Macbeth

Macbeth is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, set in Scotland. Although a tragedy the main character becomes a usurper, who at the end of the play is deposed. This play is thought to have been written around 1606.

Synopsis

The play opens with the defeat of the rebel Macdonwald, thane of cawdor to Macbeth. Shortly after, three witches meet Macbeth and another general, Banquo, predicting Macbeth would be the new thane of cawdor, and then the King. Later, King Duncan meets Macbeth and makes him thane of cawdor, but declares his son, Malcolm, his heir. Macbeth returns to his wife, Lady Macbeth, who learns of the prophecy by the witches. When the King comes for a feast in Macbeth's castle, Lady Macbeth urges Macbeth to murder the King. Macbeth, reluctantly drawn forward by ambition, murders the King. When the death of the King is discovered, Malcolm is suspicious and flees for his life in England. Macbeth's way to the throne is cleared. As King, he brings desolation to Scotland. He kills and butchers anyone in his way. He murders Banquo, because of a prophecy by the witches that Banquo's descendants will become King. Macbeth also is wary of Macduff, and murders Macduff's household. However, Malcolm soon returns to Scotland with an army. Macduff kills Macbeth and Malcolm is made King of Scotland.

Characters

Macbeth: A General in King Duncan's army. He is persuaded by his wife to murder Duncan, King of Scotland. He in effect becomes King, however it is a hollow victory. He soon loses any friends (who he didn't murder) and a rebellion is raised against him. He dies at the hands of MacDuff during a sword fight.

Lady Macbeth: The ambitious wife of Macbeth. She convinces Macbeth to murder King Duncan. During the play she grows more and more guilty, eventually going insane. She dies of guilt.

The Witches: Three Witches (as their name implies) who tell Macbeth that he will become King. They also tell him of his fall.

Banquo: A noble general in the Army serving with Macbeth. Macbeth murders him in fear of revolt. Banquo appears several times after as a ghost.

King Duncan: The King of Scotland. He lodges at Macbeth's castle and is murdered there.

Malcolm: The son of King Duncan. When his father dies, he goes to England for refuge. He returns later on with an army that defeats Macbeth's forces.

Macduff: A Lord loyal to Malcolm. His family is slaughtered while he is away becomes bereaved. He goes to Macbeth and kills him before declaring Malcolm King.

Plot in Detail

Act One

Scene One

A few witches gather in the cover a thunderstorm and mutter their eerier chants.

“

Fair is foul and foul is fair / Hover through the fog and the filthy air

”

(11-12)

Graymalkin, one calls another. They plan to gather again in another storm, with the intent of meeting with Macbeth.

Scene Two

In the royal hall of Scotland, King Duncan is attended by his son Malcolm, as well as Donalbain and Lennox among other attendants. They meet a bleeding man called Captain, introduced by Malcolm as his rescuer. Malcolm asks the Captain to recount a battle for Duncan, and he informs Duncan that MacDonwald, the Thane of Cawdor, has proven himself a traitor to the Norwegians, and has caused a lot of bloodshed among the Scots. As the Captain is escorted off, Lennox notices the Thane of Ross, called Ross, who informs the king that the army has defeated the traitor MacDonwald. The King decides, "No more that Thane of Cawdor shall deceive / Our bosom interest. Go, pronounce his present death / And with his former title greet Macbeth." (73-75)

Scene Three

Again, it thunders in Scotland, and the witches meet. They ask each other where they have been. One has been killing swine. Another met a sailor's wife, who was eating chestnuts. She had asked the sailor's wife for some, but the woman denied her. The witch knew that her husband was bound for Aleppo aboard a ship called the Tiger, and cursed that sailor to become tempest-tossed and dried, and reduced to a thumb, which the first witch now carries with her. As she finishes her story, a drum sounds, and Macbeth has arrived with his friend, Banquo.

He observes, "so foul and fair a day I have not seen." Banquo notices the witches and asks what they are - they do not seem to be anything familiar, and they could be woman, except they are bearded. The witches only reply to hail Macbeth as Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor, and King of Scotland, though he is only aware that he is Thane of Glamis. Banquo, confused, asks them what he is, and they hail him: "Lesser than Macbeth and greater," the first says. "Not so happy, yet much happier," the second says. "Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none. So all hail Macbeth and Banquo!" proclaims the third. Macbeth asks them how he could be Thane of Cawdor when the Thane is a living and worthy gentleman, but the witches disappear like bubbles.

Ross and Angus arrive to inform him that he is now the Thane of Cawdor, as the former was a traitor to Norway, and Macbeth muses upon the prophecy of the witches: it cannot be ill; nor can it be good.

Scene Four

Back in the Royal Hall of Scotland, Malcolm informs King Duncan that Macdonwald has confessed his treason. When Macbeth and Banquo arrives, the king declares his respect, and says it is less than Macbeth deserves to be the Thane of Cawdor as well. He proclaims Malcolm to be Prince of Cumberland, and the apparent heir.

Scene Five

Lady Macbeth waits at her house, reading a letter from Macbeth explaining the Weïrd Sisters and his being Thane of Cawdor though not yet king. Lady Macbeth worries that Macbeth cannot be king; for he is "too full of the milk of human kindness." A messenger later informs her that King Duncan will be visiting the Macbeths, and she, realizing her mission to murder the king, declares:

“

Fill me from the crown to the toe top-full / of direst cruelty. Make thick my blood. Stop up th'access and passage to remorse, / that no compunctious visitngs of nature / shake my fell nor keep peace between / th'effect and it

”

(50-54) Macbeth enters, and is hailed, and tells her that Duncan will coming that night, to leave tomorrow. She tells him,

“

Bear welcome in your eye, / Your hand, your tongue. Look like th' innocent flower, / but be the serpent under 't.

”

This commences the plan to murder Duncan.

Scene Six

There are hautboys and torches at the castle of Macbeth, and many guests: Duncan, Malcolm, Donalbain, Banquo, Lennox, Macduff, Ross, Angus, and many attendants. Duncan and Banquo compliment the castle and are clearly enjoying themselves. Yet, Duncan wonders, and inquires to Lady Macbeth, where is the Thane of Cawdor, their host, whom they wanted to meet that night?

Scene Seven

Macbeth is in a place where there are hautboys and torches, and a sewer (butler) and servants with dishes. He is talking to himself regarding the approaching assassination. It would be the most scarring thing in his life, and it would be known to everyone what had happened. It could not be secret. It would be such a betrayal, Macbeth as the trusted gentleman he is.

Lady Macbeth arrives and tells him that Duncan requests his presence. They converse over the murder. Macbeth at first refuses, but she says he is weak, and she should be the man and him the woman, if he has such a fear of failure. He must be courageous. By the end of the first act, he is prepared for the terrible feat.

Lines and Quotes

"Is this a dagger which I see before me,"
- Act II, Scene 1

"Double, double, toil and trouble;
Fire burn and cauldron bubble"
-The Witches (Act IV, Scene 1)

"Out, out brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing."
-Act V, Scene 5

Out, damn'd spot! out, I say!—One; two: why, then
'tis time to do't.—Hell is murky.—Fie, my lord, fie, a soldier, and
afeard? What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our
pow'r to accompt?—Yet who would have thought the old man to
have had so much blood in him?
- Act VI, Scene 1

Adaptations

Macbeth has been adapted to the opera stage four times, most famously by Giuseppe Verdi in 1847. There have been no fewer than 17 film adaptations, the first being Stuart Blackton's 1908 silent film, and also include Orson Welles' 1948 version and Roman Polanski's from 1971. Akira Kurosawa changed the setting to feudal Japan in his 1957 film Throne of Blood, often considered one of his greatest works.

External links

Open Source Shakespeare - Macbeth [1]