Macbeth
In a thunderstorm, three witches decide to meet again on the heath "after
the deed is done." Next, a captain reports to King Duncan that Macbeth
beat Macdonwald in battle. Ross adds that the Thane of Cawdor was
traitorous to Scotland during the battle. The three witches confront
Macbeth and Banquo on their way home from the battle. They predict that Macbeth will be King of
Scotland, and Banquo, though never king himself, will beget rulers. The witches leave and Ross
informs Macbeth that he has inherited the title Thane of Cawdor (as also predicted by the witches).
Macbeth contemplates the prediction of him being king, and wonders if he should help make it
happen. Malcolm reports to King Duncan that Cawdor admitted his traitorous deeds at his execution.
The king then warmly greets Macbeth and Banquo. To Macbeth's dismay, King Duncan declares his
eldest son, Malcolm, Prince of Cumberland (i.e. the next king). At Inverness Castle, Macbeth's wife
learns of his encounter with the witches and decides that she'll persuade Macbeth to fulfill his destiny
through foul play. She then learns that King Duncan is coming to her castle to stay the night,
strengthening her decision to murder Duncan. Macbeth appears and his wife tells him she'll do the
foul deed herself. Duncan arrives and Macbeth tells his wife he doesn't want to murder Duncan. She
talks him into it, adding that they'll frame Duncan's own guards with the murder.
Past midnight, Macbeth converses with Banquo, then alone, hallucinates that a bloody dagger is in
front of him. Macbeth meets his wife and tells her he murdered Duncan. He also begins hearing
voices. Macbeth forgets to return the daggers to the king's guards, so his wife does it for him,
bloodying herself too, as Macbeth loses himself in insanity. They return to their chambers as Macduff
and Lennox appear at the castle gates. Macbeth greets them and they ask to see Duncan. Macduff
and Macbeth "discover" the body. Macbeth accidentally admits of the murder, then recants. Duncan's
sons, Malcolm and Donalbain, flee to England and Ireland, fearing for their own lives. Subsequently,
Macduff and Ross discuss that all have decided that Malcolm and Donalbain bribed the guards to kill
Duncan. Consequently, Macbeth is declared king.
At Scotland's castle (Forres), Macbeth contemplates how he fears Banquo may give breed to
children who may overthrow Macbeth. Macbeth convinces (hires) to men to murder Banquo and his
son, Fleance. Macbeth scares his wife by informing her of Banquo and Fleance's impending death.
The murderers successfully murder Banquo, but Fleance escapes. At dinner, Macbeth imagines he
sees Banquo's ghost causing his wife to excuse the dinner guests.
On the heath, The three witches make a brew chanting "double, double, toil and trouble." Macbeth
approaches and asks three questions. The witches answer: 1. Beware Macduff, 2. None of woman
borne will harm Macbeth, and 3. Macbeth will until Birnam Wood come to Dunsinane Hill. Finally, the
ghost of Banquo appears, showing his eight future royal offspring. Lennox and another Lord discuss
that Macduff has gone to England to convince the innocent Malcolm to join arms with
Northumberland and Siward against Macbeth. They inform Macbeth that Macduff has fled to
England. Macbeth vows to fight them at Fife. Lady Macduff laments that her husband, a traitor, is
virtually dead. Villains come and kill her son since he supports his father. In England, Macduff and
Malcolm agree to fight together against Macbeth. Ross delivers the devastating news to Macduff that
his son and wife are dead.
A doctor and servant observe Macbeth's wife's sleepwalking and sleep-talking about Duncan's death.
Menteith, Angus, Caithness, and Lennox discuss the impending battle with Macbeth and Birnam
wood. An Dunsinane Castle, Macbeth is informed that an army of 10,000 is near. At Birnam wood,
Malcolm orders his soldiers to cut the trees and use them as disguises. In the castle, Macbeth learns
that his wife has died by her own hand, then learns, to his dismay, that Birnam wood is "moving"
toward the castle. The army arrives and Macbeth fights and kills young Siward. Next, Macduff and
Macbeth fight. Macduff informs Macbeth that he (Macduff) was ripped from his mother's womb, and
thus not born of woman. Soon after, Macduff kills Macbeth. Macduff then crowns Malcolm the new
King of Scotland.
Characters
Duncan - King of Scotland
Malcolm - his son
Donalbain - his brother
Macbeth - General of the King’s army, Thane of Glamis
Banquo - General of the King’s army
Fleance - his son
Noblemen of Scotland
Macduff
Lennox
Ross
Menteith
Angus
Caithness
Siward - Earl of Northumberland, General of the English forces
Young Siward - his son
Seyton - an Officer attending to Macbeth
Boy - son to Macduff
An English Doctor
A Scottish Doctor
A Sergeant
A Porter
An Old Man
Lady Macbeth
Lady Macduff
Gentlewoman attending on Lady Macbeth
Three Weird Sisters
Lords, Gentlemen, Officers, Soldiers, Murderers, Attendants and Messengers
The Ghost of Banquo and other Apparitions
Date and Text
Due to significant evidence of later revisions, Macbeth cannot be precisely dated.
Many scholars believe the most likely date of composition is between 1603 and
1602. They suggest the play is unlikely to be earlier than 1603 given that it seems
designed to celebrate King James’s ancestors and the Stuart accession to the
throne in 1603 (James believed himself to be descended from Banquo) and the
parade of eight kings which the witches show Macbeth in a vision in Act IV is
generally taken to be intended as a compliment to King James VI of Scotland.
Other editors of the play suggest a more specific date of 1605-6; the principal
reason for this are possible allusions to the Gunpowder Plot and its ensuing trials,
specifically the Porter's speech (Act II, scene III, lines1-21) may contain allusions
to the trial of the Jesuit Henry Garnet in spring, 1606; "equivocator" (line 8) may
refer to Garnet's defence of "equivocation" and "farmer" (4) was one of Garnet's
aliases. However, the concept of "equivocation" was also the subject of a 1583 tract by Queen
Elizabeth's chief councillor Lord Burghley as well as the 1584 Doctrine of Equivocation by the
Spanish prelate Martin Azpilcueta that was disseminated across Europe and into England in the
1590s.
Scholars also cite an entertainment seen by King James at Oxford in the summer of 1605 that
featured three “siblys” like the weird sisters; Kermode surmises that Shakespeare could have heard
about this and alluded to it with the three witches. However, A. R. Braunmuller in the New Cambridge
edition finds the 1605-6 arguments inconclusive, and argues only for an earliest date of 1603. The
earliest account of a performance of the play is April 1611, when Simon Forman recorded seeing it at
the Globe Theatre.
Macbeth was first printed in the First Folio of 1623 and the Folio is the only source for the text. The
text which survives has been plainly altered by later hands.
The Scottish Play
While many today would simply chalk up any misfortune surrounding a
production to coincidence, actors and other theatre people often
consider it to be bad luck to mention Macbeth by name while inside a
theatre, and usually refer to it superstitiously as The Scottish Play or
sometimes, "The Scottish King".
This is said to be because Shakespeare used the spells of real witches
in his text, so witches got angry and are said to have cursed the play.
Thus, to say the name of the play inside a theatre is believed to doom
the production to failure, and perhaps cause physical injury or worse to cast members. A large
mythology has built up surrounding this superstition, with countless stories of accidents, misfortunes
and even deaths, all mysteriously taking place during runs of Macbeth.
An alternative explanation for the superstition is that struggling theatres or companies would often
put on this popular 'blockbuster' in an effort to save their flagging fortunes. However, it is a tall order
for any single production to reverse a long-running trend of poor business. Therefore, the last play
performed before a theatre shut down was often Macbeth, and thus the growth of the idea that it was
an 'unlucky' play.
Themes
Paradoxes/Things in Twos/Oxymorons. Throughout Macbeth, there are many situations and
characters' internal conflicts which are paradoxical. There are also many things which come in
twos; these are similar, but not always identical. From almost the beginning of the play ("when the
battle's lost and won"), paradoxes/doubles appear regularly. Examples include:
"when the battle's lost and won" (1.1.4)
"fair is foul and foul is fair" (1.1.12), (said by the witches in the play)
"So foul and fair a day I have not seen" (1.3.38) (Macbeth's first line)
"Lesser than Macbeth, and greater." (1.3.65)
"Not so happy, and yet much happier" (1.3.66)
"they doubly redoubled strokes upon the foe." (1.2.42)
"the service and the loyalty I owe in doing it pays itself." (1.4.25-6)
"I have thee not, and yet I see thee still." (2.1.46)
"double, double, toil and trouble..." (4.1.10)
Ambition and Betrayal. Macbeth's tragic flaw is likely his own ambition, which leads him to betray
King Duncan and, later, murder his friend Banquo. He becomes Thane of Cawdor only after the
previous thane rebels against the king; Macbeth thus continues a tradition of betrayal among
those in power. Inner betrayal of Macbeth is shown in his famous soliloquy in Act 1 Scene 7 Line
120 - 190. Macbeth is struggling with his conscience on what to do and although he knows what
is morally right and wrong, he betrays his own senses. The play dwells on ambition's ability to be
a morally corrupting agent. It has the same effect on Lady Macbeth, whose sins drive her to
madness and suicide.
Visions. There are several hallucinations in the play. In Act 2 Scene 1, Macbeth sees a bloody
dagger floating in the air, pointing to King Duncan’s resting chamber, perhaps encouraging his
upcoming deed. In Act 5 Scene 1 Lady Macbeth hallucinates that her hands are covered in blood,
despite her obsessive washing. Macbeth also sees the ghost of Banquo at the royal banquet. The
precise meaning and origins of these visions is ambiguous. They could possibly be conjured by
the three witches, who are actively involved in the play's events. Or they could be simple products
of madness, reinforcing the play's thesis that betrayal is corrupting in the mind. (The ghost, at
least, would not be unusual to see in a Shakespeare play that already involves the supernatural.)
Blood and bloodshed. Macbeth is one of the bloodiest of Shakespeare's plays (Titus Andronicus
being another of Shakespeare's more bloody works.) As the play opens, Macbeth has just
defeated Norwegian invaders in a gruesome battle. As a gravely-wounded captain arrives,
Duncan remarks: “What bloody man is that? He can report, as seemeth by his plight” (1.2). In this
and other examples, blood might signify the advent of a messenger, the admonitions of God, or a
warning for the future. The witches' cauldron too is filled with blood. Macbeth of course serves a
bloody term in office, ordering the murder of opponents and potential rivals. Lady Macbeth's
hallucination of blood on her hands seems to represent her feeling of guilt. At the play's end,
Macduff presents the new king (and the audience) with Macbeth's severed head, clearly a
gruesome spectacle, illustrating the price of treason and murder. Shakespeare uses the word
blood 42 times throughout the play.
Infants and children. Children are frequently referenced, though hardly seen, in the play. Their
innocence is frequently contrasted with the guilty meditations of Macbeth and other characters.
Lady Macbeth provides the most graphic example, making an analogy to her level of commitment:
"I have given suck, and know / How tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me: / I would, while it
was smiling in my face, / Have pluck'd my nipple from his boneless gums, / And dash'd the brains
out, had I so sworn as you / Have done to this" (1.7).
Natural Order/Great Chain of Being. The 'unnatural' replacement of Duncan by Macbeth disturbs
the natural order of the royal lineage. Those in Shakespeare's time valued the divinity of the king,
i.e. the king's preordained selection by God. Thus, by unnatural replacement of the king, Macbeth
has invoked the wrath of greater beings. Nature is disturbed and thrown into turmoil: horses
cannibalise each other, and a small owl kills a regal falcon.
Insomnia. Sleep is referenced several times through out the play; Duncan is murdered in his sleep,
while his guards sleep. Following the murder, Macbeth states, "Sleep no more!/Macbeth doth
murder sleep, that innocent sleep,/Sleep that knits up the ravell'd sleeve of care... (2.2). Indeed,
following the crime, both Macbeth and his wife are cursed with insomnia and sleepwalking. These
seem to be tangible expressions of each character's guilt. Fear of sleep might also represent
Macbeth's fear of his inevitable death.
Masculinity, Femininity, and Gender Ambiguity. Shakespeare shows in the play a connection
between masculinity and violence, as well as ambition. Lady Macbeth goads Macbeth on to
treason by saying, "when you durst do it, then you are a man" (1.7.48). Even more explicit is her
early soliloquy: "Come, you spirits/That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, / And fill me from
the crown to the toe top-full / Of direst cruelty!" The "here" plainly refers to her genitals, although
few modern actresses can bring themselves to make that obvious. The women of the play
manipulate Macbeth into doing their bidding. The witches awaken Macbeth's ambitions, and then
Lady Macbeth drives Macbeth to kill Duncan.
Moral Ambiguity. The witches, servants of the devil, and their dark prophecy steer Macbeth through
the play. Early on, they set an overall tone of moral uncertainty with their chanting. The evil in
Macbeth grows throughout the play. In the beginning he
is reluctant to commit murder, but it slowly becomes
easier for him. At the turning point of the play Macbeth
says, "Stepped in so far that, should I wade no more, /
Returning were as tedious as go o'er." (3.4.164-165) He
has decided it would be just as easy to keep killing and
murdering as it would to repent and turn back.
Conflict and Opposition. The play is full of contradictory
statements, beginning with the witches' conversation in
Act 1: "When the battle's lost and won," (1.1.4) and "Fair
is foul, and foul is fair", (1.1.12)I. Macbeth's first line in
the play is: "So foul and fair a day I have not seen." (1.3.38) Shakespeare's portrayal of Macbeth's
world is a confusing and chaotic one. This mirrors the moral dilemma involved in the plot to kill the
King, and Macbeth's own indecision.
Internal Struggle. In the first two acts of the play, Macbeth struggles with morality and ambition,
trying desperately to reconcile the two. After Act 2, he struggles instead to reconcile with his
regicidal 'new self,' finally failing in the task and falling into utter moral darkness and abandoning
all optimistic perspective. His former greatness decays until his "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and
Tomorrow" speech, which shows he has given up on all hope of self-reconciliation.
Deception: Deception is the heart of Shakespeare’s play Macbeth. Everything revolves around what
seems to be; however, the truth does not emerge until the end when all deceptions are revealed.
The witches and Macbeth use the tools of deception to cloud the issues and move the play along
leaving the reader to ascertain what is real. The Weird sisters set up the theme of appearance vs.
reality with their opening lines “fair is foul, and foul is fair, /hover through the fog and filthy air”
(1.1.12-13). These lines hint to the reader that people and events in the play will not be as they
appear! When the witches give Macbeth his three titles Thane of Cawdor, Thane of Glamis, and
King hereafter (1.3.51-53) thoughts of suspicion arise. Will Macbeth try to achieve these titles or
let things take their natural course? Banquo tries to be the voice of reason and portrays feelings
of doubt in his lines: “That, trusted home, /Might yet enkindle you unto the crown, /Besides the
Thane of Cawdor. But tis’ strange./ And oftentimes to win us to our harm,/The instruments of
darkness tell us truths, /Win us with honest trifles, to betray’s/ In deepest consequence”(1.3.132138).
Activities
Here you will find some drama and classroom activities for the study of Macbeth.
Preparing the role of Lady Macbeth
Although it is the Weird Sisters that first speak of Macbeth as King, it is Lady Macbeth who ensures
that this prophecy comes to pass. She encourages the killing of the King, and when the deed is
done, it is she who feels very little remorse compared to Macbeth.
This is a character exercise to understand the motives behind a character’s actions.
Make notes on how you think Lady Macbeth should be played in each scene in which she appears.
Decide how you think she develops during the play.
•
Record details of any changes of costume and make up
needed .
•
Collect examples of the language she uses. How it changes
depending on who she is speaking to. Also look at the
changes of language she uses when speaking to different
characters at different times.
•
Make a list of what she does in the play - actions reveal
character.
•
Explore the motives of the character by ‘hot-seating’ her.
One person takes on the role and sits in the hot-seat while
others question her about her motives and actions in the
play.
Some questions to consider during Hot-seating
It is usually a good idea to begin with the teacher asking the questions to give pupils a sense of what
questions to ask.
How did you feel waiting for the news that Duncan was dead? What thoughts went through your
mind?
How did you feel when Macbeth returned and said he had done the deed?
What did you think when Macbeth started speaking about sleep and God etc?
What did you think when you saw the daggers in his hands?
How did you feel when you had to go and replace them?
Why did you want Duncan dead and why didn’t you kill Duncan yourself?
Exploring Settings
Begin by giving out the following extract from the very beginning of the play. This is the first time we
meet the Weird Sisters, foretelling the audience of their meeting with Macbeth. Allow the children to
try the text as it is, in its original setting and as though they are witches.
First Witch
When shall we three meet againe?
In Thunder, Lightning, or in Raine?
Second Witch
When the Hurley-burley's done,
When the Battaile's lost, and wonne.
Third Witch
That will be ere the set of Sunne.
First Witch
Where the place?
Second Witch
Upon the Heath.
Third Witch
There to meet with Macbeth.
Instead of having the third witch speaking the last line alone, you may wish to direct that Macbeth is
spoken in unison by all three Witches. How does this section end? Encourage the children to find a
way to leave the stage, or remain on stage in a frozen picture of action (either all looking up with
arms in the air, or staring into the couldron).
When the play was first performed, Elizabethan audiences were very frightened of the supernatural
and would have been very unnerved by the presence of the Weird Sisters on stage. However,
modern audiences are not so afraid, as most believe that witches are not real. Try to make the
performance of the witches as frightening as possible for the audience watching.
Now ask the group to recreate the same scene but using one of the following situations:
•
Members of the Mafia
•
Guards on duty at Buckingham Palace
•
Spies
•
Teachers in the staffroom
How do the settings have an impact on the meaning of the scene?
How do you create the same/different atmosphere in the scene?
How does the meaning of the text change with a different situation/scenario?
Slide show
Choose four key moments in a scene or part of a scene. Plan a fixed tableau to present each
moment and then present the scenes in succession to the class. Each time you switch
positions, call out “switch.” The “audience” closes their eyes until the actors call out “open.”
This happens four times in succession creating a visual “slide show.”
This would be a particularly good exercise for Act 2 Scene 2, where Macbeth has just killed
Duncan and he goes to tell Lady Macbeth.
Interview
Interview another student who poses as a character in the play,
for example, Lady Macbeth. It is important to remain in character
and respond in ways that most naturally reflect the actions and
words of the character in the play.
Monologue
In character, describe a particular locale in the play. Talk about
the best/worst thing about living in this particular place. Talk about
your daily life. Describe your relationship to other characters.
Playing a Point of Concentration
A point of concentration is something that the actors in a scene can use to help create a certain
mood or feeling within a scene. If each student commits to their particular point of concentration then
each reading of the scene should be different.
Stress the importance of students allowing themselves to be changed by their point of concentration
and not just sticking to what they already know.
Use the following points of concentration
•
•
•
•
•
The need to keep very quiet so no one else can hear (this may lead to each character telling
the other to shhhhh during the scene)
Extremely dark so it is difficult to see each other
The blood on Macbeth’s hands
For Macbeth, the voices he hears in his head
For Lady Macbeth, the drive of becoming Queen
The text follows this page.
Enter Lady Macbeth with a flagon of wine.
Lady M
That which hath made them drunk, hath made me bold:
What hath quench'd them, hath given me fire.
Hearke, peace: it was the Owle that shriek'd,
And the surfeted Groomes doe mock their charge
With Snores. Alack, I am afraid they have awak'd,
And 'tis not done: th' attempt, and not the deed,
Confounds us: hearke: I lay'd their Daggers ready,
He could not misse 'em. Had he not resembled
My Father as he slept, I had don't.
Enter Macbeth
My Husband ?
Macbeth
I have done the deed:
Didst thou not heare a noyse ?
Lady M
I heard the Owle schreame. Did not you speake ?
Macbeth
When ?
Lady M
Now.
Macbeth
As I descended ?
Lady M
I.
Macbeth
Hearke, who lyes i'th' second Chamber ?
Lady M
There are two lodg'd together.
Macbeth
One cry'd God blesse us, and Amen the other:
Listning their feare, I could not say Amen,
When they did say God blesse us.
Lady M
Consider it not so deepely.
Macbeth
Me thought I heard a voyce cry, Sleep no more:
Macbeth does murther Sleepe.
Lady M
What doe you meane ?
Macbeth
Still it cry'd, Sleepe no more to all the House:
Glamis hath murther'd Sleepe, and therefore Cawdor
Shall sleepe no more: Macbeth shall sleepe no more.
Lady M
Who was it, that thus cry'd ? Goe get some Water,
And wash this filthie Witnesse from your Hand.
Why did you bring these Daggers from the place ?
They must lye there: goe carry them, and smeare
The sleepie Groomes with blood.
Macbeth
Ile goe no more:
I am afraid, to thinke what I have done:
Looke on't againe, I dare not.
Lady M
Infirme of purpose:
Give me the Daggers: the sleeping, and the dead,
Are but as Pictures: 'tis the Eye of Child-hood,
That feares a painted Devill. If he doe bleed,
Ile guild the Faces of the Groomes withall,
For it must seeme their Guilt.
Macbeth
Whence is that knocking ?
How is't with me, when every noyse appalls me ?
Will all great Neptunes Ocean wash this blood
Cleane from my Hand ?
Enter Lady Macbeth.
Lady M
Macbeth
Exit
Knocke within
I heare a knocking at the South entry :
Retyre we to our Chamber:
A little Water cleares us of this deed.
How easie is it then ?
Hearke, more knocking.
Get on your Night-Gowne, least occasion call us,
And shew us to be Watchers: be not lost
So poorely in your thoughts.
To know my deed,
'Twere best not know my selfe.
Wake Duncan with thy knocking:
I would thou could'st
Knocke
Knocke
Knocke