Macbeth

Chapter-by-chapter summary

Spoiler warning: this section covers the whole plot, including the ending.

Act 1: The prophecy

The play opens on a bleak heath, where three witches agree to meet Macbeth again. Back at the king’s camp, Macbeth and his comrade Banquo have just beaten a rebel lord and an invading army from Norway. King Duncan rewards Macbeth with the title of Thane of Cawdor, which is the same title the witches had already greeted him with before the news arrived. The witches also promised that he would be king. Banquo hears a different prophecy: his own descendants will rule, though he will not. Then Duncan names his elder son, Malcolm, as heir. That closes the road to the throne that Macbeth has been picturing, and it stirs his ambition further. Macbeth writes to his wife, Lady Macbeth, who reads his letter as a plan and begins to shape one. Why it matters: the play’s trouble begins with a thought Macbeth has not yet acted on, and this act shows how easily a promise can turn into a wish.

Act 2: The murder at Inverness

Duncan arrives as a guest at Macbeth’s castle at Inverness. Lady Macbeth has already set the night in motion: she has drugged the king’s guards with wine. Macbeth hesitates, then sees a dagger hovering before him, and he goes to the king’s room. He kills Duncan while the king sleeps, comes back shaken, and brings the bloodied daggers with him. Lady Macbeth takes them and smears the sleeping guards, so they look guilty. Next comes a darkly comic scene in which a drunken porter answers a loud knocking at the gate and jokes about sinners who might end up in hell. Macduff finds the body and raises the alarm. Macbeth kills the guards, claiming he did it in a rage. Duncan’s sons flee, Malcolm to England and Donalbain to Ireland, which makes them look guilty. Macbeth is made king and goes to Scone for his crowning. Why it matters: the play moves from thought to deed, and guilt starts to grow from the very first night.

Act 3: A king who cannot rest

Now king, Macbeth is uneasy. The witches said Banquo’s line would rule, and Banquo is wise, trusted and a threat to Macbeth’s peace of mind. So Macbeth hires murderers to kill Banquo and his son Fleance. The attack kills Banquo, but Fleance escapes. At a feast for his nobles, the ghost of Banquo takes Macbeth’s own seat, and Macbeth’s outbursts startle the guests. Lady Macbeth covers for him, tells the lords to leave at once, and insists that her husband is only unwell. Macbeth speaks of blood calling for more blood, and he decides to visit the witches again. Why it matters: one murder does not end fear. It multiplies it, and his suspicion now reaches everyone close to him.

Act 4: Apparitions and a family’s fate

In a dark cavern, Macbeth meets the three witches around a boiling cauldron. They summon apparitions. An armed head warns him about Macduff. A bloodied child says that no one born of a woman will harm him. A child crowned and holding a tree says he will not be defeated until Birnam Wood moves up to Dunsinane Hill. A line of kings, the descendants of Banquo, then passes by. Macbeth takes comfort from the riddles and does not heed the warning about Macduff. Macduff has already fled to England, so Macbeth’s men murder his wife, his children and his household instead. In England, Malcolm tests Macduff’s loyalty by pretending to be a worse ruler than Macbeth. Then Ross brings Macduff the news of his family’s death. Why it matters: the witches’ promises give Macbeth a false sense of safety, and his cruelty now reaches people who were never part of the plot.

Act 5: Blood that will not wash out

Lady Macbeth, once the stronger voice in the castle, now walks in her sleep at Dunsinane. She rubs her hands together as if trying to wash out a stain. Her doctor and a gentlewoman watch in horror and talk about what they have seen. Later, Macbeth learns that his wife has died; the play gives the news in a few lines and never explains how. Macbeth answers with his famous speech about life as a series of empty days, a moment of bleak despair. Meanwhile, Malcolm’s army advances, and each soldier carries a branch cut from Birnam Wood, so the forest seems to move toward the castle. In the final battle, Macbeth meets Macduff, who reveals that he was not born in the usual way. Macbeth is killed, and Malcolm is named king. Why it matters: the last act ties prophecy, guilt and the cost of power into a single, bleak picture.

Characters

The main Macbeth characters are few, and each one is pulled into the plot by a choice, a fear or a promise.

• Macbeth: A brave general and a man of strong imagination, he is torn between conscience and desire. He hesitates at first, but each crime he commits to protect his position makes him more ruthless, and his fear grows with his power.
• Lady Macbeth: Macbeth’s wife and the play’s driving force behind the first murder. She reads his letter as a plan, calls on dark spirits to strip her of mercy, and later is haunted by guilt, sleepwalking and washing imaginary blood from her hands.
• King Duncan: Scotland’s gentle and trusting king. He honours Macbeth with a new title and visits his castle as a guest. His murder is the first great crime of the play and sets everything else in motion.
• Banquo: Macbeth’s fellow general, who hears the same witches but does not act on their words. His murder, and the ghost that returns at the banquet, mark the turning point in Macbeth’s guilt.
• Macduff: A nobleman who distrusts Macbeth from the start. After his family is murdered, he goes into exile in England and leads the army that will bring Macbeth down.
• Malcolm: Duncan’s elder son, who flees after his father’s murder and returns with English help. He is careful and tests the loyalty of those around him before he takes the throne.
• The three witches: They open the play and offer prophecies that tempt Macbeth. They never give direct commands. Instead, they show him what he already wants to hear.

Writing about this book

Book reports work best when you pick one question and follow it through the play. Good questions include whether Macbeth chooses his crimes or is pushed into them, and whether Lady Macbeth is stronger than her husband. Choose one scene that stayed with you, such as the dagger vision or the sleepwalking scene, and explain why it lingers. Then take each of Macbeth’s major decisions and ask what he feared and what he hoped to gain at that moment. Keep quotations short and always give the act and scene. Write in your own words, and avoid copying summaries or other students’ essays. Finish with a connection to today: ambition and guilt appear in many workplaces, families and political struggles, and a fresh example can make your essay stand out.

Read next: the other great tragedies

Macbeth belongs to Shakespeare’s four great tragedies. To see how he handles power and guilt in another play, read Hamlet or King Lear. Othello, the fourth play in the group, is about jealousy and is a good next step after you finish this one.