William Shakespeare wrote Macbeth, around 500 years ago. In these times there were no stage lights or special effects so imagery was used to create mental pictures.
The first acknowledgement of Macbeth is in scene one by the three witches. They vow to meet him after the battle. Macbeth's identity is unknown at this stage, but the audience will wonder what connection he has with these dark mysterious witches. The atmosphere around these witches is dark and gloomy "hover through the fog and filthy air". The intent of this scene is to grab the attention of the audience. The witches" conversation will make them curious as to who Macbeth is and his connection with the witches. Macbeth's character is perceived to be mysterious here. We are told he is at war "when the battle's lost and won", so he is believed to be a soldier.
In the next scene the king Duncan is introduced, he plays a very important part in the play, as he is the victim of Macbeth's hamartia. A dying captain talks of "brave Macbeth", who has "faced the slave" (Macdonald, the traitor who is fighting against King Duncan) and "unseamed him from the nave to th"chaps". This description portrays Macbeth to be a courageous, strong soldier. Macbeth has confronted and killed Macdonald. However it is to the extent at which he does this that gives us an idea about his character, he didn't just stab Macdonald, he split his body from the stomach to the throat and hung up his head. Macbeth appears to be very powerful and has a raw killer instinct in battle. .
Macbeth has captured Cawdor and obtained a peace treaty from the King of Norway. Duncan sentences the thane of Cawdor to death and announces that the current hero Macbeth will become the new thane of Cawdor. King Duncan describes Macbeth as "noble", however the way Macbeth plans to undermine and kill Duncan later in the play is far from noble, it is devious.
The three witches meet again on the heath (after the battle) as vowed and meet Macbeth and Banquo.
