1. What is the purpose of the opening scene?

2. What is our first impression of Macbeth?  How do we get this impression?

3. Discuss the character of Lady Macbeth and her contributions to the play. What is her character all about? Is she a better person than Macbeth? Does she influence Macbeth in his decisions? How do you think she will contribute to the downfall of Macbeth? What is Lady Macbeth’s chief function in the play?

4. Fair is foul and foul is fair. In Macbeth, things are seldom what they seem, and we often don't know what's really happening. The play is full of ambiguity and double meanings. Discuss the paradoxes presented in the first act.  How do these paradoxes relate to the theme of the story?

WRITE NOW:

Write a one to two page essay about persons, places, things or ideas that appear "fair" when they are really "foul"–or appear "foul" when they are really "fair."