BY

William Shakespeare

ACT I Scene 2 • King Duncan of Scotland asks Ross about the battle with the Irish invaders?– Led by rebel Macdonald

of Cawdor. • Malcolm (Duncan’s son)

escape capture by the Irish. • Generals Macbeth and

Banquo fought with great courage and violence. – Macbeth killed

Macdonald. – Hero of the victorious

army– Given Cawdor’s title.

• Ross leaves to deliver the news to Macbeth.

ACT I Scene 3• In disbelief, Macbeth and Banquo

discuss the strange encounter. • Ross tells Macbeth that the king

has made him thane of Cawdor. • Macbeth, amazed that the

witches’ prophecy has come TRUE!

• Banquo replies that “devils often tell half-truths in order to ‘win us to our harm” (1.3.LN.121).

• Macbeth ignores his companions and speaks to himself – Reflects upon the possibility

he might be king. – Will the reign simply fall to

him?– Will he have to perform a

dark deed in order to gain the crown.

ACT I Scene 4• Duncan hears reports of

Cawdor’s execution from Malcolm (Son).

• Duncan thanks the Macbeth and Banquo for their heroism

• Duncan announces Malcolm the heir to his throne.

• Macbeth declares his joy!– Notes to himself that

Malcolm now stands between him and the crown.

• Macbeth goes on ahead of the royal party to inform his wife of the king’s impending arrival.

ACT I Scene 6• Duncan, the Scottish lords, and

their attendants arrive at Macbeth’s castle (Glamis)

– Duncan praises the castle

– Thanks Lady Macbeth for her hospitality.

• She replies

– It is her duty to be hospitable since she and her husband owe so much to their king.

• Duncan asks to be taken to Macbeth

– He professes to love dearly.

ACT II Scene 1 • Banquo and his son Fleance are walking in a hall of Macbeth’s castle. – Banquo is tired, because

his sleep has lately inspired “cursed thoughts” (II.i.8).

• Macbeth enters• Banquo is surprised to see him

still up. – Mentions that he had a

dream about the “three weird sisters.”

• Macbeth claims that – He has not thought of them

at all since their encounter in the woods (II.i.19–20).

ACT II Scene 1: Macbeth SoliloquyIs this a dagger which I see before me,The handle toward my hand? Come, let

me clutch thee:I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.Art thou not, fatal vision, sensibleTo feeling as to sight? or art thou butA dagger of the mind, a false creation,Proceeding from the best-oppressed

brain?I see thee yet, in form as palpableAs this which now I draw.Thou marshall'st me the way that I was

going;And such an instrument I was to use.Mine eyes are made the fools o' the

other senses,Or else worth all the rest: I see thee

still;And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of

blood,Which was not so before.

Is this a dagger I see in front of me, with its handle pointing toward my hand? (to the dagger) Come, let me hold you. (he grabs at the air in front of him without touching anything) I don't have you but I can still see you. Fateful apparition, isn't it possible to touch you as well as see you? Or are you nothing more than a dagger created by the mind, a hallucination from my fevered brain?

I can still see you, and you look as real as this other dagger that I'm pulling out now. (he draws a dagger) You're leading me toward the place I was going already, and I was planning to use a weapon just like you. My eyesight must either be the one sense that's not working, or else it's the only one that's working right. I can still see you, and I see blood splotches on your blade and handle that weren't there before.

ACT II Scene 1: Macbeth SoliloquyThere's no such thing:It is the bloody business which informsThus to mine eyes. Now o'er the one half-

worldNature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuseThe curtain'd sleep; witchcraft celebratesPale Hecate's offerings; and wither'd murder,Alarum'd by his sentinel, the wolf,Whoes howl's his watch, thus with his stealthy

pace,With Tarquin's ravishing strides, towards his

designMoves like a ghost. Thou sure and firm-set

earth.Hear not my steps, which way they walk, for

fearThy very stones prate of my whereabout,And take the present horror from the time,Which now suits with it. Whiles I threat he

lives:Words to the heat of deeds too cold breath

gives.

(to himself) There's no dagger here. It's the murder I'm about to do that's making me think I see one. Now half the world is asleep and being deceived by evil nightmares. Witches are offering sacrifices to their goddess Hecate. Old man murder, having been roused by the howls of his wolf, walks silently to his destination, moving like Tarquin , as quiet as a ghost.

(speaking to the ground) Hard ground, don't listen to the direction of my steps. I don't want you to echo back where I am and break the terrible stillness of this moment, a silence that is so appropriate for what I'm about to do. While I stay here talking, Duncan lives. The more I talk, the more my courage cools.

ACT II Scene 1: Macbeth SoliloquyA bell rings  

I go, and it is done. The bell invites me. Hear it not, Duncan, for it is a knell That summons thee to heaven or to hell.

A bell rings. I'm going now. The murder is

as good as done. The bell is telling me to do it. Don't listen to the bell, Duncan, because it summons you either to heaven or to hell.

Macbeth Exits

ACT II Scene 4• Ross walks outside with an old

man. • Discuss the strange and ominous

happenings: – It is daytime, but dark outside – Last Tuesday, an owl killed a

falcon– Duncan’s horses behaved

wildly and ate one another. • Macbeth has been made king • Macduff adds that the

chamberlains seem the most likely murderers– Paid off by someone to kill

Duncan. • Suspicion has now fallen on the

two princes– Malcolm and Donalbain– B/c they fled the scene.

ACT III Scene 1• Banquo thinks about the prophecies of

the weird sisters. If the first prophecy came true (a stirring of ambition) why not the second?

• Macbeth and Lady Macbeth ask Banquo to attend a feast they are hosting.

• Banquo says that he plans to go for a ride on his horse for the afternoon.

• Macbeth begins a soliloquy. – He muses on the subject of Banquo,

only man in Scotland he fears. – Murder of Duncan, weighs heavily

on his conscience• 2 murderers Macbeth has hired enter

– Asks if they are angry/manly enough to take revenge on Banquo.

• Macbeth accepts their promise that they will murder his friend. – Fleance must be killed along with his

father.

ACT III Scene 1: Macbeth SoliloquyTo be thus is nothing, But to be safely

thus. Our fears in Banquo Stick deep, and in his royalty of nature Reigns that which would be feared. 'Tis much he dares, And to that dauntless temper of his mind He hath a wisdom that doth guide his valor To act in safety. There is none but he Whose being I do fear, and under him My genius is rebuked, as it is said Mark Antony's was by Caesar. He chid the sisters When first they put the name of king upon me And bade them speak to him. Then, prophet like, They hailed him father to a line of kings. 

To be the king is nothing if I'm not safe as the king. I'm very afraid of Banquo. There's something noble about him that makes me fear him. He's willing to take risks, and his mind never stops working. He has the wisdom to act bravely but also safely. I'm not afraid of anyone but him. Around him, my guardian angel is frightened, just as Mark Antony's angel supposedly feared Octavius Caesar. Banquo chided the witches when they first called me king, asking them to tell him his own future. Then, like prophets, they named him the father to a line of kings.

ACT III Scene 1: Macbeth SoliloquyUpon my head they placed a fruitless

crown And put a barren scepter in my grip, Thence to be wrenched with an unlineal hand, No son of mine succeeding. If 't be so, For Banquo's issue have I filed my mind; For them the gracious Duncan have I murdered; Put rancors in the vessel of my peace Only for them; and mine eternal jewel Given to the common enemy of man, To make them kings, the seed of Banquo kings! Rather than so, come fate into the list, And champion me to th' utterance. Who's there?

They gave me a crown and a scepter that I can't pass on. Someone outside my family will take these things away from me, since no son of mine will take my place as king. If this is true, then I've tortured my conscience and murdered the gracious Duncan for Banquo's sons. I've ruined my own peace for their benefit. I've handed over my everlasting soul to the devil so that they could be kings. Banquo's sons, kings! Instead of watching that happen, I will challenge fate to battle and fight to the death. Who's there!

ACT III Scene 3• 2 murderers, joined by a

3rd, linger in a wooded park outside the palace.

• Banquo and Fleance approach on their horses and dismount.

• The murderers kill Banquo– Dies; urges his son to

flee and avenge his death.

– Fleance escapes. • Murderers leave with

Banquo’s body to find Macbeth and tell him what has happened.

ACT III Scene 5• The witches meet with the

goddess of witchcraft (Hecate). – Scolds them for meddling in

the business of Macbeth without consulting her.

– Tells them when Macbeth comes the next day, they must summon visions and spirits whose messages will fill him with a false sense of security and “draw him on to his confusion” (III.v.29).

• Hecate vanishes, and the witches go prepare their charms.

ACT III Scene 6• Lennox walks with another lord, discussing the kingdom. – Banquo’s murder has

been officially blamed on Fleance

– B/c he has fled • Both men suspect Macbeth, a

“tyrant,” in the murders of Duncan and Banquo.

• Macduff has gone to England – Joins Malcolm in pleading

with England’s King Edward for aid.

– News prompts Macbeth to prepare for war!

• Lennox and the lord hope – Malcolm and Macduff

will save Scotland from Macbeth.

ACT IV Scene 2 • Ross goes to visit Lady Macduff

• Lady Macduff accosts Ross – Demanding to know why

her husband has fled. – Ross insists that she trust

her husband• Lady Macduff tells her son that

his father is dead. • A messenger hurries in,

warning Lady Macduff that she is in danger.– Lady Macduff protests– Murderers enter. – The murderer stabs boy.

• Lady Macduff turns and runs– The pack of killers chases

after her…

ACT IV Scene 3• Malcolm speaks with Macduff,

– He does not trust him – May be secretly working for

Macbeth.• Malcolm rambles on about his

own vices. – Claims to be lustful, greedy,

and violent. • Macduff’s loyalty to Scotland

Leads him to agree – Malcolm is not fit to govern – Perhaps not even to live.

• Macduff has passed Malcolm’s test of loyalty. – Malcolm then retracts the

lies and embraces Macduff as an ally.

ACT V Scene 2• Scottish lords discuss the

military situation:

– The English army approaches

• Led by Malcolm

– The Scottish army will meet them near Birnam Wood

• To join forces.

• Macbeth the “Tyrant,”

– Fortified Dunsinane Castle – Is making military

preparations in a mad rage.

ACT V Scene 3• Macbeth boasting proudly that

he has nothing to fear from the English army or Malcolm– “None of woman born” can

harm him (IV.i.96)– Will rule securely “[t]ill

Birnam Wood remove to Dunsinane” (V.iii.2).

• An army of ten thousand Englishmen approach the castle.

• The doctor tells the king that Lady Macbeth is kept from rest by “thick-coming fancies”– Macbeth orders him to cure

her of her delusions (V.iii.40).

ACT V Scene 4• Malcolm talks with the

English lord Siward and officers

– Macbeth’s plan to defend the fortified castle.

• Solution:

– Each soldier should cut down a branch of the forest and carry it in front of him as they march to the castle, disguising their numbers.

THE END