Scene vi: As they arrive at Macbeth's castle, Duncan, Malcolm, Donalbain, and Banquo are welcomed by Lady Macbeth. She plays the gracious hostess, speaking very formally and demonstrating how she can hide her evil thoughts behind a show of polite welcome.
Scene vii: Macbeth has left the evening’s welcoming party. He contemplates the killing of Duncan in a soliloquy. He is deeply disturbed by the sin of killing a king and a blood relative. Lady Macbeth enters and mocks her husband's fears. When he asks about what would happen if the plan fails, his wife derides this possibility with the rhetorical question, "We fail?" Her bloody ambition overwhelms Macbeth who tells her that she should only bring forth male children, having no "feminine" side to her nature. Macbeth is now committed to stabbing Duncan to death in his sleep and blaming the king's own guards. He has learnt that “False face must hide what the false heart doth know.”
Act 2
Scene i: Banquo and his son Fleance speak of the dark night. Macbeth enters, and they speak about the prophecies. Macbeth pretends he has not been thinking of the witches (another example of how he is learning to lie), but Banquo warns him about the evil that might grow out of their prophecies. Banquo and Fleance, leave. Alone, Macbeth sees a bloody dagger floating before him. He expresses horror at the “bloody business”, but carries on anyway. A bell tolls, summoning Duncan “to heaven or to hell,” as Macbeth leaves to commit the crime.
Scene ii: Lady Macbeth appears on stage, sounding edgy. She has drugged Duncan's guards. Macbeth comes back, full of remorse, and tells his wife that he has done the deed. He also says that he fear's God's wrath, that he can no longer pray, and that a voice has said to him "sleep no more." She urges him to forget such "brain-sickly" things, and then scolds him for bringing the daggers back with him. (She sounds stronger than when she was alone.) She departs to put the daggers near the guards and smear them with blood. When she returns, they hear a knock. Macbeth wishes it could wake Duncan.
Scene iii: A drunken porter opens the door for two of the king's lords, Macduff and Lenox. Macbeth pretends to have just awoken as he greets them. Macduff exits the stage to see the king; he returns immediately with the news that Duncan has been slain. An alarm is sounded and Macbeth runs to the king's chambers. Lady Macbeth appears as well, and the real murderers blame the drugged guards for the crime. When Macbeth begins to struggle to explain why he killed the guards (not part of Lady Macbeth’s plan), she pretends to faint. The king's sons talk with each other. They are afraid that Scotland is no longer safe for them, and that that they will be charged with using the guards to kill their father. Malcolm decides to flee to England, Donalbain to Ireland.
Scene iv: Outside of the castle, an old man tells Rosse of the strange, unnatural omens that appeared on the night of the king's murder. Macduff enters with news that the king's sons have fled, saying that many see this as proof of their guilt. Macduff then announces that Macbeth has been proclaimed as the new king of Scotland.
Act 3
Scene i: On stage alone, Banquo says he strongly suspects that Macbeth has murdered his way to becoming king. He recalls that the weird sisters also foretold that Banquo's descendants (but not he himself) would one day rule in Scotland. Macbeth enters: now he is king. He confirms that Banquo and Fleance plan to go horseback riding. All except Macbeth and his servants exit. Macbeth speaks of a scheme to have Banquo and Fleance killed, to prevent this part of the witches' prophecy from coming true. By lying about Banquo, he persuades two soldiers to murder Banquo and Fleance as they ride.
Scene ii: Together alone, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth discuss the threat that Banquo and Fleance represent. Macbeth hints to her that he has arranged something to put their minds at rest, but says she can be “innocent of the knowledge.” More and more, Macbeth is taking the lead.
Scene iii: Away from the royal palace, the two murderers are joined by a third. (It seems that Macbeth trusts nobody any more.) They attack, and Banquo is killed – but Fleance escapes.
Scene iv: At the palace, a banquet is being held by Macbeth. One of the murderers arrives and tells Macbeth what has occurred. When Macbeth returns to his guests, he sees the ghost of Banquo at the table. Although no one else sees the ghost, Macbeth is very shaken by this vision. Lady Macbeth explains to their guests that her husband is suffering from a periodic illness, that his fit is but momentary. Macbeth appears to recover, but then the Ghost of Banquo appears to him again. The banquet ends abruptly and when the rest leave, Macbeth tells his wife that he will seek out the witches to learn about all the remaining threats against them.
Scene v: In an "open place," the demon goddess Hecate scolds the three witches for not including her in their plans for Macbeth. She advises them to make-up potent spells to cast on Macbeth when they meet him again.
Scene vi: In another part of Scotland, the noble Lenox and a second lord talk about the deaths of Duncan and Banquo and relate the news that Duncan's son Malcolm is in England gathering an army to overthrow Macbeth. Along with Macduff and the King of England, Lenox supports the cause of Malcolm to force the throne from the murderous Macbeth.
Act 4
Scene i: In a cave, the weird sisters and Hecate cast spells on Macbeth over a boiling cauldron, chanting "double, double, toil and trouble" before Hecate departs. When Macbeth appears, they conjure three ghosts to answer his questions. The first, an armed head, warns Macbeth against Macduff. The second, a blood-stained child, tells Macbeth that no man born of woman can harm him. The third, a child wearing a crown, says to Macbeth that he will rule Scotland until the forest at Birnam marches to the castle at Dunsinane. When Macbeth asks whether Banquo's descendants will rule Scotland, Banquo's Ghost appears once more, heading a procession of eight kings and revealing even more. The apparitions and the witches disappear. After they have vanished, Macbeth is told that Macduff has joined the army of Malcolm. Macbeth vows to slay Macduff and his family for this "betrayal."
Scene ii: At Macduff's castle, Lady Macduff can hardly believe that her husband has left his family alone. She tells her son that his father Macduff is dead, but the boy sees through this ruse. A messenger arrives and warns them to flee. Before they can escape, Macbeth's murderers arrive, slay Macduff's young son and chase his wife off stage.
Scene iii: In England, Malcolm puts Macduff's loyalty to the test. He "confesses" to a depraved crime, and when Macduff mourns that a sinner will rule Scotland, Malcolm knows that Macduff will be loyal to the patriotic cause against Macbeth. News arrives that Macduff's family has been slaughtered. Macduff swears vengeance against Macbeth and, with Malcolm, the two prepare to shake Macbeth from his bloody throne.
Act 5
Scene i: As a doctor and her gentlewoman look on, Lady Macbeth walks in her sleep, mumbling expressions of guilt, including the lament that "All the perfumes of Arabia" will not sweeten her blood-stained hands. In this half-dead state, she speaks of the crimes against Duncan, Banquo and Lady Macduff.
Scene ii: Near Macbeth's royal palace at Dunsinane, a group of Scottish rebels against Macbeth relate the progress that the English army led by Macduff and Malcolm has made against Macbeth's defenses. They will join this force at Birnam Woods and march with it on Dunsinane to overthrow Macbeth.
Scene iii: At his castle, Macbeth tells the Doctor that he does not fear the invasion force because of the predictions of the witches that no man born of woman can kill him and that the woods must march before he is defeated. The Doctor tells Macbeth that his wife is afflicted by insomnia and hallucinations.
Scene iv: Near Birnam Wood, Malcolm, Macduff and their force assemble for the assault upon Macbeth's castle. Malcolm instructs his men to camouflage themselves with branches from the trees of Birnam Wood.
Scene v: At his castle, Macbeth is told that his wife, Lady Macbeth, is dead. Macbeth is stunned, saying that life "is a tale/Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury/Signifying nothing." Just then, a messenger arrives with the word that Birnam Wood is "marching" on Dunsinane. Macbeth realizes what this means in terms of the prophecies, but vows to fight on, still reassured that no man born of woman can kill him.
Scene vi: Malcolm, Macduff and a lord of their party, Siward, prepare to assault Macbeth's castle.
Scene vii: Macbeth appears in armour and kills Siward. He encounters Macduff and the two duel throughout the remainder of the scene.
Scene viii: As the fight between them continues, Macduff tells Macbeth that he is not a "natural" product of his mother's womb, that he was prematurely ripped from it and (technically) is "not of woman born." Macbeth faces the challenge bravely, telling his foe to "Lay on, Macduff." Macduff and they leave the stage, fighting. Macduff appears carrying Macbeth's severed head and hails Malcolm as the new king of Scotland. Malcolm says that when he is crowned, he will make Macduff and his supporters not Thanes but Earls as they all celebrate the triumph over Macbeth, Lady Macbeth and the evil that they wrought in Scotland.