Macbeth and the Three Witches.

Characters
Duncan – King of Scotland
Malcolm – Duncan's eldest son
Donalbain – Duncan's youngest son
Macbeth – A general in the army of King Duncan, Thane of Glamis, then Thane of Cawdor
and later King of Scotland
Lady Macbeth – Macbeth's wife, later Queen of Scotland
Banquo – Macbeth's friend and fellow general in Duncan's army
Fleance – Banquo's son
Three Witches
Macduff – Thane of Fife
Lady Macduff – Macduff's wife
Macduff's son
Ross, Lennox, Angus, Menteith, Caithness – Thanes
Seyward – General of the English forces
Young Seyward – Seyward's son
Seyton – Macbeth's servant
Three Murderers
Porter – in charge of the gate at Macbeth's castle
English Doctor
Scottish Doctor – Lady Macbeth's doctor
Gentlewoman – Lady Macbeth's servant

Story
Act 1
The first characters we see in the play are the three Witches. They talk to each other in a
mysterious way, and agree to meet with Macbeth on the heath. This scene includes the
famous line "fair is foul, and foul is fair", a subject which becomes a main part of the play.

In Act 1 Scene 2, there is a war going on. King Duncan is at a camp, listening to reports from
the battlefield. An injured officer (some scripts say a captain, others a sergeant) is brought
in. He saved Malcolm's life. The officer tells Duncan about the battle. He says that it was
going badly, until Macbeth fought his way to the rebel leader Macdonald and killed him. But
as soon as that happened, the Norwegians, led by their king Sweno, also attacked. They
were joined by a traitor, the Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth and Banquo fought bravely until they
were defeated. Duncan is pleased by the news. He orders that the Thane of Cawdor be
executed and his title given to Macbeth.

In I.iii, the Witches appear again. They talk about using their powers on humans, and it
becomes clear that they have a lot of power, but they cannot kill people. Macbeth and
Banquo are returning from the battlefield to Forres, and meet the witches. Banquo is amazed
by the way the witches look, because they look like women but they have beards. Macbeth
is not afraid and asks them what they are. They do not answer him, but greet him as the
Thane of Glamis, the Thane of Cawdor and the future King. Macbeth is surprised, because
he knows that he is not the Thane of Cawdor, and does not think he will ever become the
King. Banquo asks the witches what his future will be like. They answer in riddles, saying
that he will be "lesser than Macbeth, and greater", "not so happy, yet much happier", and
that he will be the father to a line of kings. Then the witches disappear.

Ross and Angus come to find Macbeth, and tell him that the King has given him the title of
Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth is surprised and happy, but he starts thinking of ways to become
king. This frightens him, because he thinks that the only way he can become king is to
murder Duncan.

In I.iv, Macbeth and Banquo return to Forres and Duncan thanks them for their courage and
hard work. He also says that his son Malcolm will be his heir. Macbeth realizes that he will
have to get past both Duncan and Malcolm to become king. Duncan says he is going to
Macbeth's castle for the night.

In I.v, Lady Macbeth is reading a letter from Macbeth that tells her about the witches and
their prophecy. She is very excited, and starts planning to murder Duncan. A messenger
tells her that Duncan will be staying at their castle that night. She calls on evil spirits to make
her strong and evil so that she can murder Duncan. Macbeth comes in and she tells him of
her plans.

I.vi shows Duncan, Banquo, Donalbain, Malcolm, Macduff and some of the thanes entering
Macbeth's castle. Duncan and Banquo agree that the castle is sweet and pleasant. Lady
Macbeth enters and greets them.

I.vii is the last scene in Act I. Macbeth is talking to himself about why it is wrong to kill the
king. He knows that it is a bad thing to do, especially because he is the host and Duncan
trusts him. Lady Macbeth enters and scolds him for being a coward and says that he is not
brave enough to be a man. She works out how they are going to kill Duncan, and convinces
Macbeth to do it.

Act 2
Act II starts with Banquo and his son Fleance walking in a courtyard in Macbeth's castle.
They meet Macbeth, who lies to Banquo and says that he has not thought about the witches'
prophecy. When they leave, Macbeth sees a hallucination of a knife. He knows it is not real,
but before his sight it changes and becomes covered in blood. He leaves to kill Duncan.

Lady Macbeth enters in scene ii. She has already made Duncan's guards drunk. Macbeth
comes in with his hands covered in blood, carrying the knifes of the guards. He is very
troubled. Lady Macbeth comforts him and tells him to wash his hands and cover the guards
with blood, so it looks like they did it. But Macbeth is afraid, so Lady Macbeth does it instead.

In II.iii, the porter is very drunk. He pretends to be the porter of the gate of hell, and takes a
long time to open the gate for Macduff and Lennox. Macbeth greets them. Macduff says that
he is there to wake the king, and Macbeth leads him to the king's room. Macduff is shocked
to see the king murdered on his bed. He runs out shouting and wakes everybody up.
Macbeth pretends he did not know about the murder, as everyone comes to see what is
happening. He admits that he killed the guards, and says that he did it because he was so
angry that they killed Duncan. Lady Macbeth faints and they rush to help her. Malcolm and
Donalbain think that somebody is lying. They know it is not safe for them to stay in Scotland,
so they run away. Malcolm goes to England, and Donalbain to Ireland.

Scene iv is a talk between Ross and an old man. They talk about how strange the night was.
Nature seems to have turned into a mess now that Duncan is dead. Macduff comes in and
says that Macbeth is going to become king. He does not trust Macbeth, and is not going to
the coronation.

Act 3
Banquo is alone on stage at the start of Act III. He realizes that Macbeth has become
everything the witches said he would become. He thinks that Macbeth did wrong to get the
crown, but he does not want to say anything. He hopes that his son will also be king, as the
witches said. Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, and the lords enter. Macbeth asks Banquo if he is
going riding that afternoon, and if Fleance is going with him. Banquo says yes to both. Two
men come to see Macbeth, and he goes to meet them. He is angry that he has risked
everything to become king, but that Banquo's sons will be kings after him. The men are
actually murderers. Macbeth tells them that Banquo is the reason they are unhappy and
have bad lives, and orders them to kill Banquo and Fleance.

Macbeth talks to Lady Macbeth in scene ii. He says that he has nightmares and cannot
sleep. He is jealous of Duncan, because he is dead and does not need to worry anymore.
Macbeth also says that he is worried about Banquo being alive, but he does not tell his wife
about the murderers.

In III, the two murderers meet another one, also sent by Macbeth. They kill Banquo, but
Fleance escapes.

In Scene iv Macbeth has a banquet with the nobles. The murderers come in and inform him
of Banquo's death and Fleance's escape. He returns to the table where the nobles are
eating, and looks for a seat. Even though there is one empty, he cannot see it. He has a
vision of the murdered Banquo sitting in his seat, and becomes hysterical talking to the
vision. Lady Macbeth explains it to the nobles as an illness, and asks them to leave as
Macbeth becomes more and more upset.

Many editors say that scene v of Act III, along with a song in IV.i, is not written by
Shakespeare. This is because the writing is different to the way Shakespeare usually writes.
It has a witch called Hecate in it, who is not previously mentioned in the play. She seems to
be in charge of the other witches and is scolding them for dealing with Macbeth without
informing her.

In the final scene, Lennox is talking to another lord. They find out that Macduff has gone to
England to convince Malcolm to return and claim his throne, and to ask for the help of King
Edward of England.

Act 4
Scene (i) starts with the witches, who are standing in a circle around their cauldron, throwing
things in, like the tongue of a dog. Then suddenly Macbeth arrives and asks them to tell him
some more prophecies. As the first prophecy they tell him to be careful of Macduff, Thane of
Fife. As the second prophecy they say he can't be killed by anyone who was born of a
woman and as the third prophecy the witches say if Birnam Wood stays at its current
position Macbeth is okay but if the wood moves he will have problems. Macbeth is happy
because he thinks that all of these things are impossible. He wants to know a fourth thing but
suddenly the witches dance crazily and then run away. Next Lennox enters and tells
Macbeth that Macduff has fled to England. Macbeth orders Macduff's castle to be seized.

In scene ii Macbeth’s men arrive at Macduff’s castle and kill Macduff´s family and everybody
else in the castle.

In scene iii Macduff finds out what Macbeth did to his family. He is very sad and angry, so he
decides to go back to Scotland with Malcolm and they plan to kill Macbeth.

Act 5
Scene i takes place in Macbeth’s castle. A doctor and a servant are talking about Lady
Macbeth. They’re talking about Lady Macbeth’s sickness. She is sleepwalking and while she
sleepwalks she says that she regrets having told her husband to kill Duncan and Banquo.

In scene ii Lennox and other Scottish thanes think that Macbeth is crazy and that he is killing
too many people. Together they go to Malcolm and king Edward of England and tell them
that they want to fight against Macbeth with the English army.

Scene iii takes place in Macbeth’s castle. He is told that Malcolm and Macduff are coming
with the English army and want to kill him. The doctor tells him that his wife is ill. She has
become crazy and is sleepwalking.

In scene iv Malcolm, Macduff and the English army hide in Birnam Wood. They don’t want to
be seen, so they cut off some branches and cover themselves with them.

In scene V, the doctor comes to Macbeth and tells him that his wife is dead. Macbeth is
depressed, and then he has a monologue about how meaningless life is. After that, a
servant says that Birnam Wood is moving, but Macbeth doesn't believe him, so the servant
shows him.

In scene VI, Macduff, Malcolm and the English army are planning to attack Macbeth.

In scene VII, Macbeth and an English Lord fight, and Macbeth says he cannot be killed by
anyone born of a woman. Macbeth then kills him. Meanwhile, Macduff is looking for
Macbeth.

Scene VIII shows the fight between Macduff and Macbeth, who says again that he cannot be
killed by anyone born of a woman. Macduff replies that he was cut out of his mother‘s
stomach (Caesarean). He then kills Macbeth. In the last scene Malcolm is declared king.