Meredith Martin
November 16, 2009
7th Period
Summary of Macbeth
The story of Macbeth is tragic one where a Scottish general is overcome with greed and
malice that he helps end his life. Macbeth achieves his goal of being king of Scotland, but is
quickly overcome with fear and guilt for what he had to do to get there. These feeling eat away at
him. When he finally gets reassure, Macbeth is sure that he will never be defeated. Macbeth is
very wrong and was killed out of revenge. Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s many great
tragedies.
The play starts out in Act 1 with three witches. The three Weird Sisters are singing their
riddles and talking about their soon meeting with Macbeth (Magill 3805). The stormy weather
and desolate plain the witched appear on help set the tone and a theme of the play. Macbeth is
first introduced to the audience as a brave general of the Scottish army who lead the victories
against Macdonwald and the King of Norway. These two achievements impress King Duncan
and encourage him to give Macbeth the title Thane of Cawdor (“Macbeth”). Coming back from
battle, Macbeth and Banquo are met by the three witches. The witches prophesize that Macbeth
will be named Thane of Cawdor and then later King of Scotland. They also said that Banquo’s
heirs will one day rule Scotland. The witches then suddenly vanish. The prophecies made by the
witches excite Macbeth especially when messengers from Duncan come to him and tell him that
he now has the title of Thane of Cawdor (Magill 3805). Macbeth and Banquo then meet up with
King Duncan. At this meeting, King Duncan announces that his son, Malcolm, will be the next
heir to the throne and that he will visit Macbeth’s castle later that night (“Macbeth”). Lady
Macbeth, Macbeth’s wife, learns of the witches’ prophecies from a letter Macbeth wrote her. She
wants Macbeth to become king so she makes a plan to kill Duncan when he stays with them for
the night. When Macbeth arrives to his castle, Lady Macbeth talks to him about killing Duncan
and persuades him to do it after all of his objections and fear. Their plan is to get the guards of
the king’s room drunk while Macbeth stabs the king with the guards’ knives so it will look like
the guards killed the king (“Sparknotes”).
Act one ends with Macbeth agreeing to kill Duncan
despite his fear and objections.
Act two is the climax of the play because it is when Duncan is killed by Macbeth. The
act starts will Banquo and his son, Fleance, arriving to Macbeth’s place. At this point, Banquo is
still skeptical of the witches’ prophecies and he expresses this feeling to Macbeth. Macbeth
pretends to agree with Banquo, but in actuality Macbeth believes what the witches predicted.
After everyone is asleep, Macbeth goes on his way to kill the king when he has a vision of a
bloody dagger leading him. Macbeth comes out of Duncan’s chambers and tells Lady Macbeth
that he had indeed killed Duncan (“Macbeth”). The next morning when Duncan was found
murdered, Macbeth loses his control and kills the guards claiming that they had killed him.
Duncan’s sons become afraid that someone will also try to kill their lives so they flee to England
and Ireland. With Duncan’s sons gone, Macbeth is crowned king of Scotland (“Sparknotes”).
Act two ends with some people suspecting Macbeth of the murder and Macbeth being crowned
king after Duncan’s death.
The next act is full of fear and excessive actions made by Macbeth. When though
Macbeth is king like the witches had told him, he is still worried about Banquo’s sons ruling
Scotland and not Macbeth’s own family. Macbeth decides to have Banquo and Fleance killed so
this will not happen. Macbeth invites them to a feast and then hires murders to kill them on their
way. The murders kill Banquo, but Fleance escapes (Scott 236). At the feast, Banquo’s ghost
appears at the table and Macbeth sees it. Banquo’s ghost startles Macbeth which almost caused
him to tell about his murder of Duncan. Lady Macbeth quickly dismissed their guests so they
would not think that Macbeth was insane (Magill 3806). The appearance of Banquo’s ghost and
the knowledge of Fleance’s escape unnerve Macbeth and cause him to seek the witches once
more for reassurance. Act three ends with Hecate, goddess of witchcraft, scolding the three
witches and planning what they will do at their next meeting with Macbeth (“Macbeth”). Act
three is the early part of Macbeth’s own demise.
Act four is a major turning part in the story because it is in this act where the Three
Apparitions sent by the three witches appear to Macbeth and give him a false hope. The Three
Apparitions tell Macbeth that he should be aware of Macduff, he will not be defeated by a man
born of woman, and he will not be conquered until the forest of Birnam comes to Dunsinane.
Macbeth feels certain that these things will never happen and is relieved (Magill 3806). The
witches also show Macbeth a line of kings which all resemble Banquo. This causes Macbeth to
worry because it shows that Banquo’s heirs will rule Scotland at some point (Scott 236). After
Macbeth’s meeting with the witches, he decided to kill Macduff for safe measure. At this time,
Macbeth learns that Macduff fled to England to join up with Malcolm’s army. Macbeth then
orders for Macduff’s wife and children to be killed and his castle seized (“Sparknotes”). When
Macduff arrives to Malcolm in England, Malcolm puts him to a test. Malcolm acts rude and
greedy to see if Macduff was enough of a righteous man to be honest if he should take over the
throne. Macduff told Malcolm that he did not think he should become king and this showed that
Macduff was honest and truthful which delights Malcolm who makes him a leader of his army
(Scott 236). Act four ends with Macduff learning about Macbeth’s order to kill his family.
Macduff then vows to get revenge against Macbeth (“Sparknotes”). Act four is the part of the
play where Macbeth’s character and life is spiraling downward fast.
Act five is the closing act of the play. In this act, the battle between Macbeth and
Malcolm’s army occurs. The death of Macbeth is also in this act. Act five starts with Lady
Macbeth who is not well from the guilt she has. She begins to sleepwalk and talk to herself
about the blood she cannot wipe away (“Macbeth”). Lady Macbeth commits suicide and
Macbeth’s response is impassive and he continues to make preparations for the upcoming battle.
All the time Macbeth is preparing, he is reassured by what the Apparitions had told him.
Macbeth was certain that none of those things would happen (Scott 236). When Malcolm’s army
is at the Brinam Wood, he orders all of his men to cut down a branch and to use as camouflage as
they head towards Macbeth’s castle. Macbeth learns about and realizes what it means, but still he
goes into battle confident that he will not be defeated (“Macbeth”). In the battle, Macbeth and
Macduff meet and start fighting each other. Macbeth then finds out that Macduff was “untimely
ripp’d” from his mother’s womb. At this moment all Macbeth’s hope of victory is lost and
Macduff kills him (Magill 3806). Macduff then serves Macbeth’s head to Malcolm, the new
king of Scotland. Act five closes the play by having the final fall of Macbeth and the triumph of
the rightful king and the righteous man.
Macbeth is a dramatic story of a man who becomes overwhelmed with greed and power.
Macbeth is driven by his ambitions which at the end cause the death of him. Macbeth becomes
king through selfish acts and tries to prevent anyone taking the title away for him. His ambitions
cause Macbeth to do outrageous actions like killing his good friend and killing an innocent
family. Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies because it is filled with many
emotions and themes which everyone can relate to.