Plot and structure

Macbeth is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, written in about 1606 for the court of King James I. It is set in Scotland.

Macbeth is a brave and respected thane (a Scottish lord). Three witches predict that he will be king. Spurred on by his ambition and by his wife, he murders King Duncan and takes the throne. To keep it, he kills again and again, until he becomes a hated tyrant. Lady Macbeth is destroyed by guilt, and Macbeth is killed in battle by Macduff. Duncan's son Malcolm becomes king.

The play has five acts. The scenes below are the ones you most need to know.

Act 1 Scene 3. On a heath, three witches greet Macbeth as Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor and the man who ‘shalt be king hereafter’ (Act 1 Scene 3). They tell Banquo that his descendants will be kings. Moments later, Macbeth learns he has been made Thane of Cawdor, so one prophecy has already come true.

Act 1 Scene 5. Lady Macbeth reads Macbeth's letter about the witches. She fears he is too kind to kill, and calls on evil spirits to ‘unsex me here’ (Act 1 Scene 5). When he arrives, she makes it clear that Duncan will not leave their castle alive.

Act 1 Scene 7. Macbeth decides, ‘We will proceed no further in this business’ (Act 1 Scene 7). Lady Macbeth attacks his courage and his manhood until he agrees to the murder.

Act 2 Scene 1. Waiting to kill Duncan, Macbeth sees a dagger floating in the air, pointing the way to the king's room.

Act 2 Scene 2. Macbeth murders the sleeping King Duncan. He comes back shaken, still holding the bloody daggers, and asks whether ‘all great Neptune's ocean’ (Act 2 Scene 2) could wash his hands clean. Lady Macbeth takes the daggers back and smears the sleeping servants with blood, so they will be blamed. She insists, ‘A little water clears us of this deed’ (Act 2 Scene 2).

Act 2 Scene 3. Macduff discovers the body. Macbeth kills the servants, claiming he was overcome by fury. Duncan's sons, Malcolm and Donalbain, flee, so suspicion falls on them, and Macbeth is crowned king.

Act 3 Scene 1. Now king, Macbeth fears Banquo, because the witches promised that Banquo's descendants would be kings. Macbeth feels he wears a ‘fruitless crown’ (Act 3 Scene 1), with no son to inherit it. He hires murderers to kill Banquo and his son, Fleance. In Scene 3 they kill Banquo, but Fleance escapes.

Act 3 Scene 4. At a banquet, Banquo's ghost sits in Macbeth's place. Only Macbeth can see it, and his terror alarms his guests, so Lady Macbeth sends them away. Macbeth decides to visit the witches again, and admits he is so deep in blood that going back would be as hard as going on.

Fleance's escape is the turning point: from here, things start to go wrong for Macbeth.

Act 4 Scene 1. The witches show Macbeth three apparitions. An armed head tells him to ‘Beware Macduff’ (Act 4 Scene 1). A bloody child says that no one ‘of woman born’ (Act 4 Scene 1) can harm him. A crowned child says he is safe until Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane Hill. Then they show him a line of eight kings descended from Banquo. Macbeth learns that Macduff has fled to England.

In Scene 2, Macbeth's murderers kill Macduff's wife and children.

Act 4 Scene 3. In England, Macduff joins Malcolm, who is gathering an army. Ross brings the news of the murders. Macduff is devastated, but turns his grief into a vow of revenge.

Act 5 Scene 1. A doctor and a gentlewoman watch Lady Macbeth sleepwalk. She tries to wash imaginary blood from her hands: ‘Out, damned spot, out, I say!’ (Act 5 Scene 1).

Act 5 Scene 5. As the English army approaches, Macbeth hears that his wife is dead. He replies with his famous speech beginning ‘Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow’ (Act 5 Scene 5), about how meaningless life is. Then a messenger reports that Birnam Wood seems to be moving: Malcolm's soldiers are carrying branches to hide their numbers.

Act 5 Scene 8. Macbeth meets Macduff, who reveals he was ‘Untimely ripped’ (Act 5 Scene 8) from his mother's womb, so he was not born in the usual way. Macbeth fights on and is killed. Malcolm becomes king.

The play rises and falls:

• Acts 1–2: Macbeth rises from brave soldier to king.
• Act 3: the turning point. Fleance escapes, and Banquo's ghost shows Macbeth's guilt in public.
• Acts 4–5: he falls, losing his wife, his allies and finally his life.

At the end, order is restored: Malcolm, the rightful heir, becomes king. A Jacobean audience would see this as the natural order being put right after a terrible crime.