Macbeth: Act I

EQ: What is loyalty?

Loyalty is a main component of the first act of Macbeth in that it sets the scenario in which the characters are involved in.

In the second scene, King Duncan finds out that Macbeth and Banquo, two of their Scottish generals had defeated rebel Macdonald, who had captured the King's son.  King Duncan is also told that the thane of Cawdor has betrayed the King, so he sentences him to death and gives Macbeth the title of thane because of his great defeat on the battlefield. This shows where not only Macbeth's loyalty was, but also where Banquo's loyalty belonged to as well: King Duncan, and Scotland.  This one scene also shows you that King Duncan had many loyal followers, however, some did not always remain loyal.  What this shows about loyalty is that it is something to be cherished, and there are responsibilities whether or not you are loyal to a certain person, especially if you have been trusted to be loyal, and have made a commitment to be loyal towards that person. There will be rewards for being loyal towards the right people, but consequences for betraying the loyalty that you once had promised.

Loyalty is dependent on trust, to whom you are loyal to.  In the third scene while going home, Macbeth and Banquo encounter three witches who tell them that MacBeth will become King one day; however, Banquo's children will become Kings.  This prophecy throws MacBeth off, as he begins to wonder how exactly he would become King.  He starts to believe that what the witches day are true, and trusts their word; therefore, putting loyalty into their prophecies.  This brings out his desire into becoming King, and the desire to gain much power that comes with the crown. However, he consciously remains loyal towards King Duncan and does not think much about preforming a dirty deed to gain the crown for himself.  However, this shows that loyalty is given in proportions to whom you choose, to whom one trusts greater than the other, and also it still remains although loyalty may be split.

When Lady Macbeth hears of the witches' prophecy about Macbeth becoming King in scene five, she plots for Macbeth to murder the King in order to become King himself.  She acknowledges her masculine qualities in order to persuade Macbeth in becoming more 'manly' himself- by murdering King Duncan while he is a guest at their home.  This shows that we can be influenced by our multiple loyalties, but one always reigns supreme over the other.  However, this is not a good thing, for one can be manipulated by putting their trust and loyalty into someone with intentions that contradict their own.

Although Macbeth decides that he will not murder the King for his own desire of having the crown, Lady Macbeth continues to push him emotionally in order for him to preform the deed in which he did not want to go through with, (scene seven).  She convinces him that nobody will ever find out he killed King Duncan by framing the guards, and he will gain power over Scotland.  He agrees to murder the King, because of the loyalty that he has for his wife.  This shows that our loyalties can be torn at times, and that we will have to choose amongst them when being pressured and influenced from multiple directions.  It can be hard, and our own emotions can be altered by what others say, depending on the amount of trust and loyalty that we have in them.