Macbeth. William Shakespeare
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as well as Macbeth, seems to be plagued by disturbing thoughts and temptations, but when Macbeth suggests that they should meet to discuss the witches’ prophecies Banquo stresses that he will do nothing dishonourable. Left alone, in another agonized soliloquy (Is this a dagger which I see before me…?) Macbeth shows how deeply disturbed he is by the crime he is now committed to. He hears the bell, struck by Lady Macbeth, which is the signal for him to act; she has done her part by giving Duncan’s servants drink, to make them sleepy. She hears Macbeth shout, and thinks that he has failed to kill the king, but he comes in saying that he has ‘done the deed’.
He seems shattered, and she has to stop him thinking about the crime and his lost honour. As before, she uses the weapon of scorn against him, but this time it does not work. He cannot bring himself to return to the king’s room with the bloody daggers which he should have left there. She goes instead and smears the servants with blood. A thunderous knocking is heard. Macbeth is obsessed with the horror of Duncan’s blood on his hands; Lady Macbeth, on the contrary, whose hands are now also red, dismisses it as unimportant (A little water clears us of this deed).
The porter of the castle is roused at last from his drunken sleep by the knocking. He staggers to the door of the castle to let in Macduff and Lennox, who have come to wake the king. Macbeth comes to see them, pretending that he has only just been awakened himself, and escorts Macduff to the king’s apartment. After Lennox has commented on the wild weather, Macduff re-enters, so appalled that he can hardly say what he has seen. All the thanes and and the two princes, Malcolm and Donalbain, are roused. Lennox, Ross and Macbeth go back to the king’s room, where Macbeth kills the two servants who are covered in blood. Soon afterwards Lennox blames these servants for the murder, but Macduff seems to have some doubts, since he asks Macbeth why he killed them. Macbeth begins to explain in an elaborate, overwrought manner and Lady Macbeth either faints or pretends to do so. Malcolm and Donalbain, who have hardly had time to feel anything except fear, decide to go away. Malcolm’s words suggest that he already suspects Macbeth.
The final scene in the Act presents a picture of total disorder in the natural world, reflecting the chaos in human society. An old man describes bizarre events. Macduff says that Malcolm and Donalbain, because they have fled, are suspected of paying the servants to kill Duncan, their father. He also says that Macbeth has been named as the new king; he is shortly to be crowned at Scone.
ACT III
Banquo clearly suspects that Macbeth has become king by foul means. Macbeth invites Banquo to a feast, and goes on to extract information from him about his planned movements in the afternoon. Because he is deeply concerned about the witches’ prophecy that Banquo is to be the ancestor of kings, Macbeth is plotting to kill his comrade. As soon as he has said farewell to Banquo (God be with you!) he meets two murderers whom, with a strange mixture of lies, temptations, insults and compliments, he persuades to intercept Banquo as he returns towards the castle and kill him. Lady Macbeth tries to comfort her husband, who is full of gloom and fear but is not taking her into his confidence. He hints that he is arranging the removal of Banquo, the most obvious obstacle to his peace of mind. The murderers succeed in killing Banquo but, significantly, Fleance his son escapes.
While the banquet proceeds, the murderers tell Macbeth what has happened; he sinks again into gloom. Banquo’s ghost enters and sits in Macbeth’s seat. Macbeth, shaken with guilt and horror, creates a sensation among the guests and Lady Macbeth has to pretend that he often has such fits, which soon pass. The ghost disappears temporarily and Macbeth seems to recover, but when he proposes a toast to Banquo the ghost returns and Macbeth behaves like a madman. Lady Macbeth, worried that her husband will soon reveal his terrible secrets, ushers out the guests. Macbeth resolves to visit the witches and find out what his future holds. At the same time he contemplates even more frightful crimes (Strange things I have in head that will to hand).
After a brief and not very important scene in which Hecate, the witches’ goddess, appears, two of the Scottish lords make it quite clear to each other that they strongly suspect Macbeth of the two murders. They reveal that Macduff has gone to the court of Edward the Confessor of England (where Malcolm, Duncan’s son, is living) to beg his military assistance in opposing Macbeth.
ACT IV
Macbeth visits the witches who conjure up, first, a helmeted head; next, a bloody child; and then a crowned child with a tree in his hand. The first apparition warns him to beware of Macduff; the second says that no man born of woman can harm him; and the third informs him that he will never be defeated until Birnam Wood moves towards his castle at Dusinane. Macbeth is encouraged by the second and third prophecies but insists on putting a question to the supernatural powers about Banquo’s descendants: will they ever rule Scotland? In answer he is shown a line of eight kings, accom-panied by Banquo, whom they all resemble; the last king holds a mirror in which still more Banquo-like kings are visible. Immediately after this, news comes that Macduff has fled to, England. Macbeth plans to attack his castle and slaughter his wife and entire family. In the next scene Lady Macduff has just been told by Ross that her husband has gone to England. She is angry and contemptuous of her husband and tells her small son that his father is dead. After a messenger has warned them that they are in danger, murderers sent by Macbeth enter and stab the son. We learn later that the whole family has been killed.
The scene switches to the English, court where Malcolm and Macduff have a long and strange conversation. Macduff is urging Malcolm to return to Scotland to attempt to destroy Macbeth, but Malcolm is suspicious: he thinks Macduff (on Macbeth’s behalf) may be trying to lure him back to Scotland. He tests Macduff by describing himself as a thoroughly wicked man, totally unsuited to be king in Macbeth’s place. He wants to see if Macduff will go on encouraging him beyond all reasonable limits, in which case he will know that he is being deceived. Up to a point Macduff accepts Malcolm’s supposed vices, but eventually he despairs, says Malcolm is not even fit to live, let alone govern Scotland, and prepares to leave. This convinces Malcolm that Macduff is honest. When a doctor suddenly appears to tell them that King Edward is about to cure sick people by the laying on of hands, a new note of hope is introduced (the implication is that he will help Malcolm cure the social and political sickness in Scotland). Malcolm and Macduff are reconciled. Ross comes from Scotland with the appalling news of the destruction of Macduff’s family and, after cursing himself for neglecting them, Macduff determines to seek revenge. The English army under Siward is ready and Malcolm, Macduff and Ross prepare to march northward.
ACT V
The last Act begins with talk between a doctor and a gentlewoman about the serious illness of Lady Macbeth. We are told that she is in the habit of sleepwalking in a state of great agitation. She says things that seem to incriminate herself and her husband. Then Lady Macbeth herself enters with a lighted taper and the doctor prepares to record what she says. She appears to be washing her hands, and, in a fragmentary way, gives details of the murder of Duncan. She also refers to the killing of Lady Macduff and of Banquo. The watchers express their horror at the significance of what she has said.
A Scottish army is about to combine with the English forces under Malcolm and Siward, and attack Macbeth at Dunsinane. In Scene iii, Macbeth declares his desperate trust in the statements of the witches’ apparitions: Birnam Wood cannot possibly move, and all men are born of women. Soon after this he is brought news of the approach of an army of ten thousand men; he sinks temporarily into a state of despair, seeing his own life as near its end. The doctor tells him that there is no change in Lady Macbeth’s state. Macbeth rouses himself and prepares for battle.
The combined army halts near Birnam Wood and Malcolm gives orders for the soldiers to camouflage themselves with leafy boughs cut from the trees. In Dusinane Castle Lady Macbeth’s death is announced and Macbeth reacts by commenting on the meaninglessness of life. A messenger tells him that Birnam Wood is moving towards them. Macbeth flies into an almost insane rage, then lapses into weary resignation, and finally determines to die fighting. Two brief scenes follow (vii and viii) in which the battle is presented. Macbeth is still half-depending on the statement that he cannot be killed by any man ‘of woman born’ and, when he kills young