Macbeth by William Shakespeare

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Description edit see section history

Shakespeare's tragic play of deception, intrigue and murder. After hearing the prophecy of three witches a Scottish noble plots the murder of his king in order to obtain the throne.

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Summary edit see section history

The suspense in the book built up from Macbeth being a non-guilty type of person into a guilty one. He has started off slow by killing the king (Duncan) and gradually starts to kill other people because he wanted to be king. The books open with Macbeth and Banquo meeting three witches who claim to Macbeth that he is Thane of Cawdor, Thane of Glamis, and King of Scotland. After this prophecy, the thing that excited me was how Macbeth wanted to become king. It got very bloody throughout this play and Macbeth started to over throw himself by killing the king (Duncan). Later on in the play, Macbeth hired two assasins to murder his friend Banquo and Fleance to ensure that Macbeth would keep his throne and Banquo wouldn't interfere with him, but Fleance escapes.

A tragedy written c. 1606 is William Shakespeare's shortest play. It is believed by some scholars to be a tribute to James I because of its emphasis on the supernatural (ghosts and witches), a subject that intrigued the king.

The play opens with Macbeth and Banquo meeting three witches who claim that Macbeth is Thane of Cawdor, Thane of Glamis, and King of Scotland, and that Banquo's sons will rise to the Scottish throne. Macbeth is already the Thane of Glamis and is confused by the witches' prophecy.

When Banquo and Macbeth ride into King Duncan's camp, they learn of the Thane of Cawdor's treachery against the Scottish crown and that Macbeth has earned his title for his loyalty to Duncan and bravery on the battlefield. Macbeth, remembering the witches, begins to lust after the crown.

Lady Macbeth, upon hearing of the prophecy and her husband's new title, entices him to look out for their interests and murder Duncan while he is a guest at their home. Macbeth agrees reluctantly and murders Duncan, framing Duncan's bedroom guards.

Remembering the witches also bestowed a prophecy on Banquo, he hires two assassins to murder his friend and his son Fleance to ensure that he keep the throne. Banquo is killed, but Fleance escapes.

Duncan's son Malcolm and Macduff, another thane, have joined forces, raising an army in England to attack Macbeth. Learning of their plan, Macbeth orders the murders of Lady Macduff and her children. Lady Macbeth is driven insane by her guilt (out, out damn spot soliloquy) and commits suicide.

Macbeth learns that he will be slain by a man "not born of woman". Thinking that there is no such thing, Macbeth becomes certain that he will thwart the attack on him. However, Macduff was born by caesarian; thus making him not born of woman. He kills Macbeth and Malcolm is crowned King of Scotland.

Characters/People edit see section history

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Macbeth: Scottish general
Banquo: Commander, with Macbeth, of Scotland's army. Parallel of James I.
Fleance: Son to Banquo
Duncan: Good King of Scotland
Malcolm: Duncan's oldest son, heir to the throne of Scotland
Donalbain: Duncan's younger son
Lady Macbeth: Wife of Macbeth that is probably the best character and is kind of insane
Three witches: The Weird sisters who offer predictions to Macbeth
Macduff: Scottish nobleman, loyal to Duncan
Seyton: an officer who attends to Macbeth
Angus: Nobleman of Scotland
Ross: Nobleman of Scotland
Porter: The drunken doorman and equivocator of Macbeth's castle
Lennox: Nobleman of Scotland
Siward: Earl of Northumberland, general of the English forces
Boy: Son to Macduff
An English Doctor: Add a description of this character.
A Scottish Doctor
A Lord
A Porter: A man who guards the gates of Macbeth's castle
An Old Man
A Sergeant
Two Messengers
An Attendant on Macbeth
A Servant to Lady Macbeth
Three Murderers
Hecate: Goddess of witchcraft
Menteith: Nobleman of Scotland
A Gentelwoman: Someone who attends to Lady Macbeth
Caithness: Nobleman of Scotland
Young Siward: Son to Siward
Three Apparitions
Lady Macduff: Wife of Macduff
Old man: Ross' Father

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Quotes edit see section history

“To be thus, is nothing/ But to be safely thus...”
Macbeth III.i.48-49
“O, I could play the woman with mine eyes/ And braggart with my tongue! But, gentle heavens,/ Cut short all intermission; front to front/ Bring thou this fiend of Scotland and myself;/ Within my sword's length set him; if he 'scape,/ Heaven forgive him too!”
Macduff IV.iii.
“In nature is tyranny; it hath been th' untimely emptying of the happy throne and fall of many kings. "But fear not yet to take upon you what is yours. You may convey your pleasures in a spacious plenty, and yet seem cold, the time you may so hoodwink. We have willing dames enough. There cannot be that vulture in you to devour so many as will to greatness dedicate themselves, finding it so inclin'd.”
Macduff (Act Four, Scene Three)
“Come, go we to the king. Our power is ready; Our lack is nothing but our leave. Macbeth is ripe for shaking, and the pow'rs above put on their intruments. Receive what cheer you may. The night is long that never finds the day.”
Malcolm (Act Four, Scene Three)
“Double, double, toil and trouble/ Fire burn and cauldron bubble.”
Three Witches (Act 4, scene 1)
“Out, damned spot! out, I say!”
Lady Macbeth (Act 5, scene 1)
“Fair is foul, and foul is fair./ Hover through the fog and filthy air.”
The Weird Sisters (1.1.11-12)
“The raven himself is hoarse/ That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan/ Under my battlements. Come, you spirits/ That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,/ And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full/ Of direst cruelty! make thick my blood;/ Stop up the access and passage to remorse,/ That no compunctious visitings of nature/ Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between/ The effect and it! Come to my woman's breasts,/ And take my milk for gall, you murdering ministers,/ Wherever in your sightless substances/ You wait on nature's mischief! Come, thick night,/ And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell,/ That my keen knife see not the wound it makes,/ Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark,/ To cry 'Hold, hold!'”
Lady Macbeth (1.5.39-53)
“It is a tale/ Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,/ Signifying nothing.”
Macbeth V.v.29-31
“Angels are bright still, though the brightest fell: Though all things foul would wear the brows of grace, yet grace must still look so.”
Malcolm
“So foul and fair a day I have not seen.”
Macbeth 1.3.39
“Nothing in his life Became him like the leaving it.”
Malcolm 1.4.8-9
“Yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o' th' milk of human kindness.”
Lady Macbeth 1.5.47-48
“Look like th' innocent flower, But be the serpent under 't.”
Lady Macbeth 1.5.76-78
“If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well It were done quickly.”
Macbeth 2.1.44-45
“Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand?”
Macbeth 2.1.44-45
“Sleep that knits up the raveled sleave of care…”
Macbeth 2.2.49
“Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood Clean from my hand?”
Macbeth 2.2.78-79
“Naught's had, all's spent, Where our desire is got without content.”
Lady Macbeth 3.2.6-7
“We have scorched the snake, not killed it.”
Macbeth 3.2.15
“Duncan is in his grave. After life's fitful fever he sleeps well.”
Macbeth 3.2.25-26
“… I am cabined, cribbed, confined, bound in To saucy doubts and fears.”
Macbeth 3.4.26-27
“It will have blood, they say; blood will have blood.”
Macbeth 3.4.151
“I'll make assurance double sure…”
Macbeth 4.1.94
“At one fell swoop?”
Macduff 4.3.258
“All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.”
Lady Macbeth 5.1.53-55
“What's done cannot be undone.”
Lady Macbeth 5.1.71
“I have lived long enough. My way of life Is fall'n into the sere, the yellow leaf…”
Macbeth 5.3.26-27
“Canst thou not minister to a mind diseased…?”
Macbeth 5.3.50
“I have supped full with horrors.”
Macbeth 5.5.15
“Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow….”
Macbeth 5.5.22
“I 'gin to be aweary of the sun…”
Macbeth 5.5.55
“Lay on, Macduff, And damned be him that first cries "Hold! Enough!”
Macbeth 5.8.38-39

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Setting & Locations edit see section history

Macbeth takes place in 11th century Scotland.

Cawdor
England
Heaven
Menteith
London
Scotland
Caithness
Macbeth's castle: Fife. Also referred to as on Dunsinane Hill, surrounded by Birnam Woods in the county of Inverness in Scotland.
Macduff's Castle
Duncan's Castle
Birnam Woods

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Organizations edit see section history

Weird Sisters: A coven of three witches, they are prophetesses who tell Macbeth of his destiny at outset of the play using enigmatic language which maintains mystery throughout the play.
Scottish Monarchy: The play is set in medieval Scotland, in the 11th century, prior to the unification of England and Scotland, when Scotland was ruled by its own Royal Family. Around the time the play was written (sometime in the first decade of the 1600's) England and Scotland had been united through King James I having inherited both thrones in 1603.

First Sentence edit see section history

1st Witch: When shall we three meet again?

Table of Contents edit see section history

I. Introduction To "Macbeth"
II. Act 1, Scene 1
2. Scene 2
3. Scene 3
4. Scene 4
5. Scene 5
6. Scene 6
7. Scene 7
III. Act 2, Scene 1
2. Scene 2
3. Scene 3
4. Scene 4
IV. Act 3, Scene 1
2. Scene 2
3. Scene 3
4. Scene 4
5. Scene 5
6. Scene 6
V. Act 4, Scene 1
2. Scene 2
3. Scene 3
VI. Act 5, Scene 1
2. Scene 2
3. Scene 3
4. Scene 4
5. Scene 5
6. Scene 6
7. Scene 7
8. Scene 8

End of Book

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

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Series & Lists edit see section history

This is book 115 of 195 in Shelfari Most Popular (June 2010). (authoritative list)

This book is in Folger Shakespeare Library. (publisher edition list)

This is book 150 of 195 in Shelfari Most Popular (December 2011). (authoritative list)

This is book 150 of 194 in Shelfari Most Popular (December 2010). (authoritative list)

This is book 148 of 195 in Shelfari Most Popular (June 2011). (authoritative list)

This book is in The Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge. (community list)

This book is in Shakespeare's Tragedies. (community list)

This book is in LMU Anglistik Syllabus. (authoritative list)

This is book 2 of 199 in Newman and Jones 200 Best Horror Novels. (community list)

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

William Shakespeare (Author)

Other Contributors:

Kent Richmond

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Edward Blount and William and Isaac Jaggard
Country: United Kingdom
Publication Date: 1623
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 224