Macbeth ⚔️ King of Scotland
Plot of the play
Act I
The play opens amid thunder and lightning. The Three Witches decide that their next meeting will be with Macbeth. In the following scene, a wounded sergeant reports to King Duncan of Scotland that his generals Macbeth, who is the Thane of Glamis, and Banquo have just defeated the allied forces of Norway and Ireland, who were led by the traitorous Macdonwald, and the Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth, the King's kinsman, is praised for his bravery and fighting prowess.
In the following scene, Macbeth and Banquo discuss the weather and their victory. As they wander onto a heath, the Three Witches enter and greet them with prophecies. Though Banquo challenges them first, they address Macbeth, hailing him as "Thane of Glamis," "Thane of Cawdor," and that he will "be King hereafter." Macbeth appears to be stunned to silence. When Banquo asks of his own fortunes, the witches respond paradoxically, saying that he will be less than Macbeth, yet happier, less successful, yet more. He will father a line of kings, though he himself will not be one. While the two men wonder at these pronouncements, the witches vanish, and another thane, Ross, arrives and informs Macbeth of his newly bestowed title: Thane of Cawdor. The first prophecy is thus fulfilled, and Macbeth, previously sceptical, immediately begins to harbour ambitions of becoming king.
King Duncan welcomes and praises Macbeth and Banquo, and declares that he will spend the night at Macbeth's castle at Inverness; he also names his son Malcolm as his heir. Macbeth sends a message ahead to his wife, Lady Macbeth, telling her about the witches' prophecies. Lady Macbeth suffers none of her husband's uncertainty and wishes him to murder Duncan in order to obtain kingship. When Macbeth arrives at Inverness, she overrides all of her husband's objections by challenging his manhood and successfully persuades him to kill the king that very night. He and Lady Macbeth plan to get Duncan's two chamberlains drunk so that they will black out; the next morning they will blame the chamberlains for the murder. Since they would remember nothing whatsoever, they would be blamed for the deed.
Act II
While Duncan is asleep, Macbeth stabs him, despite his doubts and a number of supernatural portents, including a hallucination of a bloody dagger. He is so shaken that Lady Macbeth has to take charge. In accordance with her plan, she frames Duncan's sleeping servants for the murder by placing bloody daggers on them. Early the next morning, Lennox, a Scottish nobleman, and Macduff, the loyal Thane of Fife, arrive. A porter opens the gate and Macbeth leads them to the king's chamber, where Macduff discovers Duncan's body. Macbeth murders the guards to prevent them from professing their innocence, but claims he did so in a fit of anger over their misdeeds. Duncan's sons Malcolm and Donalbain flee to England and Ireland, respectively, fearing that whoever killed Duncan desires their demise as well. The rightful heirs' flight makes them suspects and Macbeth assumes the throne as the new King of Scotland as a kinsman of the dead king. Banquo reveals this to the audience, and while sceptical of the new King Macbeth, he remembers the witches' prophecy about how his own descendants would inherit the throne; this makes him suspicious of Macbeth.
Act III
Despite his success, Macbeth, also aware of this part of the prophecy, remains uneasy. Macbeth invites Banquo to a royal banquet, where he discovers that Banquo and his young son, Fleance, will be riding out that night. Fearing Banquo's suspicions, Macbeth arranges to have him murdered, by hiring two men to kill them, later sending a Third Murderer, presumably to ensure that the deed is completed. The assassins succeed in killing Banquo, but Fleance escapes. Macbeth becomes furious: he fears that his power remains insecure as long as an heir of Banquo remains alive.
At the banquet, Macbeth invites his lords and Lady Macbeth to a night of drinking and merriment. Banquo's ghost enters and sits in Macbeth's place. Macbeth raves fearfully, startling his guests, as the ghost is only visible to him. The others panic at the sight of Macbeth raging at an empty chair, until a desperate Lady Macbeth tells them that her husband is merely afflicted with a familiar and harmless malady. The ghost departs and returns once more, causing the same riotous anger and fear in Macbeth. This time, Lady Macbeth tells the visitors to leave, and they do so.
Act IV
Macbeth, disturbed, visits the three witches once more and asks them to reveal the truth of their prophecies to him. To answer his questions, they summon horrible apparitions, each of which offers predictions and further prophecies to put Macbeth's fears at rest. First, they conjure an armoured head, which tells him to beware of Macduff . Second, a bloody child tells him that no one born of a woman will be able to harm him. Thirdly, a crowned child holding a tree states that Macbeth will be safe until Great Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane Hill. Macbeth is relieved and feels secure because he knows that all men are born of women and forests cannot possibly move. Macbeth also asks whether Banquo's sons will ever reign in Scotland, to which the witches conjure a procession of eight crowned kings, all similar in appearance to Banquo, and the last carrying a mirror that reflects even more kings. Macbeth realises that these are all Banquo's descendants having acquired kingship in numerous countries. After the witches perform a mad dance and leave, Lennox enters and tells Macbeth that Macduff has fled to England. Macbeth orders Macduff's castle be seized, and, most cruelly, sends murderers to slaughter Macduff, as well as Macduff's wife and children. Although Macduff is no longer in the castle, everyone in Macduff's castle is put to death, including Lady Macduff and their young son.
Act V
Lady Macbeth becomes racked with guilt from the crimes she and her husband have committed. At night, in the king's palace at Dunsinane, a doctor and a gentlewoman discuss Lady Macbeth's strange habit of sleepwalking. Suddenly, Lady Macbeth enters in a trance with a candle in her hand. Bemoaning the murders of Duncan, Lady Macduff, and Banquo, she tries to wash off imaginary bloodstains from her hands, all the while speaking of the terrible things she knows she pressed her husband to do. She leaves, and the doctor and gentlewoman marvel at her descent into madness. (Her belief that nothing can wash away the blood on her hands is an ironic reversal of her earlier claim to Macbeth that " little water clears us of this deed"
In England, Macduff is informed by Ross that his "castle is surprised; wife and babes / Savagely slaughter'd". When this news of his family's execution reaches him, Macduff is stricken with grief and vows revenge. Prince Malcolm, Duncan's son, has succeeded in raising an army in England, and Macduff joins him as he rides to Scotland to challenge Macbeth's forces. The invasion has the support of the Scottish nobles, who are appalled and frightened by Macbeth's tyrannical and murderous behaviour. Malcolm leads an army, along with Macduff and Englishmen Siward, the Earl of Northumberland, against Dunsinane Castle. While encamped in Birnam Wood, the soldiers are ordered to cut down and carry tree branches to camouflage their numbers.
Before Macbeth's opponents arrive, he receives news that Lady Macbeth has killed herself, causing him to sink into a deep and pessimistic despair and deliver his "To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow" soliloquy . Though he reflects on the brevity and meaninglessness of life, he nevertheless awaits the English and fortifies Dunsinane. He is certain that the witches' prophecies guarantee his invincibility, but is struck with fear when he learns that the English army is advancing on Dunsinane shielded with boughs cut from Birnam Wood, in apparent fulfillment of one of the prophecies.
A battle culminates in Macduff's confrontation with Macbeth, who kills Young Siward in combat. The English forces overwhelm his army and castle. Macbeth boasts that he has no reason to fear Macduff, for he cannot be killed by any man born of woman. Macduff declares that he was "from his mother's womb / Untimely ripp'd" , and is not "of woman born" (an example of a literary quibble), fulfilling the second prophecy. Macbeth realises too late that he has misinterpreted the witches' words. Though he realises that he is doomed, and despite Macduff urging him to yield, he is unwilling to surrender and continues fighting. Macduff kills and beheads him, thus fulfilling the remaining prophecy.
Macduff carries Macbeth's head onstage and Malcolm discusses how order has been restored. His last reference to Lady Macbeth, however, reveals "'tis thought, by self and violent hands / Took off her life" , but the method of her suicide is undisclosed. Malcolm, now the King of Scotland, declares his benevolent intentions for the country and invites all to see him crowned at Scone.
(Although Malcolm, and not Fleance, is placed on the throne, the witches' prophecy concerning Banquo ("Thou shalt get kings") was known to the audience of Shakespeare's time to be true: James VI of Scotland (later also James I of England) was supposedly a descendant of Banquo.
Feminist reading of lady Macbeth
In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, he presents the conflicting character of Lady Macbeth. Upon receiving her husband’s letter about the witches’ prophesies, she attempts to be like a man in order to exude the strength needed to gain additional social status as royalty. Lady Macbeth appears to be very influential in planning – deciding when and how they should kill King Duncan – and chiding her husband for not acting more like a man; yet, despite these capabilities, she is the main reason for the revealing of the Macbeth’s part in the usurpation of the throne.
First shown as an iron-willed character willing to “[pluck] my nipple from [my child’s] boneless gums, And [dash] the brains out, had I so sworn as you Have done to this” to later being shown as possessed by nightmares of guilt , how could such a strong character so quickly fall prey to uneasiness? According to materialist feminism theory, despite her earlier show of strength, Lady Macbeth’s eventual weakness is a result of a patriarchal portrayal of her gender.
A popular speculation on why the oppression of women is not more commonly recognized than the oppression of certain ethnic or religious groups, is that “women’s allegiance to men from their own [background] always supersedes their allegiance to women from different classes” . While certain social and economic factors separate people from different walks of life, within these groups women are also separated from each other. Women remain isolated which prevents them from making significant changes because they have no strength in size.
Similarly, Lady Macbeth, while being notably strong compared to other members of her gender, has no way to enact her schemes as she is kept isolated from other women during the course of the play. While her strength is great, she is not powerful enough alone to deal with a murder. She does not reveal the secret of their murderous deeds because she is a woman and thus inherently weak, but she reveals the secret because she is a woman and thus has been selectively isolated from finding strength in number.
From the very beginning of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is shown as a character is relents in creating rebellious plots. According to Lois Tyson, “women themselves…in the accomplishments of their husbands and sons” Lady Macduff – the epitome of motherhood – does not concoct some evil plot because she invests all of her intellectual powers into the achievements of her husband and children.
On the other hand, Lady Macbeth, not as bound to domestic duties as Lady Macduff, sharpens her intellectual capabilities for her own use. While intelligence from a male character would be seen as a beneficial trait, patriarchy defines Lady Macbeth’s intelligence as a flaw and as an indicator that she is unnatural and “unfulfilled” as a woman.
Patriarchal society encourages Lady Macbeth to invest herself in the role of mother. Lady Macbeth is seen as selfish and abnormal when she confesses that there is a situation in which she would “dash her child’s brains out” , a very unnatural statement according to patriarchy’s belief that women’s desire to have and protect children is a part of “their natural biological makeup”. Though intelligent and strong at the beginning of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is reduced to an insignificant person haunted by nightmares and guilt as a result of a patriarchal portrayal of her gender.
Film adaptions of Macbeth
Macbeth, 1948
Director : Orson welles
Notable cast: Orson welles, jeannette Nolan
This black-and-white film features some minor changes to the original play along with significant edits. Welles increased the purpose and presence of the three Witches in the movie to play up the conflict between early Christianity and pagan beliefs in Scotland. Welles also emphasized the violence of the story: the film depicts Lady Macbeth’s suicide and the final battle that ends with Macbeth’s beheading by Macduff. Welles also wanted all of the characters to speak with authentic Scottish accents, but the studio that produced the film insisted that the voices be dubbed after the film was completed.
Macbeth,1972
Director: Roman Polanski
Notable cast: John Finch, Francesca Annis
This R-rated film of the play features a nude sleepwalking scene by Lady Macbeth and plenty of on-screen violence. Polanski also emphasizes the passage of time – the events of play span several years, and the Macbeths visibly age over the course of the movie.
Macbeth, 2010
Director: Rupert Goold
Notable cast: Patrick Stewart, Kate Fleetwood
Patrick Stewart, better-known to many as Captain Jean-Luc Picard on Star Trek, stars in this adaptation of a well-received stage production of the play. Director Goold sets the action in purgatory, making the story a cautionary tale about the dangers of ambition.
Macbeth, 2015
Director: Justin Kurziel
Notable cast: Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard
This recent adaptation was filmed in Scotland, and opens with the funeral of the Macbeth’s dead son. This plot device links the couple’s thirst for power to their grief over losing their child, and makes the couple initially sympathetic to the audience.
By - vachchhalata Joshi
vachchhalatajoshi.14@gmail.com
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