Comprehensive Study Guide for William Shakespeare's Macbeth
ACT I: Prophecies and Valor
Scene I: A Desert Place - Setting: Amidst thunder and lightning, three Witches meet. - The Meeting: They plan to meet again when the "hurlyburly's done" and the battle is "lost and won." This will occur before the "set of sun." - Location: Upon the heath to meet with Macbeth. - Familiars: - First Witch: Called by Graymalkin (a cat). - Second Witch: Called by Paddock (a toad). - Third Witch: Responds "Anon." - Key Theme: "Fair is foul, and foul is fair: / Hover through the fog and filthy air."
Scene II: A Camp near Forres - Reporting the Battle: King Duncan, his sons Malcolm and Donalbain, and Lennox meet a bleeding Sergeant. Malcolm identifies him as the soldier who fought to prevent his captivity. - The Sergeant's Account: - The battle was doubtful, like "two spent swimmers, that do cling together / And choke their art." - The rebel Macdonwald was supplied from the western isles with kerns and gallowglasses. Fortune seemed to smile on him like a "rebel's whore." - Macbeth's Valor: Described as "valour's minion," Macbeth carved through the enemy with his "brandish'd steel" until he faced Macdonwald. He "unseam'd him from the nave to the chaps" and fixed his head upon the battlements. - The Norweyan Assault: Just as the rebels fled, the Norweyan lord, "surveying vantage," launched a fresh assault with new men and "furbish'd arms." - Macbeth and Banquo's Reaction: They were as dismayed as "sparrows eagles, or the hare the lion." The Sergeant reports they were like "cannons overcharged with double cracks," redoubling strokes as if to "memorise another Golgotha." - Ross's Report: The Thane of Ross arrives from Fife with news that the King of Norway, Sweno, assisted by the "most disloyal traitor," the Thane of Cawdor, began a conflict. Macbeth (described as "Bellona's bridegroom") confronted him and won. - The Result: Sweno craves a composition (treaty). The Scots denied him burial of his men until he disbursed dollars at Saint Colme’s inch for general use. - Duncan's Decree: The Thane of Cawdor is sentenced to "present death," and Macbeth is granted his title: "What he hath lost noble Macbeth hath won."
Scene III: A Heath near Forres - Witches' Malice: - The First Witch recounts a sailor's wife who refused her chestnuts, calling her a "rump-fed ronyon." To get revenge, she will sail in a sieve to Aleppo to find the husband, master of the Tiger. - She intends to "drain him dry as hay," preventing sleep for "nine times nine" weary se'nnights. His "bark" (ship) will be "tempest-tost." - She possesses a pilot's thumb, wrecked homeward bound. - The Prophecies: - Macbeth and Banquo arrive. Macbeth echoes the Witches: "So foul and fair a day I have not seen." - Banquo describes the Witches as "wither'd and so wild in their attire," looking not like inhabitants of the earth, yet on it, with "chappy fingers," "skinny lips," and beards. - For Macbeth: 1. Hail, Thane of Glamis! 2. Hail, Thane of Cawdor! 3. All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter! - For Banquo: 1. Lesser than Macbeth, and greater. 2. Not so happy, yet much happier. 3. "Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none." - Macbeth's Disbelief: Macbeth knows he is Glamis through Sinel's death but questions how he can be Cawdor, as the Thane lives as a "prosperous gentleman." The Witches vanish into the air like breath into the wind. - Confirmation of the Second Title: Ross and Angus arrive. Ross informs Macbeth that the King has named him Thane of Cawdor. Angus explains the former Thane is under judgment for "treasons capital, confess'd and proved." - Internal Conflict: Banquo warns that the "instruments of darkness" often tell truths to win us with "honest trifles" only to betray us in "deepest consequence." Macbeth's aside reveals his "horrid image" of murder, which "unfixes his hair" and makes his heart "knock at his ribs."
Scene IV: Forres. The Palace - Cawdor's End: Malcolm reports that Cawdor died nobly, confessing treasons and setting forth a "deep repentance." Duncan reflects that there is no way to find the "mind's construction in the face." - Duncan's Gratitude: Duncan greets Macbeth and Banquo with deep praise. He tells Macbeth, "More is thy due than more than all can pay." - The Succession: Duncan names his eldest son, Malcolm, the Prince of Cumberland, establishing him as the heir. - Macbeth's Target: Macbeth identifies the Prince of Cumberland as a step he must "o'erleap" or "fall down" upon. He calls for stars to hide their fires so light cannot see his "black and deep desires."
Scene V: Inverness. Macbeth's Castle - Lady Macbeth's Ambition: She reads a letter from Macbeth about the Witches. She fears his nature is "too full o' the milk of human kindness" to take the "nearest way" to the crown. She believes he has ambition but lacks the "illness" (wickedness) that should attend it. - The Opportunity: A Messenger informs her that King Duncan comes to the castle that night. She invokes spirits to "unsex me here," fill her with "direest cruelty," and "take my milk for gall." - The Plan: When Macbeth arrives, she tells him Duncan shall never see the morrow's sun. She advises him to "look like the innocent flower, / But be the serpent under't," leaving the night's business to her.
Scene VI: Before Macbeth's Castle - Duncan’s Arrival: Duncan and Banquo praise the castle's "pleasant seat." Banquo notes the martlet (bird) nesting there, indicating the air is "delicate." Lady Macbeth greets them with elaborate humility.
Scene VII: Macbeth's Castle - Macbeth's Soliloquy: He contemplates the assassination. Reasons against it include: 1. Kinsman and Subject: He owes Duncan loyalty. 2. Host: He should shut the door against murderers, not bear the knife himself. 3. Duncan's Virtues: Duncan has been so "meek" and "clear in his great office" that his virtues will plead like angels against his murder. 4. Consequences: Violence returns to "plague the inventor." - The Motivation: He admits he has no spur to prick his intent except "vaulting ambition." - The Conflict: Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth, "We will proceed no further in this business." - Lady Macbeth's Pressure: She mocks his courage, asking if he is "afeard to be the same in thine own act and valour / As thou art in desire?" She famously claims she would have "dash'd the brains out" of her own nursing babe had she sworn as he has. - The Execution Plan: She will get Duncan's two chamberlains drunk with "wine and wassail" until their memory is a "fume." Macbeth will then kill the unguarded Duncan and frame the officers by marking them and their daggers with blood.
ACT II: The Bloody Deed
Scene I: Court of Macbeth's Castle - The Setting: After midnight, the moon is down. Fleance carries a torch for Banquo. Banquo is troubled by "cursed thoughts." - The Diamond: Banquo gives Macbeth a diamond from the King for Lady Macbeth in thanks for her hospitality. - The Dagger Soliloquy: Alone, Macbeth sees a vision of a dagger, its handle toward his hand. He wonders if it is a "dagger of the mind, a false creation." On its blade appear "gouts of blood." He attributes the vision to the "bloody business." - The Signal: A bell rings, signaling that Lady Macbeth has prepared the drinks. Macbeth says: "Hear it not, Duncan; for it is a knell / That summons thee to heaven or to hell."
Scene II: The Same - Lady Macbeth’s State: She has been emboldened by the wine that made the grooms drunk. She would have killed Duncan herself if he had not resembled her father as he slept. - The Murder: Macbeth enters, having done the deed. He is deeply shaken. - He heard voices crying "Murder!" and "God bless us!" - He could not say "Amen" when a groom said "God bless us!" - He heard a voice cry, "Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep." - The Daggers: Macbeth mistakenly brought the daggers with him. He is too afraid to return. Lady Macbeth calls him "infirm of purpose," takes the daggers, and returns them to the chamber to smear the grooms with blood. - The Blood: Macbeth wonders if all of "great Neptune's ocean" can wash the blood from his hand, fearing it will rather "the multitudinous seas incarnadine." - The Knocking: Hearing knocking at the south entry, Lady Macbeth tells him to put on his nightgown and that "a little water clears us of this deed."
Scene III: The Same - The Porter's Soliloquy: Acting as the porter of "hell-gate," he imagines letting in a farmer who hanged himself, an equivocator, and an English tailor. - Questions & Discussion: - Macduff: "What three things does drink especially provoke?" - Porter: "Marry, sir, nose-painting, sleep, and urine." He notes that lechery is provoked in desire but taken away in performance. - The Discovery: Macduff and Lennox arrive to wake the King. Macduff discovers the body: "Confusion now hath made his masterpiece! / Most sacrilegious murder hath broke ope / The Lord's anointed temple." - Aftermath: Macbeth admits he killed the two grooms in a "fury" of love for Duncan. Lady Macbeth faints (or pretends to). - Flight of the Princes: Malcolm (fleeing to England) and Donalbain (fleeing to Ireland) decide to leave immediately, fearing "daggers in men's smiles."
Scene IV: Outside Macbeth's Castle - Unnatural Omens: An Old Man and Ross discuss strange events: - Darkness entombing the earth during the day. - A falcon killed by a mousing owl on Tuesday. - Duncan's horses turning wild and eating each other. - Suspects: Macduff tells Ross that the King's sons are suspected of the murder because they fled. - New King: Macbeth has been named King and gone to Scone to be invested. Duncan's body is carried to Colmekill.
ACT III: The Tyrant’s Fear
Scene I: Forres. The Palace - Banquo's Suspicion: Banquo fears Macbeth "play'dst most foully" for the crown but hopes his own line will be kings as promised. - The Plot against Banquo: Macbeth fears Banquo's "royalty of nature" and his "Genius" which rebukes Macbeth's. He realizes he has a "fruitless crown" and a "barren sceptre" if Banquo's issue succeeds him. - The Murderers: Macbeth convinces two Murderers that Banquo was their enemy who caused their poverty. He tells them to kill both Banquo and his son, Fleance, that night.
Scene II: The Palace - The Shared Guilt: Lady Macbeth admits, "Nought's had, all's spent, / Where our desire is got without content." Macbeth speaks of the "terrible dreams" that shake them and notes they have "scotch'd the snake, not kill'd it." - Secrecy: Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth to be "jovial" at the feast but keeps his plan for Banquo secret: "Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck."
Scene III: A Park near the Palace - The Ambush: Three Murderers attack. Banquo is killed, but he cries out for Fleance to flee and seek revenge. Fleance escapes.
Scene IV: Hall in the Palace - The Banquet: Macbeth welcomes his guests. A Murderer informs him Banquo's throat is cut but Fleance escaped. Macbeth feels "cabin'd, cribb'd, confined, bound in / To saucy doubts and fears." - The Ghost: The Ghost of Banquo sits in Macbeth's place. Macbeth is the only one who sees it, crying: "Thou canst not say I did it: never shake / Thy gory locks at me." - Lady Macbeth’s Cover: She tells the guests Macbeth has had this infirmity since youth. She privately mocks him, asking, "Are you a man?" - The Second Appearance: The Ghost reappears. Macbeth challenges it to take any form but that—a "Russian bear," "arm'd rhinoceros," or "Hyrcan tiger." When the ghost leaves, Macbeth says, "I am a man again." - End of the Feast: Macbeth recognizes that Macduff was absent from the feast. He admits he is "in blood / Stepp'd in so far" that returning is as tedious as going over.
Scene V: A Heath - Hecate's Wrath: Hecate, the goddess of witchcraft, berates the three Witches for dealing with Macbeth without her. She plans to raise spirits that will draw him to his "confusion" by making him feel secure, for "security / Is mortals' chiefest enemy."
Scene VI: Forres. The Palace - The Growing Opposition: Lennox and another Lord discuss the "tyrant's" rule. They note that Macduff has gone to the English court to join Malcolm and ask King Edward and the warlike Siward (Earl of Northumberland) for assistance to restore peace to Scotland.
ACT IV: The Falling Action
Scene I: A Cavern. The Boiling Cauldron - The Spell: The Witches chant "Double, double toil and trouble" as they throw in ingredients: eye of newt, toe of frog, wool of bat, tongue of dog, scale of dragon, tooth of wolf, and the finger of a "birth-strangled babe." - The Apparitions: Macbeth demands answers. 1. An Armed Head: "Beware Macduff; / Beware the thane of Fife." 2. A Bloody Child: "None of woman born / Shall harm Macbeth." 3. A Child Crowned, with a tree in his hand: Macbeth shall never be vanquish'd until "Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill / Shall come against him." - Banquo's Line: Macbeth asks if Banquo's children will reign. He is shown a line of Eight Kings, the last holding a glass showing many more, with the blood-bolter'd Banquo smiling. - The Decision: Lennox informs Macbeth that Macduff has fled to England. Macbeth resolves to seize Macduff's castle in Fife and kill his wife and children.
Scene II: Fife. Macduff’s Castle - The Abandoned Family: Lady Macduff complains to Ross that her husband's flight was madness and lacked the "natural touch." - The Son: She and her son have a witty exchange about traitors and honest men. A Messenger warns them to flee, but it is too late. - The Massacre: Murderers enter, call Macduff a traitor, and stab the son ("Young fry of treachery!"). They pursue Lady Macduff as she cries "Murder!"
Scene III: England. Before the King’s Palace - The Test: Malcolm tests Macduff's loyalty by claiming he possesses vices worse than Macbeth’s, including "stanchless avarice" and "lust." Macduff finally despairs for Scotland's future, proving his integrity. Malcolm then reveals he is actually "unknown to woman" and faithful. - The King’s Evil: A Doctor describes King Edward's ability to heal people with "the evil" (scrofula) by his touch. - The Grief: Ross arrives and eventually delivers the news that Macduff’s castle was surprised and his wife and "babes / Savagely slaughter'd." - Resolution: Malcolm encourages Macduff to "dispute it like a man" and use his grief as a "whetstone" for his sword.
ACT V: The Final Conflict
Scene I: Dunsinane. Ante-room in the Castle - The Sleepwalking: A Doctor and a Gentlewoman observe Lady Macbeth. She walks in her sleep, mimicking the washing of her hands for a quarter of an hour. - Verbatim Guilt: "Out, damned spot! out, I say!" She mentions Duncan's blood, the death of Macduff's wife, and the burial of Banquo. - Medical Diagnosis: The Doctor concludes she needs "the divine" more than a physician and warns to remove means of "annoyance" (self-harm).
Scene II: Country near Dunsinane - The Scottish Rebels: Menteith, Caithness, Angus, and Lennox lead soldiers toward Birnam Wood to join the English power. They describe Macbeth as unable to "buckle his distemper'd cause / Within the belt of rule."
Scene III: Dunsinane. A Room in the Castle - Macbeth's Defiance: Macbeth relies on the prophecy that no man born of woman can harm him. He calls his servant, Seyton, and prepares for battle, though he admits his life has fallen into the "sear, the yellow leaf." - The Queen's Health: The Doctor tells Macbeth that the Queen is troubled with "thick coming fancies." Macbeth asks for a "sweet oblivious antidote" to "cleanse the stuff'd bosom."
Scene IV: Country near Birnam Wood - The Camouflage: Malcolm orders every soldier to hew down a bough from Birnam Wood and bear it before him to "shadow the numbers of our host."
Scene V: Dunsinane. Within the Castle - The Queen's Death: A cry of women is heard. Seyton informs Macbeth: "The queen, my lord, is dead." - The Soliloquy: "To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow… Out, out, brief candle! / Life's but a walking shadow… it is a tale / Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, / Signifying nothing." - The Moving Grove: A Messenger reports that Birnam Wood appears to be moving toward Dunsinane. Macbeth, realizing the prophecy is manifesting, calls for the alarum-bell.
Scene VII: Another part of the Field - First Blood: Macbeth kills Young Siward, mocking him: "Thou wast born of woman." - Macduff’s Search: Macduff seeks only Macbeth, refusing to strike "wretched kerns."
Scene VIII: Another part of the Field - The Confrontation: Macbeth tells Macduff he bears a "charmed life" that will not yield to one of woman born. - The Revelation: Macduff reveals he was "from his mother's womb / Untimely ripp'd." - Death of the Tyrant: Macbeth, realizing the Witches are "juggling fiends," initially refuses to fight but engages Macduff when threatened with being displayed as a show-piece. Macduff kills him. - The Restoration: Macduff enters with Macbeth's head. Malcolm is hailed as King of Scotland. He creates the first Earls of Scotland and invites everyone to his coronation at Scone.