Scene 1 Act 1 Characters – Witch 1, 2, and 3

Meter in Language: Shakespeare has made the witches in the very first scene different to the rest of the characters in the book as he has them speaking in trochaic tetrameter. This is different because Shakespeare normally has the characters speaking in iambic pentameter.

Predictions about the play: when the second witch states “When the battle’s lost and won” we can predict that there is going to be a battle later in the book and there shall be a winner and a loser.

Act 1 Scene 2 Characters – King, Captain, and Malcolm

Scene Summary:

Act 1 Scene 3 Characters – Witch 1,2 and 3, Macbeth, Banquo, Rosse, and Angus

Scene Summary: In this scene, the Witches tell Macbeth and his best friend Banquo their futures. Witch 3 states “Thou shalt be kings, though thou be none: So all hail, Macbeth and Banquo”. Macbeth will be crowned king and have the title of The Thane of Cawdor and Banquo will also be crowned king. Both the men realise that as they will both be kings, their friendship may not last and they may become enemies.

Dramatic Irony: Shakespeare uses dramatic irony a lot in the plays that he writes, and in Macbeth, it is used very frequently. In scene 3, Macbeth talks to the audience many times, this causes dramatic irony as only the audience and Macbeth know what is going on whereas the other characters have no idea. For example, Macbeth speaks to the audience and says “if Chance will have me king, why, Chance may crown me, Without my stir”

Act 1 Scene 4 Characters – King, Malcolm, and Banquo

Act 1 Scene 5 Characters – Lady Macbeth, Messenger, and Macbeth

Act 1 Scene 6 Characters – Lady Macbeth, King, and Banquo

Predictions about the play: In this scene, everybody is very nice to each other, a bit like it was too nice. We can predict that this scene was the calm before the storm.

Scene Summary: in this scene, King Duncan and his posse arrive at Macbeth’s castle. Lady Macbeth greets them and invites them in.

Act 1 Scene 7 Characters – Lady Macbeth and Macbeth

Scene Summary: In this scene, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth argue over if they are to kill King Duncan. Lady Macbeth wants to but Macbeth doesn’t. Before the argument, Macbeth talks in a soliloquy and contemplates whether to kill Duncan or not. He doesn’t want to because Duncan has praised him for what he has done in the past but then wants to because he will become king and a Thane too. Lady Macbeth makes up a plan on how to distract Duncans friends and guards for Macbeth can the go and kill him.

Act 2 Scene 1 Characters – Macbeth, Banquo, and Fleance

Scene Summary: in this scene, Banquo and his son Fleance talk to Macbeth about the Witches and what Macbeth was to do next and the Witches had told him that his future was to be king. Banquo states to Macbeth, “In seeking to augment, but still keep My bosom franchised, and allegiance clear, I shall be counselled”. Banquo is meaning here that he is on Macbeth’s side but is also saying don’t kill the king to be king. Macbeth then performs a soliloquy about imagining a dagger and that dagger will be the one to kill the king. At the end of the soliloquy, Macbeth hears Lady Macbeth ring the bell which means it is time for them to kill King Duncan.

Act 2 Scene 2 Characters – Lady Macbeth and Macbeth

Scene Summary: Macbeth joins back up with Lady Macbeth after killing Duncan. Macbeth is feeling very very guilty about his actions and claims that he heard voices. Lady Macbeth is much calmer about is and she returns the daggers to the sleeping servants and smears them with blood to make it look like they killed Duncan.

Act 2 Scene 3 Characters – Porter, Macduff, Lenox, Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Banquo, Donalbain

Scene Summary: In this scene, the Porter opens the gates and allows Macduff and Lenox to enter. Shortly after, the men discover Duncan and ring out all the alarm bells. Macbeth kills the servants “out of anger” and the kings sons fear people will blame them and flee to other places.

Act 2 Scene 4 Characters – Old man, Rosse and Macduff

Scene Summary: in this scene, Rosse and an old man have a conversation about the events that have just happened. Rosse also informs the old man that Macbeth has been named the King of Scotland.

Act 3 Scene 1 Characters – Murderer 1 & 2, Macbeth, Banquo, Attendant, Lady Macbeth

Scene Summary: in this scene, Banquo thinks over Macbeth’s role in Duncans murder and the fate of his sons. After Macbeth and him talk and Macbeth tries to get as much information about where Banquo is going horse riding with his son Fleance. After Banquo leaves, Macbeth arranges the death of Banquo and Fleance with two murderers.

Predictions about the Play: I think that Macbeths plans to murder Banquo and his son will go terribly wrong since this is not the fate that the three Witches gave Banquo.

Act 3 Scene 2 Characters – Lady Macbeth, Macbeth and

Scene Summary: in this scene, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth discuss their actions. Lady Macbeth isn’t acting as content as she was in the previous scenes. She tells Macbeth that she wants to put her evil actions into the past and leave them there. Macbeth doesn’t tell his wife about his plans to kill Banquo and Fleance.

Act 3 Scene 3 Characters – Murderer 1, 2 and 3, Banquo and Fleance

Scene Summary: in this scene, the two murderers are joined by a third. Altogether, the succeed in killing Banquo but Banquo’s son Fleance goes away. The witches fate for Banquo about his sons getting the throne may still come true.

Act 3 Scene 4

Act 3 Scene 5

Act 3 Scene 6

Act 4 Scene 1

Scene Summary: Macbeth revisits the Witches, and they show him 3 apparitions. The first is an armed head. It tells Macbeth “beware Macduff; Beware the Thane of Fife.” It is telling Macbeth to beware of Macduff. The second is a bloody child. It tells Macbeth “be bloody bold and resolute: laugh to scorn The power fo man, for none of woman born Shall harm Macbeth”. It is saying that anybody born from a woman or mother (so any human being) can not harm Macbeth. The last is a crowned child holding a tree. It is saying “Macbeth shall never vanquish be until Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill Shall come against him”. It means that until this person comes along nobody will defeat him. Macbeth then asked the witches to show him who will be king next and when Macbeth sees the future, all the next kings look exactly like Banquo. This is what the witches had first predicted for Banquo’s children.

Act 4 Scene 2 Characters – Rosse, Lady Macduff, Son and the Murderers

Scene Summary: In this scene, Macduff is on his way to England to make allies with one of dead Duncan’s sons while leaving Lady Macduff and their children back at the castle alone and unprotected. Rosse arrives and demands to know why Macduff has gone. Once Rosse has left, Lady Macduff and her son have a pitiful conversation. During the conversation, a messenger arrives and tries to warn the two that there is danger on the way and before they can do anything about it, two murderers enter, killing the son and Lady Macduff.

Act 4 Scene 3 Characters – Macduff, Malcolm, Doctor and Rosse

Scene Summary: In this scene, Macduff arrives in England and reunites with Malcolm. Macduff wants Malcolm to come back to Scotland to regain the throne. Malcolm is wary about this situation and tries to trick Macduff that he is not worthy of being King but saying all of this bad stuff about himself that isn’t true to see if Macduff is worthy to his country. He is. Rosse enters and starts talking the two men and Macduff asks Rosse about his wife and children. Rosse tries to drag out his answer that Macduff’s family had been brutally murdered but Macduff gets very angry. Macduff blames Macbeth for the murder of his wife and children and starts to think of revenge.

One major quote that influenced this scene is when Macduff proved his loyalty to his country by saying “O Scotland, Scotland”.

Act 5 Scene 1 Characters – Doctor, Gentle Woman and Lady Macbeth

Scene Summary: In this scene, a Doctor and a Gentle Woman are having a conversation. In this conversation, the Gentle Woman speaks of Lady Macbeth putting on her clothes and writing letters all while sleep walking. The Doctor wants to know what Lady Macbeth was saying while sleep walking but the Gentle Woman says it’s not her place to say. Lady Macbeth enters (sleep walking and holding a torch) and starts to talk and wash her hands. She talks of washing the blood off her hands. In previous scenes, when Macbeth killed Duncan, he talked of not being able to wash Duncans blood off his hands. The blood represented guilt. He spoke that no seas or oceans could wash the blood off. While this was happening to Macbeth, Lady Macbeth washed the blood off like it was no problem. Whereas now, while sleepwalking, she talks of not being able to wash the blood off either.

One quote that she speaks is “What’s done cannot be undone”. This gives the reader or audience the realisation that Lady Macbeth is still very guilty about what she and her husband had done to Duncan.

Act 5 Scene 2 Characters – Menteth, Angus, Cathness and Lenox

Scene Summary: in this scene, an army of Scottish soldiers are talking are defending Macbeth. While talking, they discuss Macbeth’s loss of control of being king to his kingdom and how everything is going wrong for him.

Menteth states “What does the tyrant”. The no longer call Macbeth, Macbeth but now the Tyrant.

Act 5 Scene 3 Characters – Macbeth, Servant, Doctor and Seyton

Scene Summary: in this scene, a servant comes to tell Macbeth that there is an army of soldiers on the way from England to come fight. Macbeth talk of not going to have the things that people will have when they grow old such as honour, obedience, love and troops of friends but instead he believes that he will have curses, mouth-honour and breath. After stating all this Seyton, the army captain of Macbeth’s troops enters and they discuss Macbeth going into war with them. Seyton tries to talk Macbeth out of it but Macbeth shows some of the courage that he use to have before he meet the witches and became king of Scotland.

A doctor is taking care of Lady Macbeth in this scene and tries to tell Macbeth that Lady Macbeth is mentally ill. Macbeth tells the doctor that she needs to sort out her own problems.

Act 5 Scene 4 Characters – Malcolm, Menteth, Siward and Soldiers

Scene Summary: in this scene, Malcolm orders that every man in the England army must cut down a bough from the Birnam woods so that they can conceal the army’s true size when they reach Macbeth’s castle. This is bad for Macbeth as the Witches had told him that once the Birnam woods reaches Dunstinane hill that his immortality would be no more and he would return to being mortal which then could get him killed.

Act 5 Scene 5 Characters – Macbeth, Messenger and Seyton

Macbeth’s soliloquy:

She should have died hereafter; There would have been a time for such a word. To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day To the last syllable of recorded time, And all our yesterdays have lighted fools 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.

Line 3: Repetition of the word tomorrow meaning that life is meaningless and shows that time goes on and on.

Line 4: Macbeth states the metaphor “creeps in” which is meaning that time is moving in on him. It is a burden as there is nothing he can do.

Line 5: When Macbeth talks of the “last syllable of recorded time” he is referencing his story (the play that he is in).

Act 5 Scene 6 Characters – Malcolm, Siward and Macduff

Scene Summary: In this scene, the England army have arrived at Macbeth’s castle and throw down their Birnam wood covers.

Act 5 Scene 7 Characters – Macbeth, Young Siward, Macduff, Malcolm and Siward

Scene Summary: In this scene, Macbeth encounters Young Siward and they fight. Macbeth kills Young Siward and believes that he cannot be killed by any man born of a woman.

Act 5 Scene 8 Characters – Macbeth and Macduff

Scene Summary: In this scene, Macbeth finally faces Macduff. They fight for a little and then Macduff reveals that he was not a man woman born but was a caesarian birth. Macbeth then refuses to fight and Macduff kills him.

Act 5 Scene 9 Characters – Malcolm, Siward, Rosse and Macduff

Scene Summary: In the last scene, Siward find out about his son’s death and he is very proud of how he died bravely. Macduff enters holding Macbeths head and Malcolm is then crowned king and invites everyone to his coronation.