Macbeth - Act Overview - Act 1

So far Act one of Macbeth has displayed numerous gothic elements. Firstly the scene starts with three witches, casting spells and chanting and so forth. Witches are almost primarily associated with the gothic scene being supernatural. Next, practically the whole play is set within a castle, obviously another gothic horror trend. Also there seems to be a lot happening at the night time, like the witches so far, and other scenes that I know of yet to come, like murders at night.

There seems to be many references to death and blood also. Another thing is that there is a lot of scheming and betrayal going on.

Lady Macbeth appears to be almost like a conscience to Macbeth, influencing his thoughts and actions. She seemingly has more power then he does, this could be seen in a different light though as she is aware of the power Macbeth himself has due to his status, and therefore she knows he can get rid of the king without being touched.

Another thing is that when Lady Macbeth says "unsex me here" it seems to me as this is almost like a spell, maybe a link between the witches and herself. which could be another gothic horror trend.

(to be continued)