Introduction
"Macbeth" written by William Shakespeare is a great tragedy on historical theme. The opening scene of the play is very significant and necessary for this play. Beside this, the four other scenes known as Dagger scene, Porter scene, Banquet scene and Sleep-walking scene are so adhering to this tragedy that without these scenes the drama would remain incomplete and would be termed as a poor-structured tragic composition. Before the discussion about the importance of these scenes we first locate the particular place and point where the said scenes occur.
'Opening Scene' as the name suggests occurs at the first of the play and it is the Sc. I of Act - I. Next the 'Dagger Scene' is arranged in Act - II , Sc. - I. The third one, the 'Porter Scene' is included in Sc - III of Act - II.One finds the 'Banquet Scene' in Act - III, Sc. - IV. The Act-V, Sc. - I of "Macbeth" starts with the famous 'Sleep-walking Scene.'
'Opening Scene' :
"Macbeth" starts with the popular 'Opening Scene' which introduces us to three witches who assemble in a heath amidst the lightning and thunder. The second witch speaks in a very enigmatic way that they would again meet "When the battle's lost and won" and the third witch mentions the name of Macbeth. Besides all the witches jointly say: "Fair is foul and foul is fair." Though the volume of the scene is very short and very few words are uttered by the witches, the scene demands grave importance.
According to some critics the play "Macbeth" gains no dramatic effect by this scene. It may be regarded as poor and pointless by some critics, but the great poet Coleridge said that the opening scene of "Macbeth" strikes the key note of the whole play and thus he defended the scene. None can deny that this scene with the appearance of the witches prepares the mind of the readers that some ominous is going to happen in the play. One thing is clear that the witches are deliberately waiting for Macbeth as 'Evil' waits for the most unfortunate person. The epigrammatic utterance "Fair is foul and foul is fair" indicates the 'reversal of values' and also throws some light on the character of Macbeth at the very outset of the play.
So this scene is of immense importance and its necessity is admitted for the fulfillment of the play.
'Dagger Scene'
The foregrounding of the dark and evil atmosphere in the opening scene is strengthened in the dagger scene. When alone , Macbeth visualizes a dagger hovering in front of him and the handle is towards his hand. He tries to clutch the dagger but it escapes him. After keen watch Macbeth realizes that the dagger is tangible and it is just like the dagger kept in his scabbard. His tension and terror increase when he discovers the drops of blood on the blade and handle of the dagger. Various dreadful thoughts dawn in Macbeth's mind and he vents his mind in his soliloquy.
This dagger scene is very important as it reveals the inner working of the mind of Macbeth. Actually Macbeth's guilty mind creates a hallucination in the form of a dagger. As he is not a born criminal, it indicates his moral agitation. The dagger besmeared with blood is the external manifestation of the murderous design of Macbeth.The devilish character of this valiant hero is , to some extent, revealed
by the dagger scene.
'Porter Scene'
In the porter scene the intoxicated porter thinks himself the janitor of the Hell Gate. He is going to be tired as there is continuous knocking at the door and the sinners enter this 'dungeon horrible' one by one.
A farmer, an equivocator and an English tailor are granted the hell for some sinful acts.
The porter scene is of immense importance.It serves as the comic relief as it removes the tension and heaviness in the minds of the audience and prepares the minds for further actions to come. This scene provides some time between the exit of Macbeth in the previous scene and the entrance in the present scene after changing his dress and washing the spots of blood. The porter scent indicates that Macbeth has turned his castle into a hell after the murder of the king Duncan.
'Banquet Scene'
The coronation banquet is ready and all the dignified guests are waiting in the great hall. The murderers appointed by Macbeth inform the latter that Banquo is murdered but Fleance, Banquo's son is escaped. When Macbeth utters Banquo's name , he with great horror and amazement discovers that the ghost of Banquo is installed on seat reserved for Macbeth. He , thoroughly unnerved, addresses the ghost : " Thou canst not say I did it." Macbeth vents his rambling mind. With the reappearance of the ghost he loses his total control on himself. However, the intervention of Lady Macbeth somehow manages the situation but much thing is divulged.
The ghost of Banquo appears only to Macbeth, nobody else, not even Lady Macbeth.The ghost is nothing but the personification of Macbeth's sense of guilt. Macbeth being unnerved exposed the secret of Bunquo's murder and proves that he is not a confirmed murderer. This banquet scene throws some light on the character of Lady Macbeth, on her cleverness and presence of mind.She vents some encouraging words to her husband, explains the cause of the abnormal behaviour of Macbeth and takes the charge of the situation with her extraordinary skill.
'Sleep-walking Scene.'
The sleep-walking scene opens with a Doctor of physic and a Gentle woman talking about the somnambulism of Lady Macbeth. After the murder of the king she is mentally disturbed and is found walking in the room in her sleep during night. The lady appears with a taper and speaks about the murder of Duncan, Banquo and Lady Macduff. She takes paper, writes on it , seals it and keeps it. She washes her hands to remove the smell of blood. The Doctor comes to know all the misdeed done by Macbeth and his wife.
This scene is too much expository. This scene exposes the guilt of the two - Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. It reveals the fact that Lady Macbeth is after all a lady with all weakness of a woman, though she has projected masculine mettle. This scene proves that Lady Macbeth is not a born criminal and she can not be called the 'fourth witch' of the play "Macbeth"
.
