The Importance of Setting in Macbeth

Probably you are already aware of the three important elements of a play: the plot (what happens), the setting
(when and where it happens) and the characters whose speeches and actions you evaluate to understand why
they behave as they do.

The summary of each Act will give you a good idea of what happens in Macbeth. If you are like most readers,
you have probably paid scant attention to the setting. Broadly speaking, it deals with more than time or place.
The playwright creates a certain atmosphere through descriptive passages. The characters he creates also reflect
ethical values of his period. These too are part of the setting. For example, Macbeth’s “vaulting ambition”
would have seemed a greater fault to Elizabethan audiences than it does to us. Remember that the Elizabethans
were still close to the medieval attitude that striving for advancement in this world was not important or even
desirable; living so as to gain rewards in the after life should be one’s only aim. Again, to the Elizabethans and
to Shakespeare himself, a strong monarchist, murdering a king was a heinous crime. To violate the rules of
hospitality was a serious offense in itself. Such ethical considerations are all part of the setting of the play.

But now let’s review Acts I and II to see how Shakespeare creates the proper atmosphere for his story.
1. In Act I Scene I the witches meet in a “desert place” during a thunderstorm. How do the weather and the
place contribute to the eerie atmosphere? What colour would best symbolise both the setting and the
witches?
The weather is described as “Thunder, lighting or in rain.” This pathetic fallacy is associated with
darkness and evil, which foreshadows the witches personalities. The place demonstrates that the witches
are cut off from everyone else and are in another realm of their own. They are different and almost ‘not
of this earth’. The colour that would best symbolize the setting and the witches would be a black or dark
blue which demonstrates their darkness, evilness and manipulativeness.
2. When Macbeth and Banquo meet the witches on the barren heath, Macbeth mentions the “foul day”.
Usually, in a performance of this play, Macbeth and Banquo meet the witches in a very foggy place. If
Macbeth’s “foul” means foggy, why is the weather appropriate for what happens? Clue: Do Macbeth
and Banquo see clearly in any sense? Technically, why would the fog be to the actors’ advantage?
The weather is appropriate as the fog is another pathetic fallacy – associated with darkness and
manipulating. This weather is appropriate as this is the first scene where Macbeth decides that he might
be able to take fate into his own hands and manipulate it himself. Macbeth and Banquo are at an
advantage because of the fog, as this means that they may not think they are seeing clearly. Banquo even
questions whether he has eaten a magic mushroom that has made him hallucinate.
3. Reread Lady Macbeth’s speech in Act I Scene V lines 39-41. You can now have little doubt of her
intention to kill the king. Why is it appropriate that she mentions the raven in this speech? Clue:
Remember his colour, voice and reputation.
The raven is an important symbol in Lady Macbeth’s soliloquy. The raven is an animal also associated
with wicked, wrong doings and he is black which represents again darkness and evil. His voice is croaky
which indicates that Lady Macbeth is comparing herself to that of a raven – untrustworthy and evil.
4. In Scene VI, when the king (with Banquo and others) arrives at Macbeth’s castle, Banquo mentions that
the marlet (martin or swallow), a bird fond of nesting around churches, had made his nest there. Reread
his speech, lines 3-9: what is the obvious contrast with the raven that Lady Macbeth mentioned? In view
of what you already know of Lady Macbeth’s intentions, why is it ironic that Banquo mentions the
gentle martin?
The obvious contrasts between the raven and the martin are; it is innocent and delicate, approved by all
and gentle. This is ironic as just earlier Lady Macbeth is comparing herself to an evil dark raven. Here
Banquo is speaking about how this castle is a home for such a sweet innocent bird and that it is safe.
Little do they know that another bird lurks inside the castle, one far less innocent than the martin.
5. See Duncan’s speech which opens Scene IV. Again, what is the irony here? Note that Shakespeare
creates the irony by contrasting what is (and we, the readers, know) with what seems to be (to Duncan).
 There is again irony and contrast between what we know to what Duncan is seeing. Duncan says “This
castle hath a pleasant seat: the air nimbly and sweetly recommends itself unto our gentle senses.” King
Duncan is declaring that Lady Macbeth and Macbeth’s castle is a safe haven which is highly contrasted
to what we really know; this will be the setting in which Duncan is murdered.
6. At what time of the day or night was Duncan killed in Act II? Why was the time well suited to the deed?
King Duncan was murdered at night, and this is significant with the atmosphere of the play. Night is
presumed to be when evil and wrongdoers come out to lurk. They are hidden by the cloak of darkness
which is night and this is why the time was well suited for cowards like Lady Macbeth and Macbeth to
launch their plan.
7. How does nature ‘react’ to the murder of the king?
Nature reacts as if dead. Macbeth portrays it as howling and longing for the return of such a good king.
The wolf is alarmed and his howl is steadily ringing. He uses nature as a metaphor for his deeds; nothing
will cleanse him, not all the oceans in the world, and he has stained the perfect green forest red with this
innocent blood.