Critically Commentry on the Opening Scene of Macbeth.

The opening scene usually serves the purpose of an exposition and truly, what
Coleridge pointed out, strikes a spiritual key-note. Shakespeares Macbeth is a
tragedy of the triumph of evil: we are in a world of moral anarchy, symbolized by the
withered beings, to whom " foul is fair ". In a drama, first impressions are lasting, and
Shakespeare contrives to put the spectator in the right mood at once. The first scene,
other than being expositional, establishes a mood or an atmosphere for the action of the
play. The hostile weather featuring fog and filthy air and the loath some witches
croaking out middles create a world of darkness and foulness in which are found the
echoes of the sinister designs of Macbeth and his wife to be seen later. The gathering of
the three witches or the weird sisters in a desolate place in heavy storm, thunder and
lightning and their promise to meet after the storm of great Macbeth upon the health
before the sunset add to the dramas great mystery and horror. Their decision to meet
Macbeth keeps the audience with bated breath and it at once brings up a question in the
minds what can this man called Macbeth have to do with these witches,
rather the distasteful hags?
The opening scene is important particularly in establishing a mood or an
atmosphere in which the main action of the play will be seen by the audience. The scene
is laid in an open place, a place removed from the ordinary human haunt, mundane
business and usual social rules. The weather is not fevourable rather hostile to men,
most disagreeable. The fog and filthy air suggests the universal darkness and
unhealthiness and the appearance of the witches in a desert place, with thunder and
lightning, symbolizes a barren place where evil runs rampant obtaining its mastery over
all things. The storm, at its worst, not only harmonizes with their grotesque guise and
rites, it is also a symbol of the present convulsion in Duncans Kingdom and of the still
greater convulsion to come-a counter part to the hurly burly of battle and murder. The
explanation of the situation contaminates to the second scene. The customary exposition
is avoided in the opening scene the action is initiated in a symbolic sense which burst
at once into wild life. The interest of the audience in the events to follow is thus
appropriately aroused.
The main theme of the reversal of values is given out simply and clearly in the
first scene- Fair is foul and foul is fair; and with it are associated the premonitions
of the conflict, disorder and moral darkness into which Macbeth, most probably will
plunge himself. There is still some further and worse meaning underlying the
obviousness in the enigmatic words of the witches. The witches saw their seed in the
breast of Macbeth, where it finds a soil prepared by his own innate nature, prone to evil,
to make it fructify, and he tastes the bitter fruit. The witches work in a way as the living
instruments of Fate to bring doom in the life of Macbeth. What is more striking is the
oncoming of evil in the universe. Evil is all pervading for it enters surreptitiously
(something done secretly and stealthily) into the world and enters well into evil. It works
poison like threatening all the healthy things in life. Thus, the first scene seems mostly a
foreboding because the witches are a sinister challenge to ordinary goodness. The
witches tell that they will meet Macbeth when the hurly burly is done. Other than the
turmoil of battle and rebel on the word refers to the turmoil in the moral world in which
good and evil stand criss - cross and often evil engulfs the good, thus leading to moral
anarchy in the world.
Witches speech in its use of rhyme intensifies a sense of incantation
and of magical charms, not only in the first scene but also throughout the play. Line four
when the battles is lost and won and line nine Fair is foul and foul is fair offer a
curious paradox. Lost and Won, foul and fair are antonyms and there lies the
dichotomy and the dramatic irony. The witches are the airy nothing and it is only
possible for the airy- nothing to know the future. The knowledge of the future means to
lend the elements of supernaturalism to the play. Moreover, the witches have one craft
they have the power not merely to know but to shape the future for the malevolent ends,
bestowing success in order to work ruin.
Thus, the short and crisp opening scene of Macbeth has many
dramatic purposes. It introduces the dark atmosphere, incorporates into the play its
super-natural elements and gives the fore knowledge of the amalgamation of good and
evil. Of all the best it does is the aid to mans moral knowledge teaching that man, in
spite of his sterling virtues cannot stick to the moral goodness. That evil is over
mastering is the potent truth in the scene.

Prof. Ali Raza Fahad Govt. Postgraduate College, Gojra