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Macbeth

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Scene from Macbeth, depicting the witches' conjuring of an apparition in Act IV, Scene I. Painting by William Rimmer

This article is on the play 'Macbeth' by Shakespeare. For information on the historical monarch see Macbeth of Scotland.

Macbeth is William Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and one of his most popular works. It is frequently performed at professional and community theatres around the world.

The play is seen as an archetypal tale of dangers of the lust for power and betrayal of friends. It is based loosely on historical events, such as the King Macbeth of Scotland, and including characteristic features of a morality play. Scholars think it an archetypal Jacobean play, with plenty of endorsements of James I's reign, and place its composition around 1606. There is considerable evidence that the text of the play as we have it incorporates later revisions by Thomas Middleton, who inserted popular passages (notably an extra scene involving the witches, for such scenes proved highly popular with audiences) from his own play The Witch (1615).

On the stage, Lady Macbeth is seen by many as one of the most challenging roles for women in theatre.

Actors often consider the play to be 'unlucky', and usually refer to it as 'The Scottish Play' rather than by name. The characters are sometimes referred to as 'Mackers' and 'Lady Mackers'. To say the name of the play inside a theatre is considered to doom the production to failure.

Synopsis

Template:Spoilers

The play opens with the three witches ("weird sisters") discussing their upcoming meeting with Macbeth. Macbeth, Thane of Glamis, and Banquo, generals to King Duncan of Scotland, have just defeated an allied invasion of Norway and Ireland led by the rebel Macdonwald.

As Macbeth and Banquo wander into a heath the three Witches greet them with prophecies. The first witch hails Macbeth as "Thane of Glamis", the second as "Thane of Cawdor", and the third that he shall "be King hereafter". The Witches also inform Banquo he shall be father to a line of kings. While they wonder at these prophecies, the witches disappear, and a messenger from the King arrives and informs Macbeth of his new title, Thane of Cawdor—the first prophecy fulfilled. Immediately Macbeth begins to harbour ambitions of becoming king.

Macbeth writes to his wife about the witches' prophecies. Duncan decides to stay at Macbeth's castle at Inverness and the couple hatches a plan to murder him and usurp the throne. While Macbeth raises concerns about the regicide, Lady Macbeth manages to persuade her husband that murder is the only route to kingship.

In the night Macbeth kills Duncan and the two arrange bloody daggers to frame Duncan's servants for murder. In a phony fit of grief, however, Macbeth murders the servants before they can protest their innocences. Duncan's body is discovered by Macduff, the loyal Thane of Fife, who is immediately suspicious of Macbeth. Fearing for their lives, Duncan's son Malcolm flees to England, and his brother Donalbain to Ireland. Macbeth uses their unexplained disappearances to accuse the pair of regicide. With the rightful heirs are gone, Macbeth assumes the throne as new King of Scotland by deign of his relation to the former King.

Despite his success, Macbeth remains uneasy that Banquo would be progenitor of kings, thereby jeopardizing his rule. Becoming progressively paranoid and ruthless, he incites murderers to kill Banquo and his son Fleance. Fleance however manages to escape. At the royal banquet, Banquo's ghost enters and sits in Macbeth's place. Macbeth is the only person who can see the ghost, and his display of terror convinces his guests of his guilt.

Disturbed, Macbeth goes to the Witches again and receives three more prophecies. The witches conjure spirits which tell him he will not "vanquish'd be until Great Birnam wood to high (Dunsinane Hill) shall come against him" and that "none of woman born shall harm Macbeth", but also to "beware Macduff." Since Macduff is in exile, Macbeth massacres his entire castle, including his wife and children.

Lady Macbeth eventually becomes racked mentally with guilt for the crimes she has committed. In a famous scene, she sleepwalks and tries to wash imaginary bloodstains off her hands.

In England, Malcolm and Macduff plans for an invasion of Scotland. Macduff leads a camouflaged army with Malcolm and Englishman Siward (the Elder), the Earl of Northumbria, against Dunsinane castle. Macbeth delivers a famous nihilistic soliloquy upon learning of Lady Macbeth's death (the cause of it is unexplained). Meanwhile, Malcolm's army advances as though in a moving wood, as they hewn off the trunks of the forest while moving on camouflage.

A battle ensues, culminating in Macduff's confrontation of Macbeth. Macbeth boasts he has no reason to fear Macduff, as he cannot be killed by any man born of woman. Macduff declares that he was born by Caesarean section (before his mother's actual delivery)—and was therefore not "of woman born." Too late, Macbeth realizes the Witches have been equivocating. The two fight, ending with Macduff beheading Macbeth offstage, thereby fulfilling the last of the witches' prophecies.

In the final scene of the play, Malcolm is crowned as rightful king of Scotland, suggesting that peace is restored to the kingdom. However, the witches' prophecy concerning Banquo, "Thou shalt [be]get kings", is known to the audience of Shakespeare's time to be true, as James I of England is himself a descendant of Banquo.

Recurring Motifs and Themes

  • Ambition and Betrayal. Thematically, Macbeth is seen as warning of the dangers of ambition, showing that ambition can be a morally corrupting agent. Ambition can be seen as Macbeth's tragic flaw: it consumes him--ironically, by the end of the play, it consumes him in the other sense of the word. Betrayal goes hand-in-hand with ambition, and it is another theme: Macbeth betrays both his own king and his friend by killing Duncan and then Banquo, respectively. Interestingly, Macbeth's murder of Duncan early in the play, an act of treason, (Act II, Scene 2) Then later, in the middle of the play (Act 3) the murder of Banquo emphasizes the thematic importance of the murder of Duncan.
  • Visions. Macbeth sees an imaginary bloody knife in the air pointing to King Duncan’s resting chamber “Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand” (Act II Scene I). Macbeth knows what he is doing will change his life. Committing regicide is a sin that can’t be forgiven. Macbeth may see this through the supernatural powers of the three witches, or it may be another hallucination. Lady Macbeth believes there is blood on her hands that won’t come off “Out damned spot! Out I say!” (Act 5 Scene 1). Lady Macbeth here is sleepwalking and spot is being referred to as blood stained hands. Lady Macbeth can’t cleanse herself of the guilt of plotting King Duncan’s murder.
  • Blood and bloodshed. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth’s army has just defeated Norwegian invaders in a gruesome battle. A captain is mortally wounded and the king remarks on it, “What bloody man is that? He can report, as seemeth by his plight” (Act I Scene III). Blood thus symbolizes the advent of a messenger, the admonitions of God or nature displaying man his future in red letters. The cauldron of the witches, that whispering-post of the Fates, is filled with blood. The shedding of blood continues throughout the play until the very end, when Macbeth is slain by Macduff “Hail King! For so thou art: behold, where stands Th’ usurpers cursed head”. Macduff then shows Malcolm, the new king, Macbeth’s head dripping with blood. Though the tyrant's mouth no longer speaks, his bloody droplets proclaim the message of his life, and in death he becomes a kind of prophet. Blood can also be shown as representing guilt. When Macbeth kills King Duncan blood on his hand symbolizes guilt. Later in the play, Lady Macbeth, in her midnight ramble, believes that she sees blood on her hands.
  • Clothing. Clothing is a frequently used metaphor within Macbeth, a direct symbolism of morals, stature, violence, ambition and admiration. One should consider the various references within the play to blood-stained clothes. As the skin of the body is made to yield its precious scarlet freight, the product of the loom yet holds it. Bloody clothes are converted to crimson banners, tattling the death of kings. "Let our old robes sit easier than our new." "-And I have bought Golden opinions from all sorts of people, Which would be worn now in their newest gloss, Not cast aside so soon."
  • The baby and child. The unborn and born youth are frequently made reference to. Children and babies represent innocence, purity and vulnerability. The foolish babbling of the baby contrasts starkly with the dark meditations of Macbeth. They are used to accentuate the cruel nature of various dramatis personae such as Macbeth and Lady, i.e. the killing of Macduff's son, Lady Macbeth's graphic retort to Macbeth (Act 1, Scene 7), "I would, while it was smiling in my face, Have pluck'd my nipple from his boneless gums, And dash'd the brains out, had I so sworn as you Have done to this." (Quote represents lack of compassion)
  • Hands. Hands are the instruments of evil, the physical manifestation that shall carry out the desires of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. One often refers to pure and untainted hands of saints. In this context, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are constantly plagued by illusions of their blood stained hands signifies sullied and tainted souls that cannot redeem their actions. Yet Macbeth's hand is also the might instrument that swings his sword, and drives his murdering knife. Guilt is implicit in the act.
  • Natural Order. The 'unnatural' replacement of Duncan by Macbeth has disturbed the natural order of nature. Shakespearean context valued the divinity of the king, i.e. the king is selected by a greater being- i.e. of a preordained nature. Thus, by unnatural replacement of the king, Macbeth has invoked the wrath of greater beings- nature has been disturbed and thrown into turmoil (i.e. horses cannibalise each other).
  • Insomnia. The commonly acknowledged 'cleansing sleep', ("Balm of hurt minds" - Act 2, Scene 2) is made a common reference in this play. "Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep- the innocent sleep" (Act 2, Scene 2). Insomnia and sleep walking are rendered upon the two main characters. Insomnia represents the constant disease of guilt and conscience. It represents the fear of death, brought on by Macbeth's interminable slaughter. When a sailor's wife denies the First Witch the chestnuts that she is eating, the First Witch curses the sailor and denies him sleep: "Sleep shall neither night nor day / Hang upon his penthouse lid" (I.iii.19-20).
  • Masculinity, Femininity, and Gender Ambiguity. Shakespeare shows in the play a connection between masculinity, and violence and ambition. In the beginning where Lady Macbeth says, "when you durst do it, then you are a man," (1.7.48) she is saying that if Macbeth were masculine, he could kill Duncan, and become King of Scotland. Later the "dagger of the mind" (2.1.39) that Macbeth sees, and cannot grasp, represents his masculinity. if he can grasp it, Then he can kill Duncan and become king. When it comes time to kill Duncan, Lady Macbeth cannot do it, saying, "And 'tis not done" (2.2.10) Shakespeare is saying that a woman, being not as masculine as a man, cannot kill directly. In the play, women play another role: that of manipulation. The women of the play manipulate Macbeth into doing their bidding. The witches awaken Macbeth's ambitions, and then Lady Macbeth drives Macbeth to kill King Duncan.
  • Marriage. The women in the play are only known by their husband's name, such as "Lady Macbeth" and "Lady Macduff." Macbeth and Lady Macbeth plan together, for their ascension to King and Queen of Scotland. Shakespeare is a proponent of having husband and wife be one unit, and responsible for each other's actions. In Act 4 scene 2 after Macduff goes to England with Malcolm Lady Macduff says, "From Whence himself [Macduff] does fly? / He loves us not He wants the natural touch; for the poor wren, / The most diminutive of birds, will fit, / Her young ones in her nest, against the owl. / all is the fear and nothing is the love." She is saying that Macduff should be as his castle with his wife and family, protecting them. When Macbeth's murderers kill Macduff's family (according to Shakespeare) it is his fault, because he wasn't there to protect them.
  • Chaos and Indecision. The play is full of contradictory statements such as, "When the battle's lost and won," (1.1.4) and, "Fair is foul, and foul is fair," (1.1.12) from the witches in Act 1. Macbeth's first line in the play is: "So foul and fair a day I have not seen." (1.3.38) Shakespeare's portrayal of Macbeth's world as a confusing and chaotic one. This mirrors the moral dilemma involved in the plot to kill the King, and Macbeth's indecision.
  • Evil. The witches, servants of the devil, and their dark prophecy steer Macbeth through the play. The evil in Macbeth grows throughout the play. In the beginning he is reluctant to commit murder, but slowly murder becomes easier, at the turning point of the play Macbeth says, "Stepped in so far that, should I wade no more, / Returning were as tedious as go o'er." (3.4.138-139) He has decided it would be just as easy to keep killing and murdering as it would to repent and turn back. And it is also noteworthy that the more evil Macbeth gets, the more lines that the witches have in each Act.
  • Conflict and Opposition. Other themes include illusion vs. reality, as evinced in Macbeth's visions and the optical illusion of the moving forest and kingship, which deals with questions of who should be the rightful monarch (which is why the regicide of Duncan leads to abberations in the natural world). Destiny vs. free will comes into play as a theme, with destiny ultimately winning out (no matter how hard Macbeth tries, he is not destined to beget kings).
  • War. The two opposing sides of the battle that takes place in Fife, is disapprovingly compared to "...two spent swimmers, that do cling together / and choke their art" (I.ii.9). Before Macbeth enters the stage, Macbeth is ironically praised for inhumanely eviscerating the traitorous Macdonwald: "...he unseamed him from the nave to th' chops" (I.ii.22). In this same scene, Macbeth is honored by the Thane of Ross when Ross calls Macbeth "Bellona's bridegroom" (I.ii.54).

King James VI of Scotland (King James I of England)

The parade of eight kings which the witches show Macbeth in a vision in Act IV is generally taken to represent the Stuart line, and be intended as a compliment to King James VI of Scotland, recently crowned as James I of England.

Shakespeare's sources

  • Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland, based on Hector Boece's 1527 Scotorum Historiae.
  • Reginald Scot's Discovery of Witchcraft
  • King James I of England's 1599 Daemonologie
  • Macbeth's words on dogs and men in Act 3, scene 1, (91-100), likely came from Erasmus' Colloquia
  • Compare also the Witch of Endor.

Film versions

Adaptations

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