commit.

Other gothic elements:

* violent imagery used by Lady Macbeth 'i would...have plcuked my nipple from his boneless gums and dashed the brains out, had i so sworn'. 'unsex me here and fill me...of direst cruelty'

*scene 6, Banquo talks of the 'martlet' ( a bird nesting in the 'pleasant' castle', refers to it's residence as a 'temple haunting' - word 'haunting' ominous - supernatural - ghosts.