MACBETH SYNOPSIS
Act I
Opens with witches greeting Macbeth after a battle predicting:
Lady M now persuades her husband to kill Banquo and his son, Fléance, in order to eliminate future rivals – and to defeat the witches’ prophesy.
Banquo is assassinated but Fléance escapes. At the banquet, Banquo’s absence is noted by guests but Macbeth is horrified to see the ghost of Banquo sitting at the table. He loses it temporarily, and Lad M tells him to pull himself together. Macduff has seen enough and leaves for England to rally Malcolm’s forces and support his taking of the throne from the Murderous Macbeths.
Act II
Macbeth is in turmoil so rushes back to the witches, who tell him:
Lady M declares that Fléance and the Macduff clan must be killed. Macduff has fled, so his wife and children are killed instead.
Scottish refugeees, escaping Macbeth’s tyrannical rule, join Malcolm’s forces. Macduff swears vengeance for the death of his family. Malcolm orders the refugees to take branches from the trees in Birnam Wood as camouflage as they advance towards Dunsinane … and Macbeth.
Lady M becomes consumed with guilt and kills herself. Macbeth is already insecure, so news that Birnam Wood is on the march, combined with his wife’s death, tips him over the edge. Macduff duels with Macbeth and kills him because it turns out that Macbeth was not ‘born of woman’, but by Caesarean Section.
A triumphant chorus hails Malcolm as their new king of Scotland.
re to edit.
Act I
Opens with witches greeting Macbeth after a battle predicting:
- that he will be king of Scotland;
- that Banquo's descendants shall rule Scotland. Macbeth persuades her husband to kill Duncan, the present King of Scotland, and take the crown.
Lady M now persuades her husband to kill Banquo and his son, Fléance, in order to eliminate future rivals – and to defeat the witches’ prophesy.
Banquo is assassinated but Fléance escapes. At the banquet, Banquo’s absence is noted by guests but Macbeth is horrified to see the ghost of Banquo sitting at the table. He loses it temporarily, and Lad M tells him to pull himself together. Macduff has seen enough and leaves for England to rally Malcolm’s forces and support his taking of the throne from the Murderous Macbeths.
Act II
Macbeth is in turmoil so rushes back to the witches, who tell him:
- to beware of Macduff;
- to reassure him that he cannot be defeated in battle against Malcolm until Birnam Wood uproots itself and walks to Dunsinane;
- that no man born of woman can kill him;
- that Banquo’s descendants will still rule Scotland.
Lady M declares that Fléance and the Macduff clan must be killed. Macduff has fled, so his wife and children are killed instead.
Scottish refugeees, escaping Macbeth’s tyrannical rule, join Malcolm’s forces. Macduff swears vengeance for the death of his family. Malcolm orders the refugees to take branches from the trees in Birnam Wood as camouflage as they advance towards Dunsinane … and Macbeth.
Lady M becomes consumed with guilt and kills herself. Macbeth is already insecure, so news that Birnam Wood is on the march, combined with his wife’s death, tips him over the edge. Macduff duels with Macbeth and kills him because it turns out that Macbeth was not ‘born of woman’, but by Caesarean Section.
A triumphant chorus hails Malcolm as their new king of Scotland.
re to edit.
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