Macbeth: Openings and endings
13 lenses on openings and endings for Macbeth by William Shakespeare. Count lenses are exact for our text. AI lenses are our reading and cite only quotes that passed a word for word check.
Jump to: F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7 F8 F9 F10 F11 F12 F13
F1. First line and first paragraph: what each does. Both
The first full paragraph runs to 64 words and 22 sentences.
Scene I. (Ch 1, para 1)
The first paragraph lists scenes, characters, and settings, establishing the play's structure and tragic scope. It sets expectation for a formal dramatic work.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 1
F2. What the first page sets up: voice, world, question. AI
The first page establishes a military world of loyalty and honour, introduces Macbeth as a brave soldier, and hints at supernatural forces through the witches' prophecy.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 2, Scene 3
brave Macbeth (well he deserves that name), Disdaining Fortune, with his brandish’d steel, Which smok’d with bloody execution (Ch 2, para 4)
All hail, Macbeth! that shalt be king hereafter! (Ch 3, para 21)
F3. How many words before the lead appears? Count
First dialogue after 751 words. See the full lens on the book page.
F4. How many words before the first line of dialogue? Count
First dialogue after 751 words. See the full lens on the book page.
F5. The hook of chapter one. AI
The hook is the witches' prophecy in scene 3 that Macbeth will be king. This awakens his ambition and sets the tragedy in motion.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 3
All hail, Macbeth! that shalt be king hereafter! (Ch 3, para 21)
This supernatural soliciting Cannot be ill; cannot be good. If ill, Why hath it given me earnest of success, Commencing in a truth? (Ch 3, para 48)
F6. Prologue: its job and its length. Both
No prologue: the book starts in its first chapter.
The prologue is scene 1, a brief list of scenes and characters. It serves to orient the reader to the play's structure and cast.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 1
F7. How fast is the main story question posed? AI
The main story question is posed quickly in scene 3 when the witches hail Macbeth as future king. By scene 4, Malcolm's naming as heir creates the obstacle.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 3, Scene 4
All hail, Macbeth! that shalt be king hereafter! (Ch 3, para 21)
The Prince of Cumberland!—That is a step On which I must fall down, or else o’erleap, For in my way it lies. (Ch 4, para 13)
F8. Final chapter: which beats resolve what. AI
The final chapter resolves all major beats: Macduff kills Macbeth, revealing the witches' deception; Malcolm is crowned king; order is restored to Scotland.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 27
Despair thy charm; And let the angel whom thou still hast serv’d Tell thee, Macduff was from his mother’s womb Untimely ripp’d. (Ch 27, para 9)
Hail, King, for so thou art. Behold, where stands Th’ usurper’s cursed head: the time is free. (Ch 27, para 27)
F9. Last line: what it leaves in the mind. Both
The last full paragraph runs to 134 words.
So thanks to all at once, and to each one, Whom we invite to see us crown’d at Scone. (Ch 27, para 30)
The last line hails Malcolm as king and declares the time is free. It leaves the mind with restoration of order and the end of tyranny.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 27
Hail, King, for so thou art. Behold, where stands Th’ usurper’s cursed head: the time is free. (Ch 27, para 27)
F10. Loose ends tied and left open. AI
Fleance's fate is left open; he escapes in scene 14 and is never seen again, leaving his future as a king's ancestor unresolved.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 14
O, treachery! Fly, good Fleance, fly, fly, fly! Thou mayst revenge—O slave! (Ch 14, para 18)
There’s but one down: the son is fled. (Ch 14, para 22)
F11. Epilogue: its job. Both
No chapter called an epilogue. The last chapter is 687 words.
There is no epilogue. The play ends with Malcolm's coronation and the restoration of order.
F12. Echoes between the opening and the ending. AI
The opening shows Macbeth as a loyal, brave soldier praised by Duncan. The ending shows him as a tyrant killed by Macduff, with Malcolm restored as rightful king.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 2, Scene 27
brave Macbeth (well he deserves that name), Disdaining Fortune, with his brandish’d steel, Which smok’d with bloody execution (Ch 2, para 4)
Hail, King, for so thou art. Behold, where stands Th’ usurper’s cursed head: the time is free. (Ch 27, para 27)
F13. Length of the wind down after the climax. Count
The climax (our reading) falls in the last chapter, so there is almost no wind down.
Ask Macbeth a question about its craft (free beta)
Answers cite chapter and paragraph, and every quote is checked against the text. (3 free questions a day).
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