-Macbeth Summary
On a dark and stormy night in Scotland, Macbeth, a noble army general, returns home after defending the
Scottish King, Duncan, in battle. Along the way, Macbeth and his good pal, Banquo, run into three bearded
witches , who speak in rhymes and prophesy that Macbeth will be named Thane of Cawdor and King of
Scotland. There's good news for Banquo, too – he'll be father to a long line of future kings of Scotland, even
though he won't get to be a king himself.
Suddenly, the witches vanish into the air.
After that, since the old Thane of Cawdor turned out to be a traitor and will soon have his head chopped off
and displayed on a pike, Macbeth takes his place as Thane of Cawdor. OK. That takes care of the first
prophesy. We wonder what will happen next…
The witch's prophecy has made Macbeth think, briefly, about "murder" but he's disgusted with the idea
and feels very guilty about his "horrible imaginings." He says he's willing to leave things to "chance" – if
"chance" wants him to be king, then he doesn't have to lift a finger (against the current king) to make it
happen.
But later, when King Duncan announces that his son Malcolm will be heir to the throne, Macbeth begins to
think about murder once again. He writes a letter to his ambitious wife, Lady Macbeth, who immediately
begins to scheme about how to kill Duncan. (The first thing she needs to do is reproach Macbeth and make
him believe that he's not a "man" if he doesn't kill Duncan.)
The King come to visit the Macbeth's at their castle so that seems like a good time to kill him. Later,
Macbeth hesitates about murdering the King – after all, it's Macbeth's job to defend him, especially when
he's a guest in Macbeth's home. But, Lady Macbeth doesn’t want any excuses. She tells Macbeth to stop
being a coward and to act like a "man.
That night, Macbeth sees an imaginary floating dagger pointing him in the direction of the guestroom
where the king's sleeping. After he kills the king, Macbeth hears strange voices and his wife tells him to
calm down. (Lady Macbeth, by the way, says she would have killed the king herself but he looked too much
like her father.)
When Macduff finds the king's dead body, Macbeth kills the guards and accuses them of murdering the
king. When King Duncan's children, Donalbain and Malcolm, find out what's happened, they flee from
Scotland so they can't be murdered too. Macbeth, then, is named king.
At this point Macbeth starts to worry about the witch's prophesy that Banquo's heirs will be kings. Macbeth
won’t let someone take away his throne so, he hires some men to kill Banquo and his son. But his son,
Fleance, manages to escape after poor Banquo is murdered by Macbeth's men.
For Macbeth, things continue to get worse, as when Banquo's ghost haunts him at the dinner table in front
of important guests. Macbeth then decides to see the Weird sisters (witches) for another prophesy. The
witches reveal the following: 1) Macbeth should watch his back when it comes to Macduff (the man who
discovered the king's dead body); 2) "None of woman born shall harm Macbeth," which to Macbeth means
"nobody shall harm Macbeth" since everybody has a mom; 3) Macbeth has nothing to worry about until
Birnam Wood (a forest) moves to Dunsinane. The sisters also show that Banquo's heirs will rule Scotland.
Macbeth resolves to do anything to secure his power, starting with killing Macduff's family ( Macduff has
run away to England). By now, nobody likes Macbeth and they think he's a tyrant. They also suspect he's
had something to do with the recent murders of Duncan and Banquo.
Meanwhile, Macduff and Malcolm pay a visit to the English King, Edward the Confessor, who is an a
wonderful man and a great king. When Macduff and Malcolm find out that Macbeth has had Macduff's
wife and kids murdered, they plot to overthrow Macbeth with the help of English soldiers, who will do their
best to help save Scotland from the tyrannous Macbeth.
Meanwhile, Lady Macbeth isn't very well. She sleepwalks, can't wash the imaginary blood from her hands,
and degenerates until she finally commits suicide.
Macduff and Malcolm have formed a big army and want to put Macbeth's head on a pike. Then, Malcolm
orders the troops to cut the branches from the trees in Birnam Wood for camouflage. Remember what the
weird sisters said about Birnam Wood moving to Dunsinane?
Macduff gets Macbeth in the castle, tells Macbeth that he, Macduff, was "untimely ripped" from his
mother's womb. (the other prophecy os the weird sisters for Macbeth not being killed by any man "of
woman born."). Macduff kills him and carries his head to Malcolm, who will soon be crowned king.