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How does Lady Macbeth persuade Macbeth to kill King Duncan? Why does Macbeth kill King Duncan's two chamberlains? Why do King Duncan's sons, Malcolm and Donalbain, flee to England after their father is murdered?
- Themes
Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas...
- Key Facts
Full title The Tragedy of Macbeth. Author William...
- Macbeth Characters
Shakespeare uses Macbeth to show the terrible effects that...
- Full Play Summary
The play begins with the brief appearance of a trio of...
- A+ Student Essay
Macbeth ignores several signs that might have alerted him to...
- Themes
- In the very first scene of the play, we are introduced to three mischievous witches. Macbeth is reported as being a brave and noble warrior; he has just killed a traitor in battle, showing his loyalty to King Duncan.
- Macbeth sees his first hallucination – a bloody dagger – after seeing Banquo and Fleance in the castle courtyard. A shaken and mentally unstable Macbeth returns to Lady Macbeth with the murder weapons: two daggers covered in blood (the murder of Duncan takes place off-stage)
- Banquo begins to suspect Macbeth of the murder of Duncan. Macbeth hires assassins to kill Banquo and his son, Fleance. The murderers kill Banquo, but Fleance manages to escape.
- In desperation, and increasingly mentally unstable, Macbeth returns to the witches for reassurance. They offer him three new prophecies: to “beware Macduff”; that “no man of woman born” can kill him; and that he won’t be defeated unless Birnam Wood starts marching on his castle.
Detailed look at what happens in each scene of Macbeth, to help you look at the structure of the play and interrogate it. Includes important character developments and key questions actors might ask when they first go through the play together in rehearsal.
- Summary: Act 1: Scene 1
- Summary: Act 1: Scene 2
- Summary: Act 1: Scene 3
- Summary: Act 1: Scene 4
- Analysis: Act 1, Scenes 1–4
Thunder and lightning crash above a Scottish moor. Three haggard old women, the witches, appear out of the storm. In eerie, chanting tones, they make plans to meet again upon the heath, after the battle, to confront Macbeth. As quickly as they arrive, they disappear. Read a translation of Act 1: Scene 1
At a military camp near his palace at Forres, King Duncan of Scotland asks a wounded captain for news about the Scots’ battle with the Irish invaders, who are led by the rebel Macdonwald. The captain, who was wounded helping Duncan’s son Malcolm escape capture by the Irish, replies that the Scottish generals Macbeth and Banquo fought with great cou...
On the heath near the battlefield, thunder rolls and the three witches appear. One says that she has just come from “[k]illing swine” and another describes the revenge she has planned upon a sailor whose wife refused to share her chestnuts. Suddenly a drum beats, and the third witch cries that Macbeth is coming. Macbeth and Banquo, on their way to ...
At the king’s palace, Duncan hears reports of Cawdor’s execution from his son Malcolm, who says that Cawdor died nobly, confessing freely and repenting of his crimes. Macbeth and Banquo enter with Ross and Angus. Duncan thanks the two generals profusely for their heroism in the battle, and they profess their loyalty and gratitude toward Duncan. Dun...
These scenes establish the play’s dramatic premise—the witches’ awakening of Macbeth’s ambition—and present the main characters and their relationships. At the same time, the first three scenes establish a dark mood that permeates the entire play. The stage directions indicate that the play begins with a storm, and malignant supernatural forces imm...
Need help with Act 1, scene 4 in William Shakespeare's Macbeth? Check out our revolutionary side-by-side summary and analysis.
The play begins with the brief appearance of a trio of witches and then moves to a military camp, where the Scottish King Duncan hears the news that his generals, Macbeth and Banquo, have defeated two separate invading armies—one from Ireland, led by the rebel Macdonwald, and one from Norway.
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Need help with Act 1, scene 1 in William Shakespeare's Macbeth? Check out our revolutionary side-by-side summary and analysis.
