By William Shakespeare
Terms to Know
tragic hero A privileged, exalted character of high repute, who, by virtue of a tragic flaw and fate, suffers a fall from glory into suffering.
antagonist A character or force against which another character struggles
comic relief The use of a comic scene to interrupt a succession of intensely tragic dramatic moments. The comedy of scenes offering comic relief typically parallels the tragic action that the scenes interrupt.
conflict A struggle between opposing forces in a story or play, usually resolved by the end of the work. The conflict may occur within a character as well as between characters.
dramatic monologue An interior monologue does not necessarily represent spoken words, but rather the internal or emotional thoughts or feelings of an individual
foil A character who contrasts and parallels the main character in a play or story
soliloquy A speech in a play that is meant to be heard by the audience but not by other characters on the stage. If there are no other characters present, the soliloquy represents the character thinking aloud.
hubris It is a negative term implying both arrogant, excessive self-pride or self- confidence
paradox (also called oxymoron): Using contradiction in a manner that oddly makes sense.
Divine Rights of King This doctrine claimed that any attempt to depose a monarch or to restrict his powers ran contrary to the will of God.
Background Information Written in 1606 for James I James I was interested in witchcraft Banquo was an actual relative of James I One of Shakespeare’s great tragedies, based on Holinshed’s Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland.
Themes Corrupting Power of Unchecked Ambition Manhood Light versus Dark Nature and the Unnatural Masks Supernatural Paradoxes
Symbols and Motifs blood Hands children and infants sleep birds Heaven and Hell fair and foul visions and hallucinations prophecy weather
Synopsis Act I The Weird Sisters decide that their next meeting shall be with Macbeth. Macbeth (who is the Thane of Glamis) and Banquo have just defeated an invasion by the allied forces of Norway and Ireland, led by the rebel Macdonwald.
When Macbeth and Banquo wander into a heath, the three Witches greet them with prophecies. The first hails Macbeth as "Thane of Glamis", the second as "Thane of Cawdor", while the third proclaims that he shall "be King hereafter". The Witches also inform Banquo he shall father a line of kings.
Macbeth writes to his wife about the Witches' prophecies. Duncan decides to stay at Macbeth's castle at Inverness. Lady Macbeth hatches a plan to murder him and secure the throne for her husband. While Macbeth raises concerns about the regicide, Lady Macbeth eventually manages to persuade him.
Synopsis Act II In the night, Macbeth kills Duncan. Lady Macbeth arranges to frame Duncan's sleeping servants for the murder by planting bloody daggers on them.
Early the next morning, Lennox, a Scottish nobleman, and Macduff, the loyal Thane of Fife, arrive. The porter opens the gate and Macbeth leads them to the king's chamber, where Macduff discovers Duncan's corpse. In a sham fit of fury, Macbeth murders the servants before they can protest their innocence. Macduff is immediately suspicious of Macbeth.
Fearing for their lives, Duncan's sons flee, Malcolm to England and his brother Donalbain to Ireland. The rightful heirs' flight makes them suspect, and Macbeth assumes the throne as the new King of Scotland as a kinsman to the dead King.
Synopsis Act III Despite his success, Macbeth remains uneasy regarding the prophecy that Banquo would be the progenitor of kings. Macbeth invites Banquo to a royal banquet and discovers that Banquo and his son, Fleance, will be riding that night. He hires two men to kill Banquo and Fleance.
While they succeed in murdering Banquo, Fleance is able to escape. At the banquet, Banquo's ghost enters and sits in Macbeth's place. Macbeth is the only person who can see it, and his display of terror convinces many attending lords of his guilt.
Synopsis Act IV Disturbed, Macbeth goes to the Witches once more. They conjure up three spirits which tell him to "beware Macduff", but also that "none of woman born shall harm Macbeth" and he will "never vanquish'd be until Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane Hill shall come against him". Since Macduff is in exile, Macbeth massacres everyone in Macduff's castle, including Macduff's wife and children.
Synopsis Act V Lady Macbeth eventually becomes racked with guilt from the crimes she and her husband have committed. In a famous scene, she sleepwalks and tries to wash imaginary bloodstains off her hands
In England, Malcolm and Macduff plan an invasion of Scotland. Malcolm leads an army, along with Macduff and Englishman Siward (the Elder), the Earl of Northumbria, against Dunsinane Castle. While encamped in Birnam Wood, the soldiers are ordered to cut down and carry tree limbs to camouflage their numbers, thus fulfilling the Witches' second prophesy.
Meanwhile, Macbeth delivers a famous nihilistic soliloquy ("Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow") upon learning of Lady Macbeth's death (the cause is undisclosed, but it is assumed by some that she committed suicide).
A battle ensues, culminating in the slaying of the young Siward and Macduff's confrontation with Macbeth. Macbeth boasts that he has no reason to fear Macduff, as he cannot be killed by any man born of woman. Macduff declares that he was born by Caesarean section (before his mother's actual delivery)—and was therefore not "of woman born".