MacBeth a tragedy by William Shakespeare 1606 (written and performed), first published in The First Folio 1623

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1 MacBeth a tragedy by William Shakespeare 1606 (written and performed), first published in The First Folio 1623 PLOT SUMMARY & SETTING Setting: 1040 c.e., Scotland. Specifically in and around the areas of Inverness (the castle of MacBeth), Dunsinane, and Birnman Wood (also briefly in the court of the king in England). Inverness Dunsinane Birnam Wood Fife Edinburgh Hadrian s Wall Northumberland Act 1: The play takes place in Scotland. Duncan, the king of Scotland, is at war with the king of Norway, and as the play opens, he learns of Macbeth's bravery in battle against a Scot who sided with Norway. At the same time, he hears of the treachery of the Thane of Cawdor, who was arrested. Duncan decides to give the title of Thane of Cawdor to Macbeth. Macbeth and Banquo, traveling home from the battle, meet three witches, who predict that Macbeth will be Thane of Cawdor and king of Scotland, and that Banquo will be the father of kings. The witches disappear, and Macbeth and Banquo meet up with two nobles who inform them of Macbeth's new title. Hearing this, Macbeth begins to contemplate murdering Duncan in order to realize the witches' second prophecy. Macbeth and Banquo meet up with Duncan, who tells them he is going to pay Macbeth a visit at his home at Inverness. Macbeth rides ahead to prepare his household. Meanwhile, Lady Macbeth receives a letter from Macbeth informing her of the witches' prophesy and Macbeth's subsequent new title. A servant appears and tells her of Duncan's approach. Energized, she invokes supernatural powers to strip her of her feminine softness and prepare her to murder Duncan. When Macbeth arrives at Inverness, Lady Macbeth tells him that she will take care of all the details of Duncan's murder. Duncan arrives at Inverness, and Lady Macbeth greets him. Macbeth fails to appear, and Lady Macbeth goes to find him. He is in his room, contemplating the weighty and evil step of killing Duncan. Lady Macbeth taunts 1

2 him, telling him he will only be a man when he kills Duncan, and that she herself has less softness in her character than he does. She then tells him her plan for the murder, and Macbeth accepts it: they will kill him while his drunken bodyguards sleep, then plant incriminating evidence on the bodyguards. Act 2: Macbeth has a vision of a bloody dagger floating before him and leading him to Duncan's room. When he hears Lady Macbeth ring the bell to signal the completion of her preparations, Macbeth follows through with his part of the plan and leaves for Duncan's room. Lady Macbeth waits for Macbeth to finish killing Duncan. Macbeth enters, still carrying the bloody daggers. Lady Macbeth again chastises him for his weak-mindedness and plants them on the bodyguards herself. As she does so, Macbeth imagines that he hears a voice saying "Macbeth will sleep no more." Lady Macbeth returns and assures Macbeth that "a little water clears us of this deed." At the gate the porter pretends that he is guarding the door to hell. The thanes knock at the gate, and Macduff discovers Duncan's body when he goes in to wake him up. Macbeth kills the two bodyguards, supposedly in a fit of grief and rage, when they are discovered with the bloody daggers. Duncan's sons Malcolm and Donalbain, fearing that their lives are in danger, flee to England and Ireland; their flight brings them under suspicion of conspiring in Duncan's death, and Macbeth is crowned king of Scotland. Act 3: Macbeth hires two murderers to kill Banquo and his son Fleance in an attempt to thwart the witches' prophesy that Banquo will father kings. Lady Macbeth does not know of his plans, and he will not tell her. A third murderer joins the other two on the heath, and the three men kill Banquo. Fleance, however, escapes. Macbeth throws a feast on the same night that Banquo is murdered, and Banquo's ghost appears to him, sending him into a frenzy of terror. Lady Macbeth attempts to cover up for his odd behavior, but the party ends up dissolving as the thanes begin to question Macbeth's sanity. Macbeth decides that he must revisit the witches to hear more of the future. Meanwhile, Macbeth's thanes begin to turn from him, and Macduff meets Malcolm in England to prepare an army to march on Scotland. Act 4: The witches show Macbeth three apparitions that tell Macbeth to fear no man born of woman, and warn him that he will only fall when Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane castle. Macbeth takes this as a prophecy that he is infallible. When he asks the witches if their prophesy about Banquo will come true, they show him a procession of eight kings, all of whom look like Banquo, the last holding a mirror to signify the reign of James I, the Stuart king for whom Shakespeare wrote this play. Malcolm tests Macduff's loyalty by confessing to multiple sins and ambitions. When Macduff proves loyal to him, the two plan the strategy they will use in attacking Macbeth. Meanwhile, Macbeth murders Macduff's wife, whom he has deserted, along with all his children. Act 5: Lady Macbeth sleepwalks and reveals her guilt to a watching doctor as she dreams that she cannot wash the stain of blood from her hands. Macbeth is too preoccupied with battle preparations to pay much attention to her dreams, and is angry when the doctor says he cannot cure her. As the castle is attacked, Lady Macbeth dies (perhaps by her own hand). When Macbeth hears of her death, he comments that she should have died at a different time, and muses on the meaninglessness of life. However, he reassures himself by remembering the witches' predictions that he will only fall when two seemingly impossible things occur. Meanwhile, the English army has reached Birnam Wood, and in order to disguise their numbers, Malcolm instructs each man to cut a branch from a tree and hold it in front of him as they march on Dunsinane. Witnessing this, Macbeth's servant reports that he has seen something impossible Birnam Wood seems to be moving toward the castle. Macbeth is shaken but goes out to fight nonetheless. During the battle outside the castle walls, Macbeth kills Young Siward, the English general's brave son. Macduff then challenges Macbeth. As they fight, Macduff reveals that he was not "born of woman" but was "untimely ripped" from his mother's womb. Macbeth is stunned but refuses to yield to Macduff. Macduff kills him and cuts off his head. Malcolm is proclaimed the new king of Scotland. MAJOR CHARACTERS MacBeth Thane of Glamis and Cawdor MacBeth is a tragic figure. He is ambitious which leads to many heroic deeds on the battlefield, but when he is offered greater glory, his ambition drives him to commit terrible acts. He does love his wife, his king and his country, and at first tries to honor all three, however, as the story progresses, his ambition becomes a lust for power and paranoia of those around him. He embodies the adage that absolute power corrupts absolutely. Lady MacBeth Lady MacBeth, like her husband, is ambitious. She enjoys the honors that he receives because she shares in them. When she hears of the witches prophecy, she decides to encourage him to fulfill his destiny as quickly as possible. Though she shows herself to be tough and hard-hearted, there is more to her. We see this when she states she was unable to kill Duncan herself because he resembled her father as he slept. Guilt becomes her downfall. 2

3 Banquo Banquo is a Thane and a war hero, like MacBeth. He is also present when the witches utter their prophecy. This makes Banquo a foil for MacBeth. Banquo is skeptical of the witches while MacBeth embraces them. Banquo loves his country and becomes suspicious when Duncan is murdered. MacDuff - MacDuff, a Scottish Thane, is an honorable man. He is shown to be wise and cautious, and he doesn t accept things at face value. He never truly accepts MacBeth as king and is troubled by Duncan s murder, and its easy explanation, from the start. He becomes MacBeth s chief enemy particularly after his family s murder. He is also the instrument of MacBeth s destruction. The Three Witches - The three witches add an element of supernatural and prophecy to the play. The witches are based on a variety of ideas about witches at the time. They are described as old and hunched, and as having beards yet they are clearly human and female. The witches are referred to as the Weird sisters ( weird coming from OE wyrd = fate). They greet MacBeth by his former title, his current title and his future title. This relates them to the three Fates from Greek mythology. Telling MacBeth his future spurs him to action, allowing himself to be the cause of his downfall. SYMBOLS Blood Blood is everywhere in Macbeth, beginning with the opening battle between the Scots and the Norwegian invaders. Once Macbeth and Lady Macbeth embark upon their murderous journey, blood comes to symbolize their guilt, and they begin to feel that their crimes have stained them in a way that cannot be washed clean. Will all great Neptune s ocean wash this blood / Clean from my hand? Macbeth cries after he has killed Duncan, even as his wife scolds him and says that a little water will do the job (II.ii.58 59). Later, though, she comes to share his horrified sense of being stained: Out, damned spot; out, I say... who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him? Blood symbolizes the guilt that sits like a permanent stain on the consciences of both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, one that hounds them to their graves. Owl Several times an owl is mentioned. To the people of Shakespeare s time, the hoot of an owl portended death. It is a nocturnal hunter, using the darkness to hide its hunting just as MacBeth does. An owl hoots as MacBeth kills Duncan, and the next day the nobles discuss having seen an owl kill a falcon (a symbol of royalty). Again, Lady MacDuff speaks of a small wren fighting of a terrible owl, in the scene in which MacBeth has her murdered. Sunlight and Candle Light Lady MacBeth and MacBeth before any of their schemes, ask for the night to hide their actions. Sunlight and starlight come from the heavens and are here associated with the watchful eyes of God. In the end, Lady MacBeth keeps a candle lit beside her at all times, an attempt to feel the comfort of God s grace, but a candle is an artificial light, and is no substitute for real forgiveness. LITERARY STYLES & ELEMENTS Foreshadowing Hints in the work which suggest what will happen later in the plot. The bloody battle in Act I foreshadows the bloody murders later on; when Macbeth thinks he hears a voice while killing Duncan, it foreshadows the insomnia that plagues Macbeth and his wife; Macduff s suspicions of Macbeth after Duncan s murder foreshadow his later opposition to Macbeth; all of the witches prophecies foreshadow later events, particularly the second prophecy of MacBeth. Allusion Shakespeare makes reference to the Bible as well as Greek tragedy (Oedipus Rex) and his own work, Julius Caesar. Irony Mostly in reference to Lady MacBeth. When Duncan arrives he says, The love that follows us is our trouble yet still we thank as love. He refers to himself but we understand that it applies to Lady MacBeth who is plotting his murder. Again, when Duncan s body is found and MacDuff is raising the alarm, he tells Lady MacBeth that the news of the murder would be too much for her to hear because she is a woman. When MacBeth receives his second prophecy and the witches disappear, he curse any who would trust them which would obviously include himself. Soliloquy While soliloquies are are part of all his plays, there is a large number of them in MacBeth. MacBeth himself has many, as does Lady MacBeth. Foil Characters Shakespeare uses both Banquo and MacDuff to highlight flaws in MacBeth s character. Bnquo shows the proper way in which prophecy should be handled: let it happen if it is meant to. This contrasts with MacBeth s over-willingness to force events into his favor in a time-line of his choosing. Likewise, 3

4 MacBeth s actions are selfish, every decision is made for his sole benefit, whereas MacDuff places the needs of he country far above himself and even his own family. MOTIFS Supernatural and Hallucinations Visions and hallucinations recur throughout the play. When he is about to kill Duncan, Macbeth sees a dagger floating in the air. Covered with blood and pointed toward the king s chamber, the dagger represents the bloody course on which Macbeth is about to embark. Later, he sees Banquo s ghost sitting in a chair at a feast, pricking his conscience by mutely reminding him that he murdered his former friend. Lady Macbeth also eventually gives way to visions, as she sleepwalks and believes that her hands are stained with blood that cannot be washed away by any amount of water. In each case, it is ambiguous whether the vision are real (supernatural solicitings) or purely hallucinatory (as a result of a guilty conscience). Violence and Death Macbeth is a famously violent play. Interestingly, most of the killings take place offstage, but throughout the play the characters provide the audience with gory descriptions of the carnage, from the opening scene where the captain describes Macbeth and Banquo wading in blood on the battlefield, to the endless references to the bloodstained hands of Macbeth and his wife. The action is book-ended by a pair of bloody battles: in the first, Macbeth defeats the invaders; in the second, he is slain and beheaded by Macduff. In between is a series of murders: Duncan, Duncan s chamberlains, Banquo, Lady Macduff, and Macduff s son. The gruesome events live up to MacBeth s statement, Blood will have blood. Prophecy Prophecy sets Macbeth s plot in motion namely, the witches prophecy that Macbeth will become first thane of Cawdor and then king. The weird sisters make a number of other prophecies: they tell us that Banquo s heirs will be kings, that Macbeth should beware Macduff, that Macbeth is safe till Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane, and that no man born of woman can harm Macbeth. Save for the prophecy about Banquo s heirs, all of these predictions are fulfilled within the course of the play. Additionally, as the Birnam Wood and born of woman prophecies make clear, the prophecies must be interpreted as riddles, since they do not always mean what they seem to mean. However, the three apparitions at the second set of prophecies give clues as to MacBeth s downfall, despite the seeming strength of the prophecies they utter. Shakespeare imbues this play with references and nods to Greek mythology and Greek tragedy. The three weird sisters themselves (weird, coming from the Old English: wyrd, meaning Fate) reflect the three Fates from Greek mythology. They greet MacBeth as Glamis, Cawdor and king hereafter (past, present, future). Likewise, MacBeth makes an allusion to the story of Oedipus Rex, a play also centering on the fallibility of prophecy. Appearances Are Deceiving The play begins with the utterance by the witches, Fair is foul and foul is fair. These words are echoed at important moments throughout the play. Duncan s naivety is shown towards the Thane of Cawdor, upon whom he had built an absolute trust. We then see him apply this same blind trust to MacBeth. MacBeth is counseled by Lady MacBeth to look like the flower, but be the serpent under t. MacBeth himself states, false face must hide what false heart doth know. While this warning to not trust appearances is most immediately applied to characters themselves, at the end we realize that it means what the characters say as well. MacBeth, upon MacDuff s revelation of his birth realizes that the witches prophecies were always stacked against him, despite how fair they sounded. In fact, upon hearing the first prophecy and the pronouncement of his new title, MacBeth states, two truths are told. We are to see that humans are deeper and more complex (and less trustworthy) than we appear. Gender Roles Characters in Macbeth frequently dwell on issues of gender. Lady Macbeth manipulates her husband by questioning his manhood, and wishes that she herself could be unsexed. In the same manner that Lady Macbeth goads her husband on to murder, Macbeth provokes the murderers he hires to kill Banquo by questioning their manhood. At the end, when MacDuff learfns of his family s murder, Malcolm encourages him to accept the news as a man. Traits such as aggression and staunchness are associated with males while the traits of compassion are associated with females. At the same time, however, the audience cannot help noticing that women are also sources of violence and evil. The witches prophecies spark Macbeth s ambitions and then encourage his violent behavior; Lady Macbeth provides the brains and the will behind her husband s plotting. In this case, while man s actions are bloody and violent, they are done in the open, whereas the traits of deceit and manipulation are placed on women. The Weather and Nature As in other Shakespearean tragedies, Macbeth s grotesque murder spree is accompanied by a number of unnatural occurrences in the natural realm. From the thunder and lightning that accompany the witches appearances to the terrible storms that rage on the night of Duncan s murder. Night and day seem at war with one another. These violations of the natural order reflect corruption in the moral and 4

5 political orders. At the end of the play, with war raging, the sun is out. The intent of the action is mirrored in the weather. The Difference Between Kingship and Tyranny In the play, Duncan is always referred to as a king, while Macbeth soon becomes known as the tyrant. The difference between the two types of rulers seems to be expressed in a conversation that occurs in Act IV, scene iii, when MacDuff meets Malcolm in England. In order to test MacDuff s loyalty to Scotland, Malcolm pretends that he would make an even worse king than Macbeth. He tells MacDuff of his reproachable qualities among them a thirst for personal power and a violent temperament, both of which seem to characterize Macbeth perfectly. On the other hand, Malcolm says, The king-becoming graces / [are] justice, verity, temp rance, stableness, / Bounty, perseverance, mercy, [and] lowliness (IV.iii.92 93). The model king, then, offers the kingdom an embodiment of order and justice, but also comfort and affection. Under him, subjects are rewarded according to their merits, as when Duncan makes Macbeth thane of Cawdor after Macbeth s victory over the invaders. Most important, the king must be loyal to Scotland above his own interests. Macbeth, by contrast, brings only chaos to Scotland. Likewise, he is contrasted to the sainted King Edward of England who is so in the favor of God that he has the power of prophecy and healing. THEMES Theme #1 The Ends Do Not Justify the Means. MacBeth seeks an honorable life, to be king. He even sees himself as being as capable and fair a king as Duncan. However, his eagerness and ambition spiral out of control and he finds himself doing things that he wouldn t normally do. The actions he takes to secure his ambitions are heinous. It begins with the murder of Duncan, an act which he feels guilty about committing. Yet, when he begins to achieve his goals, it spurns him to accomplish more by taking more risks. He fears losing his new title because he suspects Banquo of plotting against him, and so orders his murder. MacDuff does not align himself with MacBeth, so MacBeth orders MacDuff s wife and children slaughtered. By the end of the play, he is ordering the execution of any that refuse to fight for him against Malcolm s invading army. After his second visit to the witches, MacBeth proclaims, The very firstlings of my heart will be the firstlings of my hand. IV.i. The result of MacBeth s impulsive decisions is his own destruction. He shows us that what we want in life is less important than how we set about achieving what we want. He uses murder and manipulation to gain the crown, which poisons his reign. He is mistrusted, disliked and plotted against. This is in direct opposition to the reign of Duncan, who was seen as caring and benevolent. If MacBeth had chosen a different path to achieve the crown, the result would have been different. Theme #2 Security is Mortals Chiefest Enemy. MacBeth s emotions vary between feeling not safe enough and feeling too safe. Each is a problem. Feeling safe or secure is a primal, survival emotion within human beings. Feeling afraid or insecure drives us to extreme measures to ensure our safety. Likewise, feeling too safe or untouchable drives us to take risks that are unreasonable. This has been a problem in humanity since humankind first walked the earth. Shakespeare understands this aspect of our psychological make-up and uses it as a key character motivation in MacBeth. After Duncan s murder, MacBeth begins to fear that he will either be discovered or others will scheme, as he did, to take his crown. His fears lead to his killing of Banquo and the attempted murder of Fleance. Furthermore, his insecurity leads him to consult the witches again to receive another prophecy in hope that it can guide him to the security he desires. Hecate, however, places the ultimate curse upon him in III.v,: by the strength of their illusion, shall draw him on to his confusion: he shall spurn fate, scorn death, and bear his hopes bove wisdom, grace and fear; and you all know security is mortals chiefest enemy. His new prophecy makes him believe that he is unable to be killed or defeated in battle. This profound sense of (false) security spur him to greater atrocities (such as slaughtering MacDuff s entire family) as he believes he can t be called into account for them. Making decisions based solely on the desire to feel safe and secure causes us to be ruled by fear or arrogance, both of which are unhealthy and self-destructive behaviors. Theme #3 The Corrupting Power of Unchecked Ambition. The main theme of Macbeth the destruction wrought when ambition goes unchecked by moral constraints finds its most powerful expression in the play s two main characters. Macbeth is a courageous Scottish general who is not naturally inclined to commit evil deeds, yet he deeply desires power and advancement. He kills Duncan against his better judgment and afterward stews in guilt and paranoia. Toward the end of the play he descends into a kind of frantic, boastful madness. Lady Macbeth, on the other hand, pursues her goals with greater determination, yet she is less capable of withstanding the repercussions of her immoral acts. One of Shakespeare s most forcefully drawn female characters, she spurs her husband mercilessly to kill Duncan and urges him to be strong in the murder s aftermath, but she is eventually driven to distraction by the 5

6 effect of Macbeth s repeated bloodshed on her conscience. In each case, ambition helped, of course, by the malign prophecies of the witches is what drives the couple to ever more terrible atrocities. The problem, the play suggests, is that once one decides to use violence to further one s quest for power, it is difficult to stop. There are always potential threats to the throne Banquo, Fleance, MacDuff and it is always tempting to use violent means to dispose of them. This is made especially clear when Malcolm and MacDuff meet, Malcolm states, Angles are bright still though the brightest of them fell. (IV, iii). This is a direct reference to the fall of Lucifer, the greatest angel in Heaven whose lust for power caused his fall from grace. This ties directly to MacBeth. Following the war with Norway, he was Scotland s greatest and most trusted and celebrated hero, but his thirst for more power caused his downfall. 6