Macbeth:

Work through these notes as you study the play. They will point out some of the technical
information that you need to know in order to analyse all of Shakespeare’s tragedies, as well as
some of the specific information that you need to know about this play.

Macbeth is Shakespeare’s shortest play and moves with great speed towards its conclusion. The play
must be read with its origins in mind. While The Witches may seem a little odd to us, in the 16th and
17th centuries, people had a real belief in the supernatural and would have found The Witches
deeply distressing. The play also depends very heavily on what happens between scenes: on the
events that the audience does not see. Unseen events link scenes and help the play to move quickly.

PLOT:
The plot of Macbeth is in five acts. This is the usual structure employed by Shakespeare and is still
used by some films and many TV series today. The basic structure of any five-act play can be seen
below:

http://sbt.blob.core.windows.net/site-images/articles/five-act-play.png

When you have finished studying the play you will need to consider how much time you think was
spent on the Catastrophe.

1
In the case of Macbeth the action in the acts is as follows:

Thank you to Wikipedia for the short review of the plot that follows:

2
Act I
The play opens amidst thunder and lightning, and the Three Witches decide that their next meeting
shall be with Macbeth. In the following scene, a wounded sergeant reports to King Duncan of
Scotland that his generals—Macbeth, who is the Thane of Glamis, and Banquo—have just defeated
the allied forces of Norway and Ireland, who were led by the traitorous Macdonwald and the Thane
of Cawdor. Macbeth, the King's kinsman, is praised for his bravery and fighting prowess.
In the following scene, Macbeth and Banquo discuss the weather and their victory. As they wander
onto a heath, the Three Witches enter and greet them with prophecies. Though Banquo challenges
them first, they address Macbeth, hailing him as "Thane of Glamis," "Thane of Cawdor," and that he
shall "be King hereafter." Macbeth appears to be stunned to silence. When Banquo asks of his own
fortunes, the witches respond paradoxically, saying that he will be less than Macbeth, yet happier,
less successful, yet more. He will father a line of kings though he himself will not be one. While the
two men wonder at these pronouncements, the witches vanish, and another thane, Ross, arrives
and informs Macbeth of his newly bestowed title: Thane of Cawdor, as the previous Thane of
Cawdor shall be put to death for treason. The first prophecy is thus fulfilled, and Macbeth,
previously sceptical, immediately begins to harbour ambitions of becoming king.
King Duncan welcomes and praises Macbeth and Banquo, and declares that he will spend the night
at Macbeth's castle at Inverness; he also names his son, Malcolm as his heir. Macbeth sends a
message ahead to his wife, Lady Macbeth, telling her about the witches' prophecies. Lady Macbeth
suffers none of her husband's uncertainty and wishes that he murder Duncan in order to obtain
kingship. When Macbeth arrives at Inverness, she overrides all of her husband's objections by
challenging his manhood and successfully persuades him to kill the king that very night. He and Lady
Macbeth plan to get Duncan's two chamberlains drunk; the next morning they will blame the
chamberlains for the murder. The guards will be defenceless as they will remember nothing.
Act II
While Duncan is asleep, Macbeth stabs him, despite his doubts and a number of supernatural
portents, including a hallucination of a bloody dagger. He is so shaken that Lady Macbeth has to take
charge. In accordance with her plan, she frames Duncan's sleeping servants for the murder by
placing bloody daggers on them. Early the next morning, Lennox, a Scottish nobleman, and Macduff,
the loyal Thane of Fife, arrive. A porter opens the gate and Macbeth leads them to the king's
chamber, where Macduff discovers Duncan's body. Macbeth murders the guards to prevent them
from professing their innocence, but claims he did so in a fit of anger over their misdeeds. Duncan's
sons Malcolm and Donalbain flee to England and Ireland, respectively, fearing that whoever killed
Duncan desires their demise as well. The rightful heirs' flight makes them suspects and Macbeth
assumes the throne as the new King of Scotland as a kinsman of the dead king. Banquo reveals this
to the audience, and while sceptical of the new King Macbeth, he remembers the witches' prophecy
about how his own descendants would inherit the throne; this makes him suspicious of Macbeth.

Macbeth sees Duncan's

ghost, https://pioneer-
macbeth.wikispaces.com/Readin
g+Resources public domain

3
Act III
Despite his success, Macbeth, also aware of this part of the prophecy, remains uneasy. Macbeth
invites Banquo to a royal banquet, where he discovers that Banquo and his young son, Fleance, will
be riding out that night. Fearing Banquo's suspicions, Macbeth arranges to have him murdered, by
hiring three men to kill them. The assassins succeed in killing Banquo, but Fleance escapes. Macbeth
is furious: he fears that his power remains insecure as long as an heir of Banquo remains alive.
At a banquet, Macbeth invites his lords and Lady Macbeth to a night of drinking and merriment.
Banquo's ghost enters and sits in Macbeth's place. Macbeth raves fearfully, startling his guests, as
the ghost is only visible to himself. The others panic at the sight of Macbeth raging at an empty chair,
until a desperate Lady Macbeth tells them that her husband is merely afflicted with a familiar and
harmless malady. The ghost departs and returns once more, causing the same riotous anger and fear
in Macbeth. This time, Lady Macbeth tells the lords to leave, and they do so.

Macbeth consulting the Vision of the Armed Head by Johann Heinrich Füssli Public Domain

Act IV
Macbeth, disturbed, visits the Three Witches once more and asks them to reveal the truth of their
prophecies to him. To answer his questions, they summon horrible apparitions, each of which offers
predictions and further prophecies to put Macbeth's fears at rest. First, they conjure an armoured
head, which tells him to beware of Macduff (IV.i.72). Second, a bloody child tells him that no one
born of a woman shall be able to harm him. Thirdly, a crowned child holding a tree states that
Macbeth will be safe until Great Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane Hill. Macbeth is relieved and
feels secure because he knows that all men are born of women and forests cannot move. Macbeth
also asks if Banquo's sons will ever reign in Scotland: the witches conjure a procession of eight
crowned kings, all similar in appearance to Banquo; the last carrying a mirror that reflects even more
kings. Macbeth realises that these are all Banquo's descendants having acquired kingship in
numerous countries. After the witches perform a mad dance and leave, Lennox enters and tells
Macbeth that Macduff has fled to England. Macbeth orders Macduff's castle be seized, and, most
cruelly, sends murderers to slaughter Macduff's wife and children. Although Macduff is no longer in
the castle, everyone in Macduff's castle is put to death, including Lady Macduff and their young son.

4
 Lady Macbeth sleepwalking by Johann Heinrich Füssli Public Domain

Act V
Meanwhile, Lady Macbeth becomes wracked with guilt from the crimes she and her husband have
committed. At night, in the king's palace at Dunsinane, a doctor and a gentlewoman discuss Lady
Macbeth's strange habit of sleepwalking. Suddenly, Lady Macbeth enters in a trance with a candle in
her hand. Bemoaning the murders of Duncan, Lady Macduff, and Banquo, she tries to wash off
imaginary bloodstains from her hands, all the while speaking of the terrible things she knows she
pressed her husband to do. She leaves, and the doctor and gentlewoman marvel at her descent into
madness. Her belief that nothing can wash away the blood on her hands is an ironic reversal of her
earlier claim to Macbeth that "[a] little water clears us of this deed" (II.ii.66).
In England, Macduff is informed by Ross that his "castle is surprised; [his] wife and babes / Savagely
slaughter'd" (IV.iii.204–5). When this news of his family's execution reaches him, Macduff is stricken
with grief and vows revenge. Prince Malcolm, Duncan's son, has succeeded in raising an army in
England, and Macduff joins him as he rides to Scotland to challenge Macbeth's forces. The invasion
has the support of the Scottish nobles, who are appalled and frightened by Macbeth's tyrannical and
murderous behaviour. Malcolm leads an army, along with Macduff and Englishmen Siward (the
Elder), the Earl of Northumberland, against Dunsinane Castle. While encamped in Birnam Wood, the
soldiers are ordered to cut down and carry tree limbs to camouflage their numbers.
Before Macbeth's opponents arrive, he receives news that Lady Macbeth has died, causing him to
sink into a deep and pessimistic despair and deliver his "Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and
tomorrow" soliloquy (V.v.17–28). Though he reflects on the brevity and meaninglessness of life, he
nevertheless awaits the English and fortifies Dunsinane. He is certain that the witches' prophecies
guarantee his invincibility, but is struck with fear when he learns that the English army is advancing
on Dunsinane shielded with boughs cut from Birnam Wood, in apparent fulfilment of one of the
prophecies.
A battle culminates in Macduff's confrontation with Macbeth, who kills Young Siward in combat. The
English forces overwhelm his army and castle. Macbeth boasts that he has no reason to fear
Macduff, for he cannot be killed by any man born of woman. Macduff declares that he was "from his
mother's womb / Untimely ripp'd" (V.8.15–16), (i.e., born by Caesarean section) and is not "of
woman born" (an example of a literary quibble), fulfilling the second prophecy. Macbeth realises too
late that he has misinterpreted the witches' words. Though he realises that he is doomed, he
continues to fight. Macduff kills and beheads him, thus fulfilling the remaining prophecy.
Macduff carries Macbeth's head onstage and Malcolm discusses how order has been restored. His
last reference to Lady Macbeth, however, reveals "'tis thought, by self and violent hands / Took off

5
her life" (V.ix.71–72), but the method of her suicide is undisclosed. Malcolm, now the King of
Scotland, declares his benevolent intentions for the country and invites all to see him crowned
at Scone.
Although Malcolm, and not Fleance, is placed on the throne, the witches' prophecy concerning
Banquo ("Thou shalt get kings") was known to the audience of Shakespeare's time to be true: James
VI of Scotland (later also James I of England) was supposedly a descendant of Banquo.
From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macbeth

THE TRAGIC HERO Aristotle

The plot structure ties in very well with the idea of the tragic hero.
According to ancient Greek ideals, as laid out by Aristotle initially, the
tragic hero “must evoke in the audience a sense of pity or fear” in the
audience. This feeling arises from our own sense that the misfortune
that the protagonist suffers is not entirely deserved or necessary and
that we, being similar to him, might suffer a similar fate one day. This
is because Aristotle noted that the misfortune that befalls the
protagonist is "not through vice or depravity but by some error of
judgment." The audience has a sense of “catharsis” or a feeling of a
release of emotion at the end of the play when the protagonist has died. The idea of the tragic hero
is a common one throughout history and they can even be found in Star Wars ( Anakin
Skywalker of Return of the Jedi (1983)) and Game of Thrones (Stanis Baratheon).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragic_hero

1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darth_Vader 2) https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/05/Stannis_Baratheon-
Stephen_Dillane.jpg
3) https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ_iBz6oWFVyLVKBnrHedvKWtfEvoj3Hi_JCvJq5SjJFb3StCGl

6
The tragic hero has to go through several phases in order to show how he is initially a good man who
makes a bad decision or is a victim of fate; he then undergoes his downfall and death and is thus
shown to be a good man again:

http://www.storyboardthat.com/storyboards/rebeccaray/mabeth

7
CHARACTERS:
Consider each of the following characters and then write some points that you feel are important about each of them as the play progresses. Use the space
below the image if you need to:

8
9
10
http://libguides.marymede.vic.edu.au/macbeth/characters

11
THEMES:
Themes are repeated ideas or concepts that appear throughout a text. A poem, play, novel, film or
any other work of fiction can have themes. Themes are very often used by the writer to highlight
certain concerns or ideas that are of significance.

It is important not to confuse themes and motifs, which are repeated images in a text. Remember
that symbols are single images that may have a series of connotations attached to them. So blood is
a theme but also a symbol of life, death and guilt.

12
 Other themes in Macbeth include the ideas below. Write down when you think these themes are
particularly significant and include quotes, events and characters that convey each theme:

The natural and the unnatural (including the weather):

Ambition and power:

Kingship:

Time:

Gender issues:

Class discussion: How does

Charles and Ellen Kean as the Macbeths
Shakespeare choose to present the in 1858, image re-coloured:
genders to us? Is he trying to http://publicdomainreview.org/collections/shakespeare-in-

position us with regard to women

art/ Public Domain 13
and their roles?
THE PLAY:
ACT 1:

1.1: The first reference to Macbeth is by The Witches. Why do you think this is so?

Consider how King Duncan refers to Macbeth: _______________________________

1.3 We meet Macbeth. Impressions:____________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

The Three Witches: Johann Heinrich Füssli

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/Johann_Heinrich_F%C3%BCssli_019.jpg Public Domain

Why do you think The Witches prophesy that Macbeth will be King? What do they promise for
Banquo? What implications does their prophecy for Banquo hold?

A soliloquy is a speech spoken by a character that expresses their thoughts and emotions and
cannot be heard by the other characters on stage. It gives the audience an insight into the
character and their mental and/or emotional state. You can often tell that you are reading a
soliloquy as it may begin with [Aside].
1.3.129:
• [Aside] This supernatural soliciting Consider the argument that
Macbeth is constructing here: try to
Cannot be ill, cannot be good: if ill,
follow the “if-then” logic of the
Why hath it given me earnest of success, soliloquy. Here we see a deeply
rational man who is trying to figure
Commencing in a truth? I am thane of Cawdor: out where he stands in a methodical
and sensible manner. Compare this
If good, why do I yield to that suggestion with what we see Macbeth
becoming later in the play. This
Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair
speech contains references to a
number of the play’s themes in
order to bring them to our attention
14
early on.
 And make my seated heart knock at my ribs,

Against the use of nature? Present fears

Are less than horrible imaginings:

My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical,

Shakes so my single state of man that function

Is smother'd in surmise, and nothing is

But what is not.

1.4: We meet Duncan and his sons and see that Malcolm is declared to be Duncan’s heir. What
does the meeting with King Duncan suggest about him and Macbeth and the future?
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________

Macbeth reacts to the announcement with anger. What plans do we see him making in the
speech below?

Soliloquy: What is this? Examine the metaphor

used here:
1.4.55 “…That is a step

On which I must fall down, or else o’erleap,

What do the stars and light represent?
For in my way it lies. Stars hide your fires!

Let not light see my black and deep desires. Consider the use of diction and alliteration
here.
The eye wink at the hand; yet let that be
Syntax? What does “that” refer
Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see.” to? Why do you think there is a
focus on eyes and hands?

1.5: We meet Lady Macbeth for the first time. What are your impressions of her and her
relationship with Macbeth and which lines create this impression?

15
 Lillie Langtry as Lady Macbeth 1889: http://www.shmoop.com/macbeth/photo-lady-macbeth-langtry.html Public Domain
Leopolda Dostalova as Lady Macbeth 1916: http://www.shmoop.com/macbeth/photo-lady-macbeth-2.html Public Domain
Fracesca Annis as Lady Macbeth 1971: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/ac/0f/12/ac0f12d932ec21b7c810df31a6b70a9b.jpg
Marion Cotillard as Lady Macbeth 2015: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/ef/b4/16/efb416a6733e8955d17c80c416cefd33.jpg

Impressions of Lady Macbeth: Impressions of Macbeths’ relationship:

Lady Macbeth reacts to her husband’s letter and discusses her understanding of Macbeth’s
character and her own.

1.5.16 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. Thou wouldst be great,
Art not without ambition, but without
The illness should attend it. What thou wouldst highly,
That wouldst thou holily; wouldst not play false
And yet wouldst wrongly win. Thou’dst have, great Glamis,
That which cries “Thus thou must do,” if thou have it,
And that which rather thou dost fear to do,
Than wishest should be undone. Hie thee hither,
That I may pour my spirits in thine ear Examine this speech and its
And chastise with the valor of my tongue implications.
All that impedes thee from the golden round,
Which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem
To have thee crowned withal.

16
1.5: What indications do we have that Lady Macbeth links herself to the unnatural world in this
speech and others?

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

1.7: Macbeth and Lady Macbeth discuss the murder of Duncan. What reasons does Macbeth
give for NOT killing Duncan:




What reason does Macbeth give FOR killing Duncan:

Keep careful track of who promotes the idea of killing Duncan and when this
course is rejected:

http://macbeth2013.tumblr.com/post/37048990340/here-lay-
duncan-his-silver-skin-lacd-with-his

How does Lady Macbeth goad her husband into killing Duncan?

What evidence do we have that Macbeth has a very active imagination?

17
ACT 2:

Enter the supernatural again:

2.1.44: Macbeth sees a dagger! Why is this significant and how does it change our
understanding of the murder of Duncan, if it does at all?
“Is this a dagger I see before
me…” Photo by The Chairman 8:
Is this a dagger which I see before me, https://www.flickr.com/photos/chairman8/
8578331963/in/photostream/
The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch 45
thee.
I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.
Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible
To feeling as to sight? Or art thou but
A dagger of the mind, a false creation 50
Proceeding from the heat-oppressèd brain?
I see thee yet, in form as palpable
As this which now I draw. [He draws his dagger.]
Thou marshal’st me the way that I was going,
And such an instrument I was to use. 55
Mine eyes are made the fools o’ th’ other senses
Or else worth all the rest. I see thee still,
And, on thy blade and dudgeon, gouts of blood,
Which was not so before. There’s no such thing.
It is the bloody business which informs 60
Thus to mine eyes. Now o’er the one-half world
Nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse
The curtained sleep. Witchcraft celebrates
Pale Hecate’s off’rings, and withered murder,
Alarumed by his sentinel, the wolf, 65
Whose howl’s his watch, thus with his stealthy pace,
With Tarquin’s ravishing strides, towards his
design
Moves like a ghost. Thou sure and firm-set earth,
Hear not my steps, which way they walk, for fear 70
Thy very stones prate of my whereabouts
And take the present horror from the time,
Which now suits with it. Whiles I threat, he lives.
Words to the heat of deeds too cold breath gives.
[A bell rings.]
I go, and it is done. The bell invites me. 75
Hear it not, Duncan, for it is a knell
That summons thee to heaven or to hell.

[He exits.]

18
After the murder of Duncan, several ideas are introduced or reinforced. Note how
each idea is covered in the play both in Act 2 and later in the play:

 Blood as a motif and symbol:

 Washing of hands and the role of water:

 The unnatural noises and the reaction of the natural world to the unnatural murder of a
king:

 Differences between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth at this point:

Macbeth murders the guards outside Duncan’s door. Why do you think he does this?

Where do Malcolm and Donailbain go and why do they leave Scotland?

How does Macduff feature at this point and what suspicions are aroused in him?

When Macbeth is crowned as king, who is notably absent and why do you think this is so?

__________________________________________________________________________________

19
Scottish kings were crowned on the Stone of Scone (pronounced “Scoon”). You can read about the
stone’s long (the stone was already centuries old when it was taken by the English in 1296) and
tumultuous history here: http://www.history.com/news/ask-history/what-is-the-stone-of-scone

http://www.englishmonarchs.co.uk/images/macalpin/stone_scone.jpg

Maria Callas as Lady Macbeth https://operavision.org/2009/03/12/favorite-callas-photos/callas-famous-lady-

macbeth/ Public Domain

20
 ACT 3:

Note how short the following acts are, especially in comparison with Act 1. The pace of the play is
speeding up in order to increase the tension and the drama of the events.

Macduff is notably absent from the meeting at Dunsinane. How do you think this affects Macbeth’s
opinion of him?

Macbeth is more concerned with Banquo at this time though and plans to have both him and
Fleance murdered. In order to justify the murders he says:
What does he mean
3.1.51 To be thus is nothing, 51
by this word?
But to be safely thus. Our fears in Banquo
Note how the focus on Banquo’s
Stick deep, and in his royalty of nature royal future changes to a focus on
Reigns that which would be feared… Macbeth’s situation. Pay careful
attention to the diction used to
He chid the sisters 62 describe both characters.

When first they put the name of king upon me

And bade them speak to him. Then, prophet-like,

They hailed him father to a line of kings.

Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown 60

And put a barren sceptre in my grip,

Whose hand?
Thence to be wrenched with an unlineal hand,

No son of mine succeeding. If ’t be so,

Follow the For Banquo’s issue have I filed my mind; What consequences of Duncan’s
“if” - “then” For them the gracious Duncan have I murdered, 65 murder is Macbeth suffering?
argument
Put rancours in the vessel of my peace

Only for them, and mine eternal jewel

Given to the common enemy of man Why do you think

Macbeth is referring to
To make them kings, the seeds of Banquo kings.
Fate rather than God?
Rather than so, come Fate into the list, 70

And champion me to th’ utterance.—Who’s there?

21
Macbeth seeing the ghost of Banquo by Theodore Chasseriau http://www.tendreams.org/chasseriau.htm (Public Domain)

Macbeth organises the murder of Banquo but Fleance escapes. Why do you think that Macbeth sees
Banquo’s ghost at the feast?

How does this vision link with the themes that have been identified in the play?

How do we see Lady Macbeth being portrayed in the banquet?

What role does she take when she dismisses the court and explains her
husband’s distemper?

https://rockinroy.blogspot.co.za/2014/10/free-public-domain-
ghost-stories-by.html 22
 ACT 4:

4.1 Macbeth then goes to see the Witches for a second time. The visit to The Witches is
particularly graphic in nature and includes the brewing of a spell. Shakespeare’s audience would
have been horrified by the inclusion of this scene and it moves the play into the genre of horror for a
few moments. We cannot properly understand the effect of this scene on the original audience.

Macbeth and the Witches (unfinished) Sir Joshua Reynolds http://www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/object/486153 Public Domain

Themes:

What visions does he see and what prophecy does each one make?

1)

2)

3)

4)

4.2 Macduff’s family is murdered by Macbeth’s henchmen.

4.3 How does Ross convey the news of his family’s murder to Macduff and what is the effect
of his diction in doing so?

23
 ACT 5:

5.1 Neither of the Macbeths is sleeping well. Why do you think this is so? What theme does
this idea link to?

Lady Macbeth is not sleeping well and is sleep walking while having particularly vivid
dreams. This is highly unusual and would have disturbed an Elizabethan
audience.

A doctor is summoned to assess Lady Macbeth. How does our view of

her change, especially in comparison to the banquet in Act 3? Shakespeare
chose to not show us Lady Macbeth’s decline, why do you think this is so?

What concerns does Lady Macbeth raise when she is sleep-walking?

Lady Macbeth Sleepwalking by Richard

Westall 1797
https://spark.adobe.com/page/m3MWF/images/359bb36a-12a1-
448c-a774-4c623860c65c.jpg?asset_id=1a90ed8d-70aa-4ba1-
ad6a-
13265bc326fb&img_etag=f6190b4287e93a537876425b8b8f5aa5&
size=1024 Public Domain

While his wife is being cared for Macbeth is arrogantly asserting that he is invincible, even
though the audience is aware that many of the lords and barons are deserting him in favour of
Malcolm and the approaching English.

How does Malcolm prepare to attack Dunsinane? How is his plan an example of dramatic irony?

Dramatic irony definition:

24
 Lady Macbeth dies. How do you think this happens?

On hearing of her death Macbeth says the following:

5.5.20 She should have died hereafter.

There would have been a time for such a word.

Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day

To the last syllable of recorded time,

https://s-media-cache-
ak0.pinimg.com/564x/45/95/a1/4595a13190574acc4fa73
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools 5a7869ea49a.jpg Public Domain

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,

Signifying nothing. Stamp issued on the 400th death day of

Shakespeare, 2016: http://www.royalmail.com/shakespeare

Macbeth hears that “the Wood began to move” towards Dunsinane Hill and begins to realise that
one of the prophecies is coming true. He resolves to meet the army head-on as he still believes that
he cannot be killed by “man that’s of a woman born.”

Dunsinane Hill (Commons image)

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/DunsinaneHill_From_BlackHill_12APR03.jpg

25
Macbeth and Macduff fight. Consider the way that Macduff refers to Macbeth;

5.7.19 That way the noise is. Tyrant, show thy face!
If thou beest slain, and with no stroke of mine,
My wife and children’s ghosts will haunt me still.
…Either thou, Macbeth,
Or else my sword with an unbattered edge
I sheathe again undeeded…
Let me find him, Fortune,
And more I beg not.

Macduff kills Macbeth and decapitates him. How is Macduff able to kill Macbeth? Why do you think
this symbolic end is specified in the play? Is Macbeth’s death the death of a usual tragic hero; do we
feel the necessary sympathy for him that we expect to feel for a tragic hero?

Malcolm becomes the king and the natural order is restored.

There is no indication given of how Banquo’s issue will become kings but the idea is that James I
(Shakespeare’s patron) was a descendant of Banquo’s and Shakespeare was appealing to his king.

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