Summary Analysis
Act 1
The play begins with the three "weird" witches setting up the theme of the play. A war is taking place against Scotland and Norway. The traitorous Thane of Cawdor is captured and executed during the war thanks to Macbeth. King Duncan decides to reward Macbeth with the Thane of Cawdor to show his gratitude. The scene begins to shift to the battle ground where the three witches confront Macbeth and Banquo. They tell Macbeth that he will become the Thane of Cawdor and eventually become the king. Macbeth shares the witches information with his wife, Lady Macbeth. King Duncan decides to stay the night at Macbeth's house, after Macbeth and Lady Macbeth discussed their plan on killing Duncan. The couple continues to plot Duncan's death so that Macbeth can hurry and become king. Lady Macbeth manipulates Macbeth into following her plans, in which Macbeth was having doubts about. By the end of the Act, Macbeth has decided to follow through with the plans.
Act 2
Macbeth continues to have doubts and visions, but he eventually convinces himself into following through with his plans of committing a murder. Macbeth gets nervous and starts having doubt again, leaving Lady Macbeth to finish the rest of the murder plan by wiping the blood on the drunk guards. The couple decides to get the guards drunk because the guards would be easy for the couple to blame the murder on. The next morning , Macduff and Lennox arrive at Macbeth's house, where the murder took place, and Macduff discovers the King Duncan dead. They immediately suspected the guards of committing the murder, and Macbeth kills them "in his fury and rage". The kings sons later flee to protect themselves of any other danger in the town, and later a suspects of their father's murder.
Act 3
After the death of King Duncan, Banquo begins to suspect Macbeth for the murder of King Duncan. Macbeth feels that Banquo will reveal that it was he that killed the King. Therefore, Macbeth sends out some murderers to murder Banquo and his son, Fleance. The murderers kill Banquo, but Fleance escapes. Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Lennox, Ross, and other lords attend a banquet held at Macbeth's house. Macbeth soon starts to see Banquo's ghost. Macbeth begins to rant and rave, making the other guests uneasy. Lady Macbeth tries to cover up the situation by saying Macbeth has been like that since he was younger. By the end of this Act, Macduff has not attended the banquet because he has gone to England, looking for aid because he is suspicious of Macbeth.
Act 4
Macbeth confronts the three witches and they show him more visions. The witches show Macbeth visions that will eventually lead to his death. The visions lead Macbeth to believe that he cannot be killed by any man, giving him a false sense of security. He then plans to send murderers to the castle of Macduff, to kill Macduff and his family. Macduff, however is not in Scotland anymore because he has fled to England. Meanwhile, Macduff is in England begging Malcolm to return to Scotland and seize the throne from Macbeth, who has become a tyrant. Malcolm tests Macduff's loyalty to Scotland and himself, and after being satisfied with Macduff's responses, he agrees to wage war against Macbeth.
Act 5
Lady Macbeth has finally gone crazy with guilt over the murders. The once strong and ruthless woman is now a scared child. Doctors are unable to help her. Only Lady Macbeth can help herself, but she is helpless. At this point Macbeth is not concerned about his wife at all. While Lady Macbeth is at the doctor, she begins to sleep walk and talk. During this point she is confessing to all of the murders and harm her and her husband has caused. Some of the Scottish lords are discussing Macbeth's state of mind and have come to the conclusion that they will help Malcolm and Macduff fight against Macbeth. Of course, Macbeth isn't really concerned because the prophecy, he believes, insures that he cannot be killed by any man born of woman. Macbeth soon confronts Macduff and learns that Macduff was ripped from his mother's side and not born naturally. Thus, Macbeth is killed by Macduff, just as Macbeth had conquered the other Thane of Cawdor. Malcolm then becomes the rightful King of Scotland.