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Scene Study prepares you to perform key scenes for your theater class or audition. We've got all the information you need for a great performance.
Excerpt from Act 1, Scene 7 Monologue: Macbeth and Lady Macbeth
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Understanding the Given Circumstances
- Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth, are hosting a large dinner party for the King.
- Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have made a plan to assassinate King Duncan so that Macbeth can assume his throne.
- Macbeth has begun to have second thoughts about the plans he and his wife have made to kill the king. He has left the dinner party so that he can be alone with his thoughts.
- Lady Macbeth has noticed his absence and comes to bring him back to the party, worried that his absence will seem suspicious.
- Macbeth tells his wife that he’s decided they should not kill Duncan, and Lady Macbeth attempts to persuade him to recommit to the plan.
Blocking and Movement
In theater, blocking is the process of planning the actors’ physical movements and positions. Show respect and establish trust when working with scene partners. As you prepare to block this dialogue, ask yourself the following questions:
- What room are Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in? Is there any furniture in this room, and if so, where is it?
- Is there a way to place the furniture which makes it easier for the actors to move in a way that neither’s back is to the audience?
- At which points during the scene is Macbeth in control? At which points is Lady Macbeth in control?
- How might the characters use their movements to express confidence and resolution? How might they use movement to express indecision or lack of resolve? Could they be using movement to express a confidence which they do not actually feel?
- When are these characters very close to each other, and when are they far apart? What is the reason for these distances to change, and how does the distance reflect how they feel about each other?
Historical Context and Macbeth
William Shakespeare wrote Macbeth at the beginning of the 17th century, during a time of great political instability in England. After the death of Queen Elizabeth I in 1603, James I of Scotland became the new King of England. Just two years after James I’s succession there was an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate him by blowing up barrels of gunpowder hidden under Parliament. The discovery of this plot, which became known as The Gunpowder Plot, was a terrifying and sensational political development in England at the time.
Macbeth was first performed shortly after this event and, fittingly, tells the story of a Scottish king who is assassinated by a political rival. Although Macbeth tells the story of an 11th century Scottish king, it would be clear to Shakespeare’s audiences of the time that Macbeth alludes to the Gunpowder Plot and the recent assassination attempt on James I. The play explores the grave consequences that would arise if a king were assassinated and an entire nation thrown into political disarray.
Full Dialogue from Act 1, Scene 7: Macbeth and Lady Macbeth
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