About Shakespeare
William Shakespeare (1564 -1616) is a well-known figure in English literature. He is the national poet of England. He is often called the Bard of Avon. 37 plays and 154 sonnets are written by him. His major works are Romeo and Juliet (1595), The Marchant of Venice (1600), Hamlet (1603), King Lear (1605), Othello (1622), Macbeth (1623), As You Like It (1623), All’s Well That Ends Well (1623) and so on.
Key Facts
Time of composition and performance: Macbeth is written around 1606 and it was performed in the same year.
Published date: Macbeth is published in the ‘first folio’. That means it is published in 1623.
Genre: Macbeth is a tragedy.
The number of acts: There are five acts in the play. Act 1 contains seven scenes, Act 2 contains four scenes, Act 3 contains six scenes, Act 4 contains three scenes, and Act 5 contains nine scenes.
Time setting: Its time setting is the 17th century.
Place setting: All the scenes are situated in Scotland except the last part of the fourth act. The last part of the fourth act is situated in England.
Characters’ List
Important characters: There are a number of characters in the tragedy ambition entitled Macbeth but we need to pay heed to the major characters to understand the plot of the tragedy.
Macbeth: He is the protagonist, General of the King’s Army, a tragic hero, and later king of Scotland of the play.
Lady Macbeth: She is the wife of General Macbeth.
Duncan: He is the king of Scotland and the father of Malcolm and Donalbain.
Malcolm: He is the elder son of King Duncan and later king of Scotland.
Donalbain: He is the younger son of King Duncan.
Banquo: He is another general of King’s Army, Father of Fleance.
Fleance: Son of Banquo.
Macduff: Thane of Fife and nobleman of Scotland.
Seyton: He is an officer attending Macbeth.
Lady Macduff: Wife of Macduff.
Supernatural Characters: Three Weird sisters and the Ghost of Banquo.
Revolt characters against Scotland
Macdonwald: a lord from the Western Isles of Ireland and the Outer Hebrides, has joined with the Norwegian king to start a rebellion against King Duncan in Scotland.
Thane of Cawdor: Thane of Cawdor helps the Norwegian to capture Fife which is one of the dominions of King Duncan.
Siward: Earl of Northumberland, General of English Forces.
Themes
High ambition: High ambition is the main theme of the tragedy. Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth are the agents of high ambition.
Supernatural force: Three Witches, Banquo’s ghost, and Hecate are the representation of supernatural force in the play. This technique helps to develop the play.
Corruption: Corruption also has been shown in the character of Macbeth. Shakespeare has shown that corruption’s other name is destruction.
Good versus evil: At last, a good thing or object will be the winner as a consequence, and an evil thing or object will be looser as a result. It is shown by the characters in the play.
Conflict: Conflict in the human heart has been shown here. Macbeth’s soliloquy is the best example. Both external and eternal conflict has been shown by the character of Macbeth in the play.
Hallucination
Prophecy
Summary
Summary
[We will discuss Macbeth in 5 parts for better understanding]
- The witches’ prophecy and plan to kill King Duncan
- Killing King Duncan and declaring Macbeth the new king
- The murder of Banquo, Macbeth’s abnormal activities, and again the witches’ prophecies
- Killing Macduff’s family and Malcolm agreeing to attack Macbeth
- The death of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, and Malcolm is the new king
1. The witches’ prophecy and plan to kill King Duncan
At the beginning of the play, three witches want to meet Macbeth. Meanwhile, King Duncan’s forces and General Macbeth won the battle they were fighting against the enemy and this news was reported to King Duncan. He was very happy to hear this news.
At the end of the battle, Macbeth and Banquo are walking in an open field. Just then the three witches welcome them and prophesy about Macbeth and Banquo. They say Macbeth will be Thane of Cawdor and later King of Scotland. As for Banquo, it is said that he will be the father of kings, that is, his heirs will be kings. And saying this they disappeared from there.
Then there Ross and Angus meet Macbeth and Banquo and inform them that Macbeth is going to be Cawdor’s thane/governor or secretary i.e. Macbeth has been promoted. Macbeth is surprised to hear this because three witches had prophesied this good news to him earlier. Macbeth thinks that since this is true it must also be true that he will be King of Scotland. Macbeth sent a letter to Lady Macbeth.
Then Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are happy to know that King Duncan will be their guest. That’s when Lady Macbeth plans to kill King Duncan to become queen. Because Lady Macbeth knows that Macbeth will never kill King Duncan. Like professional killers, Lady Macbeth plans to kill King Duncan.
2. Killing King Duncan and declaring Macbeth the new king
Macbeth kills King Duncan according to Lady Macbeth’s plan. Although unwilling to kill at first, Macbeth kills the king at the instigation of his wife. The plan was to get King Duncan’s guards drunk so that they could be blamed. Meanwhile, Macbeth stabs the sleeping King Duncan to death. Since King Duncan was their guest, it was not too difficult to kill him.
The next morning Macduff comes to meet King Duncan on his duty. But upon arrival, he discovers the dead body of King Duncan. He couldn’t believe his eyes at first. One by one everyone arrives at Macduff’s cry. And suddenly Macbeth kills King Duncan’s guards to hide his sin and to show that he loves Duncan very much. There Macbeth and Lady Macbeth were pretending that they were really innocent like children. And upon seeing this murder, Malcolm and Donalbain, the king’s two sons, fled from there in fear and went to another country. They were afraid that they might be killed like his father. As a result of their escape, everyone begins to suspect that they have killed their father. Macbeth declares himself as the new king.
3. The murder of Banquo, Macbeth’s abnormal activities, and again the witches’ prophecies
At the beginning of this act, Macbeth hires two killers to kill Banquo and his son Fleance and later sends another to see if they are doing well. Macbeth sends the killers to murder Bunquo and his son because the witches have foretold Banquo will be the father of Kings. The killers murder Banquo but Fleance escapes.
Meanwhile, Macbeth holds a feast in his palace with all his dignitaries. There suddenly Macbeth starts to behave abnormally. Because Macbeth can see Banquo’s ghost and others cannot.
Macbeth then meets the three witches again and wants to hear their prophecies. They tell Macbeth that he must beware of Macduff. They also prophesied that (i) the child born naturally from the mother’s womb would not be able to kill Macbeth, (ii) when Birnam Wood would come to the Dunsinane Castle, Macbeth will die. Macbeth is happy to hear the prophecy from them. Meanwhile, Macduff went to England and met Malcolm.
4. Killing Macduff’s family and Malcolm agreeing to attack Macbeth
In this act, Macduff’s family is killed by Macbeth’s hired murderers. Meanwhile, after testing Macduff’s patriotism, Malcolm agrees to attack Macbeth with Macduff’s English force.
5. The death of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, and Malcolm is the new king
Meanwhile, Lady Macbeth is seen suffering like a sleepwalking patient. Her sins tormented her from within. Macbeth then learns that English forces are coming to invade his kingdom and his wife has died.
Meanwhile, Malcolm orders his troops to camouflage themselves by cutting branches from Birnam Wood. Because he doesn’t want to reveal the number of his soldiers. This makes the three witches’ prophecy – “When Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane Castle” – come true.
Then when war breaks out, Macbeth kills Young Siward, the son of an English general. And Macduff kills Macbeth because Macduff was not a child born in a normal delivery, i.e. a modern-day cesarean delivery. Finally, Malcolm becomes the new King of Scotland.
Read Also: Doctor Faustus Summary
Moral lesson
There is nothing wrong to be highly ambitious but wrongdoing for ambition brings about havoc.
Quotation
“Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player.
It is a tale/Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury/Signifying nothing.”
