Macbeth SparkNotes Literature Guide: Volume 43 (SparkNotes Literature Guide Series)

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Lady Macbeth learns of the witches' prophecies, and she worries Macbeth won't take the steps necessary to make himself king. Duncan is coming to spend the night at the castle, so she plots Duncan's death. Scene6 Macduff tells Ross that Macbeth is going to be crowned as the next king, and that he suspects Duncan's sons are guilty of the murder because they fled the country.

The servant reenters with Macbeth’s two visitors. Macbeth reminds the two men, who are murderers he has hired, of a conversation he had with them the day before, in which he chronicled the wrongs Banquo had done them in the past. He asks if they are angry and manly enough to take revenge on Banquo. They reply that they are, and Macbeth accepts their promise that they will murder his former friend. Macbeth reminds the murderers that Fleance must be killed along with his father and tells them to wait within the castle for his command. Malcolm and Siward walk together in the castle, which they have now effectively captured. Ross tells Siward that his son is dead. Macduff emerges with Macbeth’s head in his hand and proclaims Malcolm King of Scotland. Malcolm declares that all his thanes will be made earls, according to the English system of peerage. They will be the first such lords in Scottish history. Cursing Macbeth and his “fiend-like” queen, Malcolm calls all those around him his friends and invites them all to see him crowned at Scone (5.8.35). Ross enters. He has just arrived from Scotland, and tells Macduff that his wife and children are well. He urges Malcolm to return to his country, listing the woes that have befallen Scotland since Macbeth took the crown. Malcolm says that he will return with ten thousand soldiers lent him by the English king. Then, breaking down, Ross confesses to Macduff that Macbeth has murdered his wife and children. Macduff is crushed with grief. Malcolm urges him to turn his grief to anger, and Macduff assures him that he will inflict revenge upon Macbeth. Outside King Edward’s palace, Malcolm speaks with Macduff, telling him that he does not trust him since he has left his family in Scotland and may be secretly working for Macbeth. To determine whether Macduff is trustworthy, Malcolm rambles on about his own vices. He admits that he wonders whether he is fit to be king, since he claims to be lustful, greedy, and violent. At first, Macduff politely disagrees with his future king, but eventually Macduff cannot keep himself from crying out, “O Scotland, Scotland!” (4.3.101).

Lennox learns that Macduff has gone to England to meet with Duncan’s son Malcolm and to ask the King of England for help. Macduff’s wife. The scene in her castle provides our only glimpse of a domestic realm other than that of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. She and her home serve as contrasts to Lady Macbeth and the hellish world of Inverness. Donalbain The most famous speech in this play full of famous lines and speeches is Macbeth's soliloquy that begins " Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow/Creeps in this petty pace from day to day/To the last syllable of recorded time . . . ." These lines express Macbeth's utter hopelessness near the tragedy's end about not only his life, but life in general. Ohhhhhhhhhhh, Whattayaknow! There’s a wood walking up a hill! It’s Malcolm, King Duncan’s son, Macduff, and an English Army. I wouldn’t be seen dead in a bush! And Lady Macbeth? Well, she’s having laundry issues. Like hallo! Oh dear.

Macbeth and Banquo fought with great courage in recent battles. King Duncan of Scotland receives a report that the traitorous Thane of Cawdor has been defeated, and decides to give Cawdor's title to Macbeth. Macbeth and Banquo fought with great courage in recent battles. King Duncan of Scotland receives a report that the traitorous Thane of Cawdor has been defeated, and decides to give Cawdor's title to Macbeth. Scene 3 Onstage stands a table heaped with a feast. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth enter as king and queen, followed by their court, whom they bid welcome. As Macbeth walks among the company, the first murderer appears at the doorway. Macbeth speaks to him for a moment, learning that Banquois dead and that Fleance has escaped. The news of Fleance’s escape angers Macbeth—if only Fleance had died, he muses, his throne would have been secure. Instead, “the worm that’s fled / Hath nature that in time will venom breed” (3.4.28–29). At a military camp near his palace at Forres, King Duncan of Scotland asks a wounded captain for news about the Scots’ battle with the Irish invaders, who are led by the rebel Macdonwald. The captain, who was wounded helping Duncan’s son Malcolm escape capture by the Irish, replies that the Scottish generals Macbeth and Banquo fought with great courage and violence. The captain then describes for Duncan how Macbeth slew the traitorous Macdonwald. As the captain is carried off to have his wounds attended to, the thane of Ross, a Scottish nobleman, enters and tells the king that the traitorous thane of Cawdor has been defeated and the army of Norway repelled. Duncan decrees that the thane of Cawdor be put to death and that Macbeth, the hero of the victorious army, be given Cawdor’s title. Ross leaves to deliver the news to Macbeth. In a crucial turning point in the play, Macbeth is faced with a choice: to take decisive action to claim the crown as his own, or to simply wait and see what happens. Every choice he makes, and every thing that happens for the rest of the play stem from his decision here. Macbeth feels ambivalence, as he wants to be king but also knows that he owes Duncan loyalty both “as his kinsman and as his subject” (1.7.13).The witches vanish, and Macbeth and Banquo treat their prophecies skeptically until some of King Duncan’s men come to thank the two generals for their victories in battle and to tell Macbeth that he has indeed been named thane of Cawdor. The previous thane betrayed Scotland by fighting for the Norwegians and Duncan has condemned him to death. Macbeth is intrigued by the possibility that the remainder of the witches’ prophecy—that he will be crowned king—might be true, but he is uncertain what to expect. He visits with King Duncan, and they plan to dine together at Inverness, Macbeth’s castle, that night. Macbeth writes ahead to his wife, Lady Macbeth, telling her all that has happened. Presenter: Hello, and welcome to The Big Scene. We’re at rehearsals for Macbeth , and scenes don’t get much bigger than this. It’s the clash with Banquo’s ghost and the director really needs the audience to appreciate Macbeth’s horror at seeing the ghost of his old best friend who he’s had murdered. This is a big challenge! Can she pull it off on this team’s budget? A group of Scottish lords head toward Macbeth's castle. Macbeth makes military preparations. Scene 3