In this overview, we go through the plot of 'Macbeth', the main characters, Shakespeare's key contextual points and the key themes.
Join 75,893 students who already have a head start.
"*" indicates required fields
This is your Ultimate Macbeth Overview! We go through everything you need to know about Shakespeare’s Macbeth. So use this as your cheatsheet when you are studying Macbeth to get the best possible marks!
In simple words, Macbeth is a tragedy about the fall of a tragic hero. The play is set in Scotland and is believed to be first performed in 1606.
Now, let’s see what happens in Macbeth in more detail:
The play opens to a stormy night. Two of Scotland’s generals, Macbeth and Banquo, are travelling to a military camp when they come across the three witches.
These witches give the 2 men their prophecies. They tell Macbeth that he will be promoted to Thane of Cawdor, then King of Scotland. Then, they tell Duncan that he will start a line of Scottish Kings. However, he will never be King himself.
Both Macbeth and Banquo are sceptical about their prophecies. However, this changes when King Duncan announces, later that day, that Macbeth has been promoted to Thane of Cawdor.
Macbeth writes to his wife, Lady Macbeth, to update her about the witches’ prophecy, his promotion and King Duncan’s plan to visit their house at later that night.
When Macbeth returns home, Lady Macbeth begins to plot King Duncan’s murder. Macbeth is filled with uncertainty. However, Lady Macbeth continues to reassure him and ultimately convinces him to kill the King.
So, once the King is asleep, Lady Macbeth drugs Duncan’s guards and Macbeth makes his way to Duncan’s chamber. For a moment, Macbeth reconsidered his decision as he has a hallucination of a ‘dagger before [him]’.
But Macbeth stabs him anyway. Immediately after, he begins to regret his decision. Lady Macbeth returned the bloody dagger by Duncan’s body and reassures Macbeth.
The next day, Macduff finds Duncan’s dead body. Macbeth blamed it on the drugged guards, kills them for retribution and assumes the throne.
Both of Duncan’s sons, Malcolm and Donalbein, flee Scotland in fear of their safety. So, the kingdom assumes that they were responsible for the King’s death.
Macbeth remembers that the witches predict that Banquo’s sons will be the future Kings of Scotland. So, he hires people to kill Banquo and his son, Fleance.
Banquo is killed but Fleance manages to escape.
That night, Macbeth has a banquet with his court members and nobility. However, it was quickly dismissed once Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost and begins to rave at him.
Seeking reassurance, Macbeth finds the witches again. They tell him that:
During this time, Macduff (he discovered Duncan’s dead body) leaves Scotland to find Duncan’s son, Malcolm. When Macbeth hears about this, he hires people to assassinate Macduff’s whole family, including his wife and children.
When Macduff hears the news about his family, he convinces Malcolm to bring an army to Macbeth.
News reaches Macbeth that Malcolm and Macduff are coming to attack Dunsinane. Initially, Macbeth is comfortable with his position as King as he trusts the witches’ prophecy.
However, this changes once he is told that Birnam Wood is moving towards him; Malcolm’s army is moving towards Macbeth, disguised under branches.
In the meantime, Lady Macbeth is filled with guilt. She sleepwalks and tries to wash off the imaginary blood on her hands. Just as the battle begins, she commits suicide.
Macbeth becomes distressed when he hears the news. During this time, Macduff finds Macbeth and challenges him to a duel.
As they fight, Macbeth learns that Macduff was born from a caesarian-cut (not ‘born of a woman’). At this moment, Macbeth realises that he is doomed. However, he keeps fighting.
Macduff kills Macbeth and brings his head to Malcolm. Malcolm is now the King of Scotland.
Learn your school’s content one term ahead with inspirational, subject-expert teachers and gain access to our extensive high-quality resources.
We know, it’s hard to remember every character in Macbeth! Especially when they have similar-sounding names… Who’s Malcolm and Macduff?
So, we made your job easier and listed every important character you need to know in Macbeth.
Macbeth begins in the play as Thane of Glamis, a Scottish General. He is highly respected and brave.
However, he becomes tyrannical and obsessed with power once he hears the Three Witches’ prophecy. This brings out his violent nature, as he ruthlessly murders other characters.
Due to his actions, Macbeth suffers from psychological trauma; he hallucinates ghosts of the people he murdered and becomes insane.
Lady Macbeth is Macbeth’s wife. She is the driver behind Macbeth’s murder plots.
In the beginning of the play, Lady Macbeth is more ambitious and ruthless than Macbeth. However, by the end of the play, her guilt has overtaken her and she becomes insane.
The Three Witches are the ones who give Macbeth and Banquo their prophecies. These prophecies are the key initiator and drivers of Macbeth’s tyrannical actions.
They are morally ambiguous because we don’t know if they are purposely driving Macbeth to his downfall, or if they are simply telling Macbeth what they see.
Banquo, Thane of Lochaber, is a brave general under King Duncan. Banquo was with Macbeth when they met the Three Witches. They told him that his descendants will become King.
Upon hearing this, Macbeth hires people to murder both Banquo and his son, Fleance. Banquo is killed, but his son escapes.
Throughout the play, Banquo’s ghost returns to haunt Macbeth, causing Macbeth to slowly go instance.
Macduff is another one of King Duncan’s loyal nobleman. He is the one who finds King Duncan’s dead body.
From the beginning of the play, Macduff already distrusts Macbeth. So, he eventually works with Malcolm to lead an army against Macbeth.
As the prophecy goes, only a man not born of a woman can kill Macbeth. Since Macduff is born from a caesarian cut, he fulfils the prophecy when he beheads Macbeth.
King Duncan is the virtuous and pious ruler of Scotland. When Macbeth kills Duncan in order to seize the throne, Scotland is symbolically falling to chaos and tyranny.
Malcolm is King Duncan’s eldest son. He flees to England after his father was murdered, in fear of being killed next.
When Macduff finds him, they work together to build an army to overthrow Macbeth’s tyrannical reign.
Donalbain is King Duncan’s youngest son. He also flees to England with Malcolm after his father was killed.
You need to have a strong understanding of Shakespeare’s context in order to properly analyse Macbeth.
This will help you figure out why certain aspects of the play are written the way it is, and find points of connection or differences with our society today.
So, let’s see what the key contextual points are:
During Shakespeare’s time, people believed that witchcraft and supernatural things were real. However, this was exacerbated after James VI of Scotland became King of England (James I) when Queen Elizabeth’s died in 1603.
James VI was highly interested in witchcraft and had strong beliefs about it. He also wrote a book about witchcraft and hunted witches in the late 16th Century as KIng of Scotland! This meant that the fear of witchcraft was heightened during this age.
People thought that witchcraft was really an act of Satan.
So, many ‘witches’ – who were mostly women with power or just strange women – were punished by being drowned, burnt alive, or hanged.
As such, Shakespeare wrote Macbeth in 1606, with a strong focus on witchcraft (the Three Witches and ghosts).
He promoted the idea that witchcraft is evil through the Three Witches. Their prophecies cause destruction and tyranny on the whole of Scotland.
Shakespeare even portrayed powerful women (Lady Macbeth) as ‘evil’. He illustrated how her ambition and strength causes a fall of social order and warns audiences that such power will lead to their personal downfall (her death).
People of Shakespeare’s time also strongly believed in God and fate.
They thought that everyone’s life has been planned by God from the moment they are born.
As such, ambition or free will is seen as negative traits as it goes against God’s plan. Anyone who exercises free will must expect to suffer from God’s retribution.
We see that this theme is strongly conveyed Macbeth. Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth begin to take actions into their own hands. They are driven by their ambition and greed for power.
As such, both characters suffer from psychological trauma and ultimately die.
The Great Chain of Being is a hierarchy of life:
People of Shakespeare’s time believed that everyone had a place in the Great Chain of Being and that this chain ensures social order.
This idea is linked to fate; everyone is expected to accept their place in the Chain and not challenge it.
As such, when Macbeth and Lady Macbeth decides to move up the rank, social chaos ensues.
The Divine Right of Kings is the idea that the King (or Queen) is appointed by God and that their authority is always in God’s name. Henry VIII helped enshrine this in English culture when he left the Catholic Church and founded the Church of England (Anglicanism)
In Macbeth, Macbeth attempts to take the King’s role himself, instead of allowing the rightful King to take his place. As such, he suffers from retribution because he defied God’s orders.
If you want to learn more about the Renaissance context of Shakespeare, read this article!
It is important that you know your themes in Macbeth to properly analyse the text. So, let’s see what they are:
The play is essentially a cautionary tale about unchecked ambition.
This is Macbeth’s major character flaw.
In the opening of the play, Macbeth is characterised as a respectful and good general. However, after hearing the prophecy, this all changes.
It is important to note that the witches don’t tell Macbeth to do anything to become King. Macbeth simply does it because he is driven by his own ambitions.
As such, he begins to lose his moral compass because he is so consumed with his ambition for power. Macbeth ruthlessly commit ‘evil’ acts like murdering King Duncan, Banquo and Macduff’s family.
By the end of the play, we see that this unbridled ambition has led to destructive consequences; Lady Macbeth goes insane and kills herself, Macbeth is psychologically traumatised and haunted by his actions, Scotland falls into a chaotic, tyrannical scheme, and Macbeth is ultimately beheaded.
As such, Shakespeare warns the audience about the dangers of unbridled ambition.
Here are some quotes that explore themes of power and ambition:
The theme of fate vs free will links to the contextual ideas of the Great Chain of Being and the Divine Right of Kings.
As we discussed earlier, people during the Shakesperean times believed that everyone’s life is predetermined. As such, those we challenge their fate will suffer retribution.
In Macbeth, Shakespeare explores the consequences of Macbeth’s exercise of free will. We see that Macbeth is punished for exercising his free will.
Here are some quotes that explore the themes of fate vs free will:
Appearance vs reality refers to the idea that things appear to be something they are not.
Throughout the whole play, there are numerous instances where Shakespeare explores the theme of appearance vs reality.
The very first scene of the play already deals with appearance vs reality. We are unsure of the truthfulness behind the Witches’ prophecies and their intentions.
Another example is Macbeth holding facade of being an honourable and respectful man when he invited King Duncan to his house. In reality, Macbeth was plotting Duncan’s murder to take his throne.
Shakespeare also explores this theme through the motif of sleep in the play. Here, sleep reveals the true nature of events.
Near the end of the play, Macbeth is unable to sleep as he is haunted by his evil deeds (Macbeth says “Methought I heard a voice cry ‘Sleep no more! / Macbeth does murder sleep'”).
Similarly, Lady Macbeth begins to sleepwalk as she relives her actions.
Here are some quotes that demonstrate the theme of appearance vs reality:
Written by Matrix English Team
The Matrix English Team are tutors and teachers with a passion for English and a dedication to seeing Matrix Students achieving their academic goals.
© Matrix Education and www.matrix.edu.au, 2023. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Matrix Education and www.matrix.edu.au with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
