All Macbeth’s thoughts of murdering Duncan he puts to the back of his mind and decides to leave it to chance until Duncan names Malcolm, Prince of Cumberland.
Lady Macbeth is told of the witches’ predictions for Macbeth. Straight away, without hesitation, she is convinced that Macbeth will be King.
“Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be
What thou art promised; yet do I fear thy nature,
It is too full o’th’milk of human kindness
To catch the nearest way.”
(Act 1 Scene 5, lines 13–16)
She considers his nature, fearing that he is too decent and squeamish to murder Duncan for the crown.
When Lady Macbeth is told that King Duncan is to break his journey at the castle she decides he will never leave.
“The raven himself is hoarse,
That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan
Under my battlements.”
(Act 1 Scene 5, lines 36-38)
She then says a terrible prayer; she pledges herself to the powers of darkness. In this prayer you can tell that she has not a shred of pity in her and she asks to be unsexed. Here she is saying that she wants her feminine and gentle qualities taken away from her. Women are not usually connected with evil and murder. That is what makes her so unnatural and potent. She has no hesitation in killing Duncan. The language that she uses and the imagery are truly terrifying in this part of the play.
Lady Macbeth thinks that Macbeth is weak and asks that he has his compassion and pity drained away. She says they must look the perfect hosts and hide their intentions. Macbeth is dubious. Macbeth wants to kill Duncan but is wary of the consequences. Lady Macbeth does not think of the consequences.
She believes that she is very strong and tells Macbeth to leave it to her because she does not think he can do it.
As Macbeth finishes talking with Banquo he sees a dagger before him. It points him in the direction of Duncan’s sleeping chamber.
“Is this a dagger, I see before me,
The handle towards my hand? Come, let me clutch thee:”
(Act 2 Scene 1, lines 33-34)
It is a figment of his imagination; he knows that, but it seems to be a sign that he is going to kill Duncan. It would seem that the witches are adding a powerful reminder that it is what he must do in order to become king. The dagger then had blood on the blade, which in itself is a very powerful sign that he is committed to killing Duncan;
“And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood.”
(Act 2 Scene 1, line 46)
As he walks towards Duncan’s chamber, he says that it is as if the earth is trying to show his presence to warn Duncan.
Lady Macbeth has a very important part to play in the murder of Duncan. She announces that she has set up the murder by making Duncan’s guards drunk.
“That which hath made them drunk, hath made
Me bold;”
(Act 2 Scene 2, lines 1 and 2)
Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth that she was ready to kill Duncan until she saw that he resembled her father. That was the only reason that she did not kill Duncan, showing how callous and evil she is.
Macbeth says that the deed is done and that it is a sorry sight. Lady Macbeth is very quick to say,
“A foolish thought, to say a sorry sight.”
(Act 2 Scene 2, line 24)
Macbeth is distraught after what he has done and Lady Macbeth tries to calm him.
Macbeth has brought out the daggers and cannot return them, but Lady Macbeth does. She comes back with blood on her hands and is not moved by the evidence of Duncan’s murder. She simply washes the blood off and says that this is the end of it, Macbeth does not agree.
“What hands are here? Ha: they pluck out mine eyes.
Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood
Clean from my hands? No: this my hand will rather
The multitudinous seas incarnadine,
Making the green one red.”
(Act 2 Scene 2, lines 62-66)
Lady Macbeth merely says.
“A little water cleans us of this deed.
How easy it is then!”
(Act 2 Scene 2, line 70-71)
The night of the murder there is a terrible storm and unearthly screams are heard in the night. It also helps to show the evil of the murder and the disturbances in the natural world. It is when everything is reversed like the good and the bad. Lennox does in fact mention that the night has been bad:
“The night has been unruly: where we lay,
Our chimneys were blown down, and, as they say,
Lamentings heard i’th’air, strange screams of death
And prophesying with accents terrible
Of dire combustion and confused events,
New hatched to th’woeful time. The obscure bird
Clamoured the live long night. Some say, the earth
Was feverous and did shake.”
(Act 2 Scene 3, lines 46-54)
These supernatural events also foreshadow the chaos to be unleashed on Scotland.
Fearful of their lives, Malcolm and Donaldbain flee, and Macbeth takes the crown. However, Banquo becomes suspicious of Macbeth for he is the only person who saw what happened between Macbeth and the witches. He has seen two of three prophecies made by the witches, come true. He is almost certain that Macbeth did not get the crown through luck.
“Thou hast it now, king, Cawdor, Glamis, all,
As the weird women promised, and I fear
Thou played’st most foully for’t;”
(Act 3 Scene 1, lines 1-3)
Banquo, though, I feel, feels a certain loyalty to Macbeth, because they were the closest of colleagues. Banquo is a very loyal, trustworthy, incorruptible and I feel that he would not do anything to harm Macbeth personally. However, he is worried that Macbeth has overstepped his mark.
Macbeth is very concerned about Banquo because he is very powerful and is a strong man. He has led men into battle and fought as courageously as Macbeth. Macbeth fears that if he stands against him, others might follow him, because they trust and respect Banquo. Macbeth feels he must kill Banquo to be safe. Macbeth has fought for the throne and it must look as if he is inviting people to challenge him. He must get rid of his powerful opposition.
“To be thus is nothing,
But to be safely thus. Our fears in Banquo
Stick deep, and in his royalty of nature
Reigns that which would be feared.”
(Act 3 Scene 1, lines 49-53)
Macbeth is planning the murder of Banquo because Banquo is a powerful Thane and could threaten Macbeth’s position as King and he is the only one that knows of the witches’ prophesy. Macbeth explains to Lady Macbeth that they must hide their intentions and seem to be welcoming to him. It is troubling him, because he must kill Fleance too. The witches said that Banquo’s children would be kings, so Macbeth must kill him.
“Then be thou jocund: ere the bat hath flown,
His cloistered flight, ere to black Hecare’s summons
The shard-borne beetle with his drowsy hums
Hath rung night’s yawning peal, there shall be done
A deed of dreadful note.”
(Act 3 Scene 2, lines 41-44)
Macbeth does not tell Lady Macbeth about the plans to kill Banquo. She does not know what he intends to do.
He makes reference to the powers of darkness again by saying, “Whiles night’s black agents to their preys do rowse.”
Macbeth is taking total control of the murder of Banquo. Lady Macbeth is told to let him sort it out. He has lost his compassion and now thinks nothing of murdering. He is totally responsible for the murder.
When Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost he is unnerved by it. Lady Macbeth attempts to calm him down.
When the ghost leaves Macbeth regains his composure and reassures the Thanes and proposes a toast. On seeing the ghost reappear he bursts into violent language and commands him away. Macbeth incriminates himself. The reaction of the Thanes is of disbelief. Then Lady Macbeth orders the Thanes to leave.
Macbeth vows to visit the witches again to see his future, swearing that from now on there is no turning back.
“I am in blood
Stepped in so far that should I wade no more,
Returning were as tedious as go o’er.”
(Act 3 Scene 4, lines 136-138)
Macbeth will kill anyone standing in his way, having seen this, the audience will know that Macbeth is a tyrant, a despot; he is an absolute leader. If anyone stands in his way, then he will kill him. At this point it is obvious he has no compassion. There is no democracy in Scotland under Macbeth’s reign.
Hecate, the goddess of witchcraft, is angry with the witches because Macbeth has used them; they have not gained control of him
“How did you dare
To trade and traffic with Macbeth
In riddles and affairs of Death?
(Act 3 Scene 5, lines 3-5)
Hecate devises a plan to lure Macbeth into a false sense of security. She says she will meet them at the pit of Acheron, a river in hell. These words further emphasises to the audience that these creatures are the agents of darkness.
“This night I’ll spend
Unto a dismal and a fatal end.”
(Act 3 Scene 5, lines 20-21)
She will spend the entire night planning Macbeth’s downfall. Hecate will create false spirits to confuse Macbeth and make believe he is invincible.
“Shall rise such artificial spirits
As by the strength of their illusion
Shall draw him on to his confusion
He shall spurn fate, scorn death, and bear
His hopes brave wisdom, grace, and fear.
And you all know, security
Is mortals’ chiefest enemy.”
(Act 3 Scene 5, lines 27-33)
The witches prepare to meet Macbeth. They chant as they circle the cauldron throwing in horrible ingredients to make a sickening brew.
As the witches concoct this gruesome spell they concentrate on adding objects which have links with the super natural.
“In the poisoned entrails throw.
Toad”
(Act 4 Scene 1, lines 4-5)
Poison; Toad; both are linked with evil. They are dangerous things feared by ordinary people.
The witches also chant in rhyme and this gives a strong impression that they are casting a spell. The witches add parts of animals that are considered dangerous or evil.
“Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
Adder’s fork, and blind worm’s sting,
Lizard’s leg, and howlets wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth, boil and bubble.”
(Act 4 Scene 1, Lines 12-17)
Another part where the weird sisters speak in rhyme is when they say,
“Double, double toil and trouble,
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.”
(Act 4 Scene 1, lines 18-1)
Then the third witch adds objects that are considered disgusting and evil. She also makes the brew with body parts of non-Christians, and at this time non-Christians were considered friends of the Devil by a Jacobean audience.
“Liver of blaspheming Jew…”
“Nose of Turk and Tartar’s lips.”
(Act 4 Scene 1, Lines 25 and 29)
Then Macbeth arrives, the weird sisters can sense his approach because of his evil. Macbeth knows the witches are evil and should not be trusted but he does. When Macbeth asks what it is that they have been doing they call it “a deed without a name” because it is so terrible. However he does not heed their implicit warning.
Then Macbeth demands to know his future.
The witches conjure up three apparitions to deceive Macbeth. The first apparition tells him to beware the Thane of Fife. This disturbed him because he already feared Macduff as a threat to his crown. Because of what the apparition has told him, he decides that he must kill Macduff to protect himself.
The second tells him that none of woman born shall ever harm him. This reassures Macbeth but he still is convinced that he must kill Macduff.
The third apparition says that he will never be harmed until Birnam Wood moves to Dunsinane Hill. Macbeth believes that a forest can never be uprooted and moved so he feels that this is another indication of his invulnerability. So therefore it was another reassurance but he still decides that he must kill Macduff. He knows that Macduff has gone to England to protect himself from Macbeth but leaving his family, his wife and children, at his castle unprotected. So Macbeth decides because he cannot get at Macduff, he must kill his family.
This shows that he has lost all compassion and is no longer scared of killing anyone. He has been told Macduff cannot harm him but he still wants to kill him and his family as if it were a game.
Meanwhile, Lady Macbeth is in torment. Her gentlewoman reports to the doctor that she has seen Lady Macbeth sleepwalking. She refuses to tell what her mistress has told in her sleep. Lady Macbeth, asleep, enters with a candle.
“She has light by her continually,
‘tis her command.”
(Act 5 Scene 1, lines 19-20)
This implies she is scared of the dark, which means she is being tormented by the weird sisters and the supernatural.
“It is an accustomed action with her, to seem thus.”
(Act 5 Scene 1, line 14)
She is sleepwalking every night so her guilt is destroying her. Every time she tries to wash her hands as if removing the blood of Duncan.
“Yet here’s a spot.”
(Act 5 Scene 1, line 27)
This would be interpreted by the Jacobean audience of the time as the Devils mark and would have shown how Lady Macbeth had secured her fate for eternity.
Even after washing her hands she says there is still blood on her hands, which implies she can not forget what she did. Tragically, she has come to understand what Macbeth had realised from the start – they would forever carry the guilt for Duncan’s murder in their souls.
Lady Macbeth, fast asleep, tries to wash imagined blood from her hands. Her fragmented language echoes her own and Macbeth’s words about past murders: Duncan, Lady Macduff, Banquo.
“Out dammed spot.”
“Hell is murky.”
(Act 5 Scene 1, lines 30-31)
This shows the torment that Lady Macbeth is enduring; she is looking into Hell itself.
“Here’s the smell of the blood still: all the
Perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand, O,O,O.”
(Act 5 Scene 1, lines 42-43)
This is another glimpse of the agony Lady Macbeth is enduring. Lady Macbeth starts to tell of the murders of Banquo and others and she incriminates herself, and Macduff.
“I tell you yet again, Banquo’s buried; he cannot
come out on’s grave.”
(Act 5 Scene 1, lines 52-53)
The Doctor then say she is more in need of a Priest than a doctor. He knows that her ailment is spiritual, not physical.
Malcolm, Macduff, Siward and the English Army approach; young men flock to join them; Macbeth is troubled by internal revolt-his soldiers obey only out of fear, and his conscience oppresses him.
Angus says;
“Now does he feel
His secret murders sticking on his hands.
Now minutely revolts upbraid his faith- breach;
Those he commands, move only in command,
Nothing in love. Now does he feel his title
Hang lose about him, like a giant’s robe
Upon a dwarfish thief.”
(Act 5 Scene 2, lines 17-22)
Angus describes how Macbeth has lost the respect of Lords and ordinary men alike. The Kings title is not suited to him.
Many of the Thanes leave Macbeth with their men and join the English. Macbeth has lost the qualities which enable him to rally men.
Macbeth, receiving news of desertions from his army, recalls the witches’ predictions. He rages at the soldiers who tells him of Malcolm’s approach. He knows that the coming battle will make or break him.
“Bring me no more reports, let them fly all;”
(Act 5 Scene 3, line 1)
Macbeth places his trust in the weird sister’s predictions and believes he is invincible. Macbeth reflects upon the loneliness of his position. He knows he is hated and reviled. He is weary of life, and would welcome death.
“I have lived long enough”
(Act 5 Scene 3, lines 20)
Macbeth reflects on a bleak future. He is determined to fight to the death, and orders rumourmongers to be killed. Macbeth calls for his armour; the spirit of a great worrier lives in him. He will not go with out a fight.
Malcolm orders the army to cut down branches in Birnam Wood to camouflage their numbers as they approach Dunsinane.
Macbeth prepares his castle for a siege. Only desertions stop him facing Malcolm’s army. He has almost lost any sense of fear, as he committed such terrible deeds, and faced supernatural horrors.
Hearing that his wife has died also takes its toll on Macbeth. Macbeth is not scared because life means nothing to him now. He has ruined his.
“Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle,
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury
Signifyng nothing.”
(Act 5 Scene 5, lines 18-27)
Macbeth feels an immense amount of bitterness, futility and emptiness for his life at this bleak time.
When Macbeth is told that Birnam Wood is approaching the castle he realises he has been deceived by the Weird Sisters.
“I pull in resolution and begin
To doubt th’equivocation of the fiend
That lies like truth. ‘Fear not, till Birnam Wood
Do come to Dunsinaine; and now a Wood
Comes toward Dunsinaine. Arm, arm, and out!”
(Act 5 Scene5, lines 41-45)
Macbeth however, still places his trust in the promises that none of woman born can harm him. He is, though, utterly weary, and would almost welcome death.
“I’gin to be aweary of the sun
And wish th’estate o’th’ world were
Now unolone.”
(Act 5 Scene 5, lines 48-49)
Macbeth is challenged by Young Siward Macbeth kills him and Macbeth boasts that none of woman born can kill him. Macduff refuses to fight with mercenaries and seeks only Macbeth.
“This way, my Lord; the castle’s gently rendered.”
(Act 5 Scene 7, lines 25)
Macbeth remaining servants and soldiers open the gates of the castle and let the forces of Malcolm in. this is their final betrayal.
Macbeth has completely lost the respect and loyalty of those men whom he once led so courageously into battle.
Facing Macduff, Macbeth boasts that no naturally born man can kill him, but Macduff reveals his own caesarean birth. Dismayed, Macbeth refuses to fight. Macduff threatens that he will be exhibited in captivity.
“Despair thy charm,
And let the angle whom thou still hast served
Tell thee, Macduff was from his mother’s womb
Untimely ripped.”
(Act 5 Scene 8, lines 13-16)
Macduff was born by a caesarean section, which is not a natural birth. It is at point Macbeth realises, to his horror, that the Weird Sisters had planned his downfall.
“And be these juggling fiends no more believed
That palter with us in a double sense,
That keeps the word of promise to our ear
And break it to our hope. I’ll not fight with thee.”
(Act 5 Scene 8, lines 18-21)
Macbeth knows he should not have trusted the devil’s weird sister, but he allowed them to push him beyond human security.
Macbeth felt a rare sensation of fear when Macduff revealed he was not naturally born.
However Macbeth is determined to fight to the death, and is killed by Macduff.
The death of Macbeth returns stability to Scotland. The powers of darkness are overcome.
Macbeth relied too much on the Weird Sisters and believed too much in his invincibility. By trusting the Weird Sisters he threw away his potential to be a great leader. He was a brave and courageous man and he inspired men. By the end of the play he had lost respect from everyone, and had become a hated and feared tyrant.
Macbeth’s major flaw was his ambition and greed. If the Weird Sisters had not encouraged that ambition Macbeth would not have been a murderous villain and dictator. They had a very powerful influence upon him.
