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#MacbethActOneScOne
l.6
FIRST WITCH: Where the place?
SECOND WITCH: Upon the heath.
THIRD WITCH: There to meet with Macbeth.
The metrical hiccup before "Macbeth" announces the play's title character. The line is missing a syllable from the witches' trochaic tetrameter.
1/
l.6
FIRST WITCH: Where the place?
SECOND WITCH: Upon the heath.
THIRD WITCH: There to meet with Macbeth.
The metrical hiccup before "Macbeth" announces the play's title character. The line is missing a syllable from the witches' trochaic tetrameter.
1/
There's a classic Shakespearean technique of having *other* characters discuss the play's hero before they arrive: Othello, R&J have notable examples. (In Hamlet they discuss Old Hamlet not Young Hamlet, significant in itself).
2/
2/
Here, the witches' proclamation of Macbeth's name precedes the report of Macbeth's heroism that comes in 1.2.
It's as if M is pre-cursed by the witches. They get to him first. Already, Macbeth is heading to a collision with a higher power than even Duncan.
3/3
It's as if M is pre-cursed by the witches. They get to him first. Already, Macbeth is heading to a collision with a higher power than even Duncan.
3/3
