Exposition

The first few minutes of a movie or the first few pages of a book are vital to setting up the rest of the story. This part of a story is known as the exposition. The exposition lays out the setting, which includes both the time and place. It also introduces most of the major characters, including the protagonist. Most of the time, we learn about the characters ambitions, which will reveal the major conflict. After finishing the exposition, the audience should know the protagonist fairly well; they should also be able to know the conflict, which should give the audience a clue as to what the rest of the story should be about.
The exposition is most important in a murder mystery. The exposition must lie out the evidence to that committed the crime, but it cannot be obvious; no one wants to watch a mystery if they already know whom the killer is. We must know why the crime was committed, to an extent, some clues have to be laid out, and we know why the deceased was killed. All of this has to be revealed very quickly in an entertaining was; otherwise it will seem boring, and no one would watch or read the rest of the story.
The best example that comes to mind is the musical Curtains. In Curtains, the leading lady of the musical Robin Hood is talent less. It is because of her that the show is unsuccessful in its pre-Broadway tryout. When the show first starts, we see the leading lady perform the shows finale, to the best of her ability. After the number, as she takes her bow, she is handed flowers from two fans. After she takes her bow and grabs her flowers, she falls down in the middle of the stage dead. After she falls, the entire creative team of the show within the show rushes onto the stage, thus revealing the rest of the characters. By this point, we know why she was killed, we know all the characters were there at the time of the murder, and there were some clues laid out for the end of the show. All of this takes place within the first two minutes of the show. This happens very quickly, and it is performed in an intriguing way as to not bore the audience.
After reading the first few scenes of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, we have been introduced to several characters, including the protagonists Macbeth. We have been introduced to the major conflict; Macbeth wants to become king, and he is willing to do anything to make that a reality, even if he has to commit murder to achieve this. We have also met his wife, Lady Macbeth, who believes that Macbeth is too nice and will not be able to kill anyone, no matter what the outcome will be. She will do whatever it takes to become queen. It is ironic that the lady has more power than the man. She is fearless. In most stories, the man has more power. We can expect to see many images of death to appear in the future; along with the theme of always wanting more than we have. I have a feeling that when Macbeth becomes king, if he does, he will want more power. Humans naturally want what they cannot have, and when they get what they want, it is not as good as they thought it would be. I am curious to see if this is true with Macbeth also. Only time will tell.