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

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Inside the castle, as oboes play and servants set a table for the evening’s feast, Macbeth paces by himself, pondering his idea of assassinating Duncan. He says that the deed would be easy if he could be certain that it would not set in motion a series of terrible consequences. He declares his willingness to risk eternal damnation but realizes that even on earth, bloody actions “return / To plague th’inventor” (1.7.9–10). He then considers the reasons why he ought not to kill Duncan: Macbeth is Duncan’s kinsman, subject, and host; moreover, the king is universally admired as a virtuous ruler. Macbeth notes that these circumstances offer him nothing that he can use to motivate himself. He faces the fact that there is no reason to kill the king other than his own ambition, which he realizes is an unreliable guide. Macbeth enters, and Macduff asks him if the king is awake, saying that Duncan asked to see him early that morning. In short, clipped sentences, Macbeth says that Duncan is still asleep. He offers to take Macduff to the king. As Macduff enters the king’s chamber, Lennox describes the storms that raged the previous night, asserting that he cannot remember anything like it in all his years. With a cry of “O horror, horror, horror!” Macduff comes running from the room, shouting that the king has been murdered (2.3.59). Macbeth and Lennox rush in to look, while Lady Macbeth appears and expresses her horror that such a deed could be done under her roof. General chaos ensues as the other nobles and their servants come streaming in. As Macbeth and Lennox emerge from the bedroom, Malcolm and Donalbain arrive on the scene. They are told that their father has been killed, most likely by his chamberlains, who were found with bloody daggers. Macbeth declares that in his rage he has killed the chamberlains. A group of Scottish lords head toward Macbeth's castle. Macbeth makes military preparations. Scene 3 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. Presenter: Hey, hey, hey. The guy’s right, and he’s got the boss really thinking. Has she got a more stylised approach in mind,

Outside the castle, a group of Scottish lords discusses the military situation: the English army approaches, led by Malcolm, and the Scottish army will meet them near Birnam Wood, apparently to join forces with them. The “tyrant,” as Lennox and the other lords call Macbeth, has fortified Dunsinane Castle and is making his military preparations in a mad rage.Lady Macbeth is one of the most famous female characters in all of literature. Macbeth's wife is smart, ambitious, and brave. She is undone, however, by her ambition, and by her utter ruthlessness. Out, damned spot; out, I say. . . . Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?

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. Duncan, the Scottish lords, and their attendants arrive outside Macbeth’s castle. Duncan praises the castle’s pleasant environment, and he thanks Lady Macbeth, who has emerged to greet him, for her hospitality. She replies that it is her duty to be hospitable since she and her husband owe so much to their king. Duncan then asks to be taken inside to Macbeth, whom he professes to love dearly. In his castle, Macbeth boasts that he does not fear the approaching English army because he believes that the witches’ prophecies ensure that he will not be overthrown or killed.Before he kills Duncan, Macbeth is plagued by worry and almost aborts the crime. It takes Lady Macbeth’s steely sense of purpose to push him into the deed. After the murder, however, her powerful personality begins to disintegrate, leaving Macbeth increasingly alone. He fluctuates between fits of fevered action, in which he plots a series of murders to secure his throne, and moments of terrible guilt (as when Banquo’s ghost appears) and absolute pessimism (after his wife’s death, when he seems to succumb to despair). These fluctuations reflect the tragic tension within Macbeth: he is at once too ambitious to allow his conscience to stop him from murdering his way to the top and too conscientious to be happy with himself as a murderer.

Macbeth worries though. The Witches also said that Banquo’s sons will become kings, so he sends some baddies to murder Banquo and his son. But the kid escapes. Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost. Macbeth is spooked so he sees the Witches: they say nobody The tension between duty and ambition sharpens when Lady Macbeth learns of the prophecy that her husband will become king, and immediately begins strategizing ways to bring about the fulfillment of the prophecy. Now Macbeth is torn between loyalty to Duncan and loyalty to his wife, who does not appear to feel any shame, doubt, or remorse about the dark act she is plotting. She is eager to “pour my spirits in [Macbeth’s] ear/And chastise with the valor of my tongue/All that impedes [him] from the golden round” (1.5.25-27). The audience has the sense that Lady Macbeth may have been longing for just such an opportunity where she can put her intelligence and strategic ability to good use. Narrator: This is a spooky horror! It’s got witches telling this dude that he’s gonna be king, so he chops his way to the top. The Witches make him think he’s invincible! He like so isn’t. Ultimately, Macbeth’s overreliance on his belief he is fated to be king leads to his downfall, since he arrogantly misinterprets the witches’ prophecies, believing that they promise him glory while in fact, the prophecies predict how he will be defeated. While the audience has long understood that the witches are untrustworthy and up to no good, Macbeth only realizes this fact when facing his own death. He laments that the witches “palter with us in a double sense/That keep the word of promise to our ear/And break it to our hope” (5.8.20-22). Although he blames the witches, his own ambition is equally to blame. He heard what he wanted to hear and believed what he wanted to believe from the first moment he met the witches. Macbeth exclaims that Lady Macbeth should “[b]ring forth men-children only” because she is so bold and courageous (1.7.72). Since Macbeth succumbs to Lady Macbeth’s wishes immediately following this remark, it seems that he is complimenting her and affirming her belief that courage and brilliance are masculine traits. But the comment also suggests that Macbeth is thinking about his legacy. He sees Lady Macbeth’s boldness and masculinity as heroic and warriorlike, while Lady Macbeth invokes her supposed masculine “virtues” for dark, cruel purposes. Unlike Macbeth, she seems solely concerned with immediate power.Macbeth meets again with the three witches who provide comforting prophecies. One says that Macbeth cannot be killed by any man who is born of a woman, while another says that he will be safe until Birnam Wood moves to Dunsinane Hill. Scene 2 Banquo and his son Fleance walk in the torch-lit hall of Macbeth’s castle. Fleance says that it is after midnight, and his father responds that although he is tired, he wishes to stay awake because his sleep has lately inspired “cursed thoughts” (2.1.8). Macbeth enters, and Banquo is surprised to see him still up. Banquo says that the king is asleep and mentions that he had a dream about the “three weird sisters.” When Banquo suggests that the witches have revealed “some truth” to Macbeth, Macbeth claims that he has not thought of them at all since their encounter in the woods (2.1.19–20). He and Banquo agree to discuss the witches’ prophecies at a later time. Both Macbeth and his wife have changed: Macbeth, formerly hesitant, is now completely firm and decisive, and Lady Macbeth, formerly impatient and bloodthirsty, now thinks it would be fine to leave matters well enough alone. For example, she explicitly tells him that he “must leave this” (3.2.35), while he explains that “things bad begun make strong themselves by ill” (3.2.55). The murder of Banquo furthers heightens the conflict. Macbeth is clearly a tyrannical figure, and the plot will revolve around him being removed from power and punished for his crimes.