Analysis Of Macbeth Act 1 Scene 7

When reading Act 1 scene 7, I was particularly captivated by Macbeth’s monologue at the start of the act. During the scene, Macbeth displays weakness and begins to doubt if he should kill Duncan. He uses complex metaphors such as a “naked newborn babe” to describe Duncan’s great power and how he will greatly regret killing him. When acting as Macbeth, I wanted to display the same fear and anger found in Shakespeare’s text. This began with emphasizing the first words of the monologue to exhibit power before later slowing down and speaking quieter in order to display angst and unease. Not only were the lines important, but I also felt that my body language was critical. During the monologue, I felt that I should display dominance and hide what I really felt as Macbeth wanting to hide his true feelings to his wife in the play. I thought that the lines would determine what Macbeth was truly thinking while the body language masked them.

Unlike most female stereotypes, Lady Macbeth clearly had more power over Macbeth and this was very apparent in the scene. In fact, Lady Macbeth emphasizes that she does not have characteristics of a woman by explaining how un-motherly she is and how she would kill a baby when breastfeeding. When Lady Macbeth (Nicole) walked in, I wanted to display weakness and show that she had the power in the relationship. I felt that Nicole did a particularly good job on lines 65-70 as she exhibited dominance and described Macbeth as a coward. To show that I was powerless to my wife, I spoke more quietly and my shoulders were hunched over as if I was scared of Lady