The Tragedie of Macbeth

Play by William Shakespeare

CHARACTER CHART OF MACBETH

Macbeth Main Characters

Macbeth
Macbeth, Thane of Glamis, is a brave Scottish general in King Duncan’s army. However, upon hearing
the three witches’ prophecy that he would become King of Scotland, he becomes tyrannical. With his
wife’s help and encouragement he kills King Duncan, but this fills him with deep regret and guilt.
Plagued by insecurities and the witches’ prophecy that Banquo’s descendants would be kings, he
keeps spies on all the noblemen and arranges for Banquo and his son to be murdered, although he
hides this from his wife. Banquo's ghost haunts him and he suffers from insanity and insomnia. He
seeks out the witches again, who still affirm the prophecy, and he goes on a murderous rampage. He
mourns his wife’s death and contemplates killing himself too as Malcolm’s army approaches him.
However, Macduff challenges him and he decides to die fighting.

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow / Creeps in this petty pace from day to da

Lady Macbeth
Even more ambitious and ruthless than her husband Macbeth, Lady Macbeth plots to murder King
Duncan upon hearing of the witches’ prophecy. She goads Macbeth into the evil deed despite his
hesitance, gives the guards drugged wine, and lays out the bloody daggers. She comforts her husband
in his guilt afterwards. When Macbeth sees Banquo's ghost, Lady Macbeth nervously tries to calm him
down and dismisses their guests. However, her guilt soon turns her mad as well and, tormented by
nightmares, she sleepwalks as she tries to wash out the invisible bloodstains on her hands. She dies
offstage in the final act, a supposed suicide.
Out, damned spot!

Macduff
Macduff, Thane of Fife, is loyal to King Duncan. He is the first to discover Duncan’s dead body and
never believes it was the servants who killed him. Macduff flees to England, trying to find King
Duncan’s son Malcolm and restore him as rightful king but meanwhile, Macbeth has Macduff’s wife
and children murdered. Full of grief and revenge, he persuades Malcolm to lead an army against
Macbeth, challenges Macbeth one-to-one and slays him. A child of a caesarean birth, he thus fulfils the
witches’ prophecy that no man of woman born would harm Macbeth.
O horror, horror, horror! / Tongue nor heart cannot conceive nor name thee

Three Witches
The Three Witches, or Three Weird Sisters, are the morally ambiguous characters whose prophecies
drive Macbeth to his tyrannical desire for power. When the witches first meet Macbeth and Banquo,
they prophesy that Macbeth will become King of Scotland and that Banquo’s descendants will be kings.
When Macbeth seeks them out again, they produce apparitions of his downfall while delivering three
more prophecies to him: beware Macduff, none of woman born will harm him, and he will be safe until
a local wood, Birnam Wood, marches into battle against him. They leave the audience questioning
whether they are agents of fate or independent agents manipulating humans’ lives.
Double, double, toil and trouble; / Fire burn, and cauldron bubble

Malcolm
Malcolm is one of King Duncan’s sons and proclaimed heir to his throne. Suspected of his own father’s
murder, he flees to England. When Macduff comes to find him in England, Malcolm initially tests his
loyalty. Ultimately, Malcolm is convinced that they need to enact vengeance and fight Macbeth. He
mobilises an army in England and leads them to Scotland with Macduff’s help. He and his forces march
on Dunsinane Castle, where Macbeth has retreated, camouflaging themselves with branches from
Birnam Wood and thereby fulfilling the witches’ prophecy. He takes over as king and restores order.
What I believe, I’ll wail; / What know, believe; and what I can redress, / As I shall find the time
to friend, I will

Banquo
Banquo, Thane of Lochaber, is a Scottish general known for his bravery like his friend Macbeth. They
meet the witches together upon returning from battle, and Banquo is also eager to know what their
prophecy is for him. They tell him that he will not be king, but that his descendants will inherit the
throne. Banquo is sceptical of the prophecy and resists the temptation of power that Macbeth gives
into. When Macbeth takes the throne, Banquo pledges loyalty to him despite his suspicions, but
Macbeth has him murdered, seeking to secure his position as king. Banquo's ghost appears and haunts
Macbeth at the banquet that night, as well as later in a vision from the witches.
Merciful powers / Restrain in me the cursed thoughts

Macbeth Minor Characters:

King Duncan
Donalbain

Lennox
Ross
Menteth
Angus
Cathness

Fleance
Seyward
Young Seyward
Seyton
Son of Macduff
Wife of Macduff
A Captain
English Doctor
Scottish Doctor
Porter
Old Man
Gentlewoman

Three other witches

Hecat
Apparitions

Murderers
Messengers
Servants
Lords
Soldiers

PLOT:
Macbeth tells his wife of the Witches' predictions and she encourages him to murder the current king,
Duncan, who is staying with them as a guest. 3. After Macduff discovers the murder, Duncan's sons flee
the country, leaving the way clear for Macbeth to become king.

THEME:
• Ambition
• Kingship
• Fate and free will
• Appearance and reality

Motifs (Recurring elements and patterns of imagery in Macbeth which support the play's
themes)
• Nature / The natural world
• Light and darkness
• Children
• Blood
• Sleep
• Visions

Moral/Message:
The moral of the tragic play Macbeth is that ambition must be tempered by morality in order to avoid
tragic occurrences. Macbeth and his wife are not people normally given to violence and betrayal, yet
these events unfold when they become so desirous of power that they let their morals fall away.

Number of ACTS and SCENES:

Act1. 7 scenes
Act2. 4 scenes
Act 3. 6scenes
Act 4. 3 scenes
Act 5. 8scenes

Total: 5 Acts and 28 Scenes.

Summary
Act 1

The play takes place in Scotland. Duncan, the king of Scotland, is at war with the king of Norway. As
the play opens, he learns of Macbeth's bravery in a victorious battle against Macdonald—a Scot who
sided with the Norwegians. At the same time, news arrives concerning the arrest of the treacherous
Thane of Cawdor. Duncan decides to give the title of Thane of Cawdor to Macbeth.

As Macbeth and Banquo return home from battle, they meet three witches. The witches predict that
Macbeth will be thane of Cawdor and king of Scotland, and that Banquo will be the father of kings.
After the witches disappear, Macbeth and Banquo meet two noblemen Ross and Angus, who announce
Macbeth's new title as thane of Cawdor. Upon hearing this, Macbeth begins to contemplate the murder
of Duncan in order to realize the witches' second prophecy.
Macbeth and Banquo meet with Duncan, who announces that he is going to pay Macbeth a visit at his
castle. Macbeth rides ahead to prepare his household. Meanwhile, Lady Macbeth receives a letter from
Macbeth informing her of the witches' prophesy and its subsequent realization. A servant appears to
inform her of Duncan's approach. Energized by the news, Lady Macbeth invokes supernatural powers
to strip her of feminine softness and thus prepare her for the murder of Duncan. When Macbeth
arrives, Lady Macbeth tells him that she will plot Duncan's murder.
When Duncan arrives at the castle, Lady Macbeth greets him alone. When Macbeth fails to appear,
Lady Macbeth finds him is in his room, contemplating the weighty and evil decision to kill Duncan.
Lady Macbeth taunts him by telling him that he will only be a man if he kills Duncan. She then tells him
her plan for the murder, which Macbeth accepts: they will kill him while his drunken bodyguards
sleep, then plant incriminating evidence on the bodyguards.

Act 2

Macbeth sees a vision of a bloody dagger floating before him, leading him to Duncan's room. When he
hears Lady Macbeth ring the bell to signal the completion of her preparations, Macbeth sets out to
complete his part in the murderous plan.

Lady Macbeth waits for Macbeth to finish the act of regicide. Macbeth enters, still carrying the bloody
daggers. Lady Macbeth again chastises him for his weak-mindedness and plants the daggers on the
bodyguards herself. While she does so, Macbeth imagines that he hears a haunting voice saying that he
shall sleep no more. Lady Macbeth returns and assures Macbeth that "a little water clears us of this
deed" (II ii 65).

As the thanes Macduff and Lennox arrive, the porter pretends that he is guarding the gate to hell.
Immediately thereafter, Macduff discovers Duncan’s dead body. Macbeth kills the two bodyguards,
claiming that he was overcome with a fit of grief and rage when he saw them with the bloody daggers.
Duncan's sons Malcolm and Donalbain, fearing their lives to be in danger, flee to England and Ireland.
Their flight brings them under suspicion of conspiring against Duncan. Macbeth is thus crowned king
of Scotland.

Act 3

In an attempt to thwart the witches' prophesy that Banquo will father kings, Macbeth hires two
murderers to kill Banquo and his son Fleance. Lady Macbeth is left uninformed of these plans. A third
murderer joins the other two on the heath and the three men kill Banquo. Fleance, however, manages
to escape.

Banquo’s ghost appears to Macbeth as he sits down to a celebratory banquet, sending him into a
frenzy of terror. Lady Macbeth attempts to cover up for his odd behavior but the banquet comes to a
premature end as the thanes begin to question Macbeth's sanity. Macbeth decides that he must revisit
the witches to look into the future once more.

Meanwhile, Macbeth's thanes begin to turn against him. Macduff meets Malcolm in England to prepare
an army to march on Scotland.

Act 4

The witches show Macbeth three apparitions. The first warns him against Macduff, the second tells
him to fear no man born of woman, and the third prophesizes that he will fall only when Birnam Wood
comes to Dunsinane castle. Macbeth takes this as a prophecy that he is infallible. When he asks the
witches if their prophesy about Banquo will come true, they show him a procession of eight kings, all
of whom look like Banquo.
Meanwhile in England, Malcolm tests Macduff's loyalty by pretending to confess to multiple sins and
malicious ambitions. When Macduff proves his loyalty to Scotland, the two strategize for their
offensive against Macbeth. Back in Scotland, Macbeth has Macduff’s wife and children murdered.

Act 5

Lady Macbeth suffers from bouts of sleepwalking. To a doctor who observes her symptoms, she
unwittingly reveals her guilt as she pronounces that she cannot wash her hands clean of bloodstains.
Macbeth is too preoccupied with battle preparations to pay much heed to her dreams and expresses
anger when the doctor says he cannot cure her. Just as the English army led by Malcolm, Macduff,
Siward approaches, Lady Macbeth’s cry of death is heard in the castle. When Macbeth hears of her
death, he comments that she should have died at a future date and muses on the meaninglessness of
life.

Taking the witches’ second prophecies in good faith, Macbeth still believes that he is impregnable to
the approaching army. But Malcolm has instructed each man in the English army to cut a tree branch
from Birnam Wood and hold it up to disguise the army’s total numbers. As a result, Macbeth's servant
reports that he has seen a seemingly impossible sight: Birnam Wood seems to be moving toward the
castle. Macbeth is shaken but still engages the oncoming army.

In battle, Macbeth kills Young Siward, the English general's brave son. Macduff then challenges
Macbeth. As they fight, Macduff reveals that he was not "of woman born" but was "untimely ripped"
from his mother's womb (V x 13-16). Macbeth is stunned but refuses to yield to Macduff. Macduff kills
him and decapitates him. At the end of the play, Malcolm is proclaimed the new king of Scotland.