The play is presumed to have been written in 1606. It is the briefest of the tragedies written by William Shakespeare. The source was Holinshead's Chronicles. The play is based on the life of a semi-legendary King Macbeth who ruled Scotland in the 10th and 11th century.

Macbeth is a tragedy of ambition. Macbeth's desire to be King drives him to be ruthless. His wife, Lady Macbeth spurs him on.

The setting in the play:

Scotland - 10th -11th century
England - brief scene

Macbeth is a Tragic Hero-someone who is larger than life who has a tragic flaw that causes his own downfall...Macbeth's flaw is unrestrained ambition.

During the play there will be things that Macbeth "thinks" he saw/heard ...don't believe or disbelieve it... the reader doesn't know if it is true or the characters imagination.

CHARACTERS

Duncan - King of Scotland
Malcolm - Son of Duncan
Donalbain - Son of Duncan
Macbeth - Nobleman of Scotland
Lady Macbeth - Wife of Macbeth
Banquo - Nobleman of Scotland
Fleance - Son of Banquo
Macduff - Noblemen of Scotland
Lady Macduff - Wife of Macduff
Ross - Nobleman of Scotland
Three Witches - Uhh...Witches
Hecate - Head Witch
Apparitions - three images (each is separate)
Three murderers - Three murderers

ACT I

Scotland is at war with Norway.

A captain in the army, Macbeth, has saved Malcolm. Malcolm tells his dad of Macbeth's bravery in saving his life.

Macbeth is a very kind man outside of war...but when he is in war, he is cruel.

Thane of Cawdor (just a high ranking title for a person in Scotland) is found out to be a traitor ..he is sentenced to death. The title goes to Macbeth (but MB does not know yet).

Macbeth and Banquo meet the witches on the heath (these witches can predict the future). The witches address Macbeth as:

Thane of Glamis (Title handed down from his father)
Thane of Cawdor (New title...which he does not know he is yet).
King hereafter

What that means, is that they essentially predicted Macbeth's future for him, by calling him Thane of Cawdor and King of Scotland.

The witches tell Banquo that he will be the father of Kings, but he will not be a King himself.

Macbeth begins to change...he's excited by what he hears from the witches...him and Banquo ride home, where he finds out that he is now Thane of Cawdor...the 1st prediction has come true.

King Duncan announces that he is stepping down from the thrown as king. He then says that Malcolm, his oldest son, will be the King (Donalbain is his other son). Macbeth sees Malcolm as a rival. He thinks he might have to do something to get rid of him.

Lady Macbeth has found out about Macbeth and has decided that her husband WILL be King. Lady fears her husband's kind nature...she does not think he could kill outside of war even if he had too. If he cannot...she will.

The king is going to be spending the night at Macbeth's castle.

Macbeth and Lady decide to assassinate the King...Macbeth tells her he does not think he can. She says he is not a man if he cannot kill.

Lady's plan: She will get the King Duncan's guards drunk...Macbeth and her will kill the King in the middle of the night...Then they will smear one of the drunk guards with the his blood.

ACT II

King Duncan is very happy...He has given gifts to Macbeth's servants and he gave diamonds to Lady.

Macbeth's first soliloquy (soliloquy-conversation with one self...not sure if its outs old or in ones head).

Macbeth imagination is taking over his mind.

He thinks he sees a dagger in the air.

A bell rings and Macbeth makes his decision to murder King Duncan. It is a good thing too because, Lady MB cannot perform the murder as she stands over Duncan's bed. He looked so much like her father. She exits his room.

Macbeth enters Duncan's room and kills him...as he leaves, he hears a drunken guard say, "Macbeth hath murdered sleep. Glamis shall sleep no more."

Macbeth goes to Lady and forgets to carry out the plan by leaving the dagger...because he is still holding it...Lady insults Macbeth for his stupidity and takes the dagger back herself.

Lady frames one of the guards with the dagger and the Kings blood...she runs back to bed before someone awakes.

Next morning there is a lot of commotion around the castle about the King. Lady decides to faint (on purpose because woman were thought of not able to handle such awful sites in that time, also (apparently) she was also trying to save Macbeth from being caught for the murder).

Malcolm and Donalbain talk it over with each other and are paranoid that they will be accused of this crime...they both flee the country.

Malcolm goes to England

Donalbain goes to Ireland

With Duncan being dead and all the heirs to Scotland's throne no where to be found, Macbeth becomes KING!

ACT III

Banquo suspects Macbeth in Duncan's Murder.

Banquo and Fleance spend the day riding in the countryside.

Macbeth and Lady are having a banquet in Banquo's honour.

Macbeth's third soliloquy (no info on his second).

Macbeth fears of Banquo...he starts to regret killing Duncan...Macbeth realises that the murder of Duncan only clears the way for Banquo's sons.

Empty honour.

Macbeth speaks to two murderers...desperate men...they are hired to kill Banquo and Fleance.

Lady is also starting to feel guilty.

Macbeth hints to Lady that something is up but he will not say what.

A third murderer joins the other two to kill Banquo and Fleance. The trio waits outside Banquo's home, waiting for the two to come home from their ride in the countryside...Banquo is murdered by them-Fleance escapes.

Lady and Macbeth are at the banquet with no Banquo (yet).

Banquo's ghost attends the banquet-and sits in Macbeth's seat...only he can see him.

Macbeth starts screaming at the ghost and yelling.

Lady explains to everyone that Macbeth has "fits." She also says that he rarely has them and they do pass.

After a while of his yelling, Lady tells everyone to leave.

Once they are gone she tells Macbeth to get more sleep...Macduff missed the banquet (now is where Macduff is important to the play).

Macduff has fled to England.

Hecate...the head witch...is angry with the other three witches for what they told to Macbeth and Banquo.

ACT IV

Macbeth wants to know MORE into the future.

He returns to the three witches.

They make three apparitions (fortunes):

1 Armed Head (image in the witches cauldron that gives Macbeth his first fortune.)= "Beware of Macduff."

2 A bloody child = "Fear no man born of woman."

3 A crowned child (holds a tree limb in his hand) = "Macbeth will never be vanquished until Birman Wood (the forest near the castle) comes to Dunsinane."

Macbeth is very happy about these predictions because he does not believe that there is a person NOT born of woman...and how can a forest move to his Castle of Dunsinane.

Macbeth is not 100% satisfied...He demands to know about Banquo's son...will he become king?

The witches conjure another image.

Line of eight Kings.

Macbeth sees a likeness of Banquo in the Kings.

Last of the eight Kings is holding a mirror...the reflection shows an endless line.

Macbeth is mortified! The predictions show that Banquo’s descendants will rule for a very, very long time.

(back to Macduff) He left so quickly for England that he did not even tell his wife.

Ross goes to see Lady Macduff...tries to explain to her, her husband's reasons for leaving...which is to bring the rightful King (Malcolm) home...because of the tyranny going on by Macbeth.

Macbeth hears of Macduff's disappearance...he sends assassins to go to his home and kill Macduff's family.

They kill his wife, children, and even servants.

In England, Malcolm and Macduff talk.

Malcolm makes up a "story" about himself to test Macduff's loyalty.

Once he realises that Macduff is honest about his reasons for coming, he tells Macduff the truth about how he wants Macbeth out of the throne.

Ross goes to England to tell Macduff about his dead family...Macduff takes it hard but bites his lip and puts his country in mind.

ACT V

Macbeth and Lady are feeling very guilty of all they had done and all the people they had hurt...and Macbeth is starting to feel like being King is no big deal and more of a hassle.

Lady is walking and talking in her sleep...she is constantly pretending to wash her hands...of blood...or if you look deeply into it...I believe she is trying to wash the guilt of the deaths off her hands.

Lady Dies (went over the edge).

Macbeth finds out and then gets word that Birman Wood is moving...He screams and goes to see for himself...on a balcony he looks to the distance toward Birman Wood and it in deep did appear
to be MOVING toward the castle.

Macbeth was flipping out.

Once the forest got close enough to see in more detail it really wasn't a forest...it was an army of thousands (Malcolm, Macduff, and England supporters) going to invade Macbeth's castle.

The army gets in...Macduff finds Macbeth...Macbeth finds out from Macduff about his birth...his mother died before he came out of her womb...the doctors surgically removed him from her dead
body...Macduff kills Macbeth. (Can interpret Macduff as not being born of a woman.)

Apparitions- proves true.

Malcolm takes his rightful seat as King of Scotland!


Here is what happened after the play...read it...maybe even impress your teachers!

The ruler of England during this time was James I the first Stuart king. The story goes that Banquo's son, Fleance, escaped to Wales and married a princess. Eventually their descendants returned to Scotland and ruled as the Stewart dynasty. This is where James traced his line from. When Elizabeth I died with no children her relative, James VI of Scotland assumed the throne as James I of England. Obviously, Shakespeare did not want to offend his king so he had Macbeth alienate himself from Banquo. Thus Banquo, a relative of the king, comes out smelling like a rose. This also fits nicely with the witches' prophecy that Banquo would be the father of kings.