Sajeda Ahmad May 16, 2017

GB 
Macbeth Mid-Unit Essay 
 
How do Shakespeare’s structural choices create an effect of mystery, tension, or 
suspense in the first two acts of the play? 
 
Shakespeare’s ​Macbeth​ is a play that is mainly a tragedy. The setting of the 
play is based in Forres, Scotland. The first act of the play starts off with three witches 
speaking to Macbeth. They add a supernatural effect to the play. The first few lines 
of what the witches speak give us an idea that we know that they are mysterious 
and that they do not talk about their intentions. Later on there is a bloody battle that 
occurs and Macbeth’s part of the war has won. After that, the witches come to 
Macbeth once again and they tell Macbeth his future, that he will soon one day be 
king, which he suspects to be shocking to him and wonders how do they know what 
will happen to him next. Macbeth has written a letter to his wife, lady Macbeth, 
speaking of what the supernatural witches have told him. Once lady Macbeth knows 
her husband may soon be announced king one day, she plots that she and her 
husband should kill Duncan, the king of Scotland. Once Macbeth comes home from 
the battle she speaks of the intended actions she is willing to take with Macbeth. 
Although, Macbeth was not sure that it was the right idea to kill Duncan so that he 
can be king, but lady Macbeth changes his mind by making him sound scrawny and 
weak for not willing to kill Duncan, and making it seem that she is tougher than him 
by saying that if she had to kill her own child, she would. Their plan was to kill 
Duncan while he was in bed asleep, and after he was killed, they would place the 
swords on his soldiers so that they can take the blame instead. The second act 
starts with Macbeth killing Duncan. He comes to lady Macbeth and tells her has 
‘done the deed’ which means he has accomplished the murder, but he brings the 
sword with him and does not put the blame on his soldiers until lady Macbeth takes 
the daggers and places them on the drunk soldiers and covered them with blood. 
Macbeth was very paralyzed by the action he had committed. The next morning, the 
village finds out that Duncan has been murdered while lady Macbeth and Macbeth 
remain to seem clueless of who the murderer is. After Duncan’s sons, Malcolm and 
Donalbain, figure out that their father has died, they decided to take their separate 
ways, one to England, the other to Ireland, so that they can remain safe. And that 
concludes the first two acts of the play.   
In ​Macbeth, S ​ hakespeare decides to create suspense and tension in different 
parts of the play. In act one, the play starts off with an oxymoron, “Fair is foul, and 
foul is fair…”(1.1.12) this quote is spoken by the witches in the play. It means that good 
is evil and evil is good which makes us, the audience, wonder who/ what could be 
both evil and good. This quote creates suspense because it makes us think if we will 
ever figure out what the witches mean by good yet evil. Another part of the first act 
that reveals tension is in scene 5, lines 76-78. “Look like the innocent flower, but be 
the serpent under’t”. This quote is spoken by Lady Macbeth, and what this means is 
that she is telling Macbeth that to everyone, he shall seem as sweet and innocent as 
a flower, but underneath he will be deadly and vicious like a snake. This creates 
suspense because it is showing that lady Macbeth wants Macbeth to hide his 
darkness (evil side) with his kind face that makes him seem so innocent. In the 
second act there is more tension and suspense going on. An example would be “Is 
this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand? Come, let me 
clutch thee. I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.”(2.1.44-47) It is spoken by 
Macbeth and he is saying that he sees a dagger floating in the air but he can’t grab it 
because he is imagining it like an illusion. This scene creates suspense because it 
adds another supernatural element to the play and it reveals Macbeth’s inner 
feelings about what he has done to Duncan. A last example of tension or suspense 
in the second act is “The night has been unruly. Where we lay, Our chimneys were 
blown down and , as they say, Lamentings heard i’ th’ air, strange screams of death” 
(2.3.60-63) This quote is spoken by Lennox to Macbeth saying that there has been 
strange things going on ever since Duncan was killed such as the chimneys have 
been blown out, and the strange screams of death, but at the moment they did not 
know Duncan was dead, they have only witnessed the strange things. This shows 
tension for those living in the village, and the audience will want to know if more 
strange things are going to be happening, this shows how everyone was affected by 
the death of their king even though no one knew about the murder yet. 
The main person in the play who creates the tension or suspense is Macbeth. 
Even with all the wrong he has done, he gets away with it because of his clear 
background of helping the king and his innocent looks. Repeating back to what was 
said earlier, he was described by lady Macbeth as an innocent flower, but 
underneath he is a serpent. Showing that his cruel acts have been hidden by his 
innocent looks. People who also create tension in the play are the three witches. 
Right away by knowing that there are supernatural beings in the beginning of the 
play, we already know something suspicious would be going on. For example, in act 
one, the witches come forward to Macbeth and tell him what his future beholds. 
And once one of his future successes happens, he becomes stunned and realizes 
that these immortals know what his future has for him, yet they do not speak of any 
intentions they have. This of which leads to the tension of the play with the audience 
wanting to know what the witches want or what they are planning.  
 Throughout the play we have seen how different characters and plot settings 
affect the tensions, suspense, and mysteries of the play. The characters that you 
may least expect, can come up with horrid ideas that make them seem the opposite 
of who they are which leads to the suspense in the play. Also by adding 
supernatural elements, or figures in the play, that also adds the suspense. The 
tensions are committed in how the characters act and what we want to know from. 
We might want to know what is happening next, or what do certain characters mean 
when they speak. And by adding tension, that wants the reader to keep pushing 
forward and keep reading. And when certain characters do certain actions it adds a 
mysterious affect. Or the setting of the scene can also add a mysterious effect. 
In conclusion, Shakespeare’s structural choices create an effect of mystery, 
tension, and suspense in the first two acts of his play, ​Macbeth​. He does this by 
involving all characters feelings and intentions. He also does this by the plots and 
settings of the play especially with the added elements and figures of supernatural 
elements. Therefore, Shakespeare’s ​Macbeth​ does add the effects of mystery, 
tension, and suspense.