Year 9 Revision Guide-Macbeth summary
Act 1
The weird sisters arrange to meet with Macbeth after the battle that he is fighting is over : ‘When the hurly-burly’s done, when the battle's lost and won’. Meanwhile, King Duncan receives the news that Banquo and Macbeth, thanks to their bravery, have won the battle in Scotland causing him to name Macbeth as the ‘Thane of Glamis’. Whilst the King is making this decision, Macbeth and Banquo meet with the weird sisters and get told a strange prophecy. Ross proceeds to bring the title to him. Macbeth hears of the news that Malcolm will be the next King of Scotland causing him to worry and invite Duncan to his castle. He plans to kill him but is unsure during the state dinner only to be persuaded by Lady Macbeth.
Act 2
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Lady Macbeth offers to clean the blood and hide the dagger by some servants. Everyone wakes up and finds the dead King only to discover, from Macbeth, that he caught the servants who killed him and made sure they died. Ross finds out that Macduff and his sons have fled to England causing Macbeth to be chosen as the next King. ‘Ring the alarm bell! Murder and treason!’
Act 3
Banquo becomes suspicious much to Macbeth's displeasure causing him to arrange for assassins to murder Banquo. Lady Macbeth is uncertain and uneasy but Macbeth assures her that everything is under control, ‘You must leave this’. The assassins kill Banquo but Fleance escapes causing Macbeth to become uneasy and hallucinate Banquo's ghost at his state banquet and Lady Macbeth having to explain her husband's actions. The weird sisters prepare to meet with Macbeth again. Lennox and a Lord speak about the fact that the English King is building an army against Macbeth.
Act
This time due to a cowardly action committed out of selfish fear. It is no surprise to me that Banquo’s ghost haunts Macbeth at this table since Macbeth called for two murders to kill him and his son. Banquo’s ghost appearing shows that Macbeth felt guilt and that he was not the completely heartless monster that he appeared to become. When Banquo's bloody ghost sits at the table with the lords, Macbeth tries to believe that he did not kill banquo. “ Thou canst not say I did it. Never shake Thy gory locks at me.” (III,iv,53-54). Macbeth’s episode with Banquo’s ghost reveals how the quest for power had driven his mind into pure insanity. This powerful hallucination driven from the little heart left in Macbeth proved to all the lords that Macbeth’s mind was gone, and that he was not fit to
Macbeth realizes that the prophecy that the three witches told him is coming true, which blew his mind. Macduff fights for honor and Macbeth fights to kill and to stay alive even though he knows that he is destined to perish.
Macbeth has hallucinations based around guilt and to others he seems delusional and insane. After he hires the three murderers to kill Banquo and Fleance, they come back unsuccessful, only managing to kill Banquo. He is haunted by a hallucination of an apparition of (supposedly) Banquo and says “(to GHOST) Thou canst not say I did it. Never shake. Thy gory locks at me./ Gentlemen, rise. His highness is not well” (Shakespeare 3.4.61-63). Without being prompted by the ghost, Macbeth responds and another noble is weary of his actions. He kills Banquo because Banquo suspects that Macbeth did something horrible (like killing the king) to become king. Macbeth wants to keep the power that he
Later on the novel another crime occurs in order to keep Macbeth’s throne safe. Banquo and Fleance are two of the next victims in Macbeth’s hit list. He had murderers to execute his job. The three murderers come back with the news that only Banquo was dead and that Fleance had escaped. Macbeth receives the news during a dinner that was held on the castle, where all members of the royalty were present except Macduff, Banquo, and Fleance. But Banquo was only absent for those who couldn’t see, Macbeth was having illusions with Banquo
But, later on in the play we learn by the witched that Banquo's descendants will become King and that they will prosper. It says “Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none”, when Macbeth learns about this and hears about it he is scared and then eventually considers Banquo as a threat to him to become King. So Macbeth has to come up with a solution to this and eventually comes up with the solution that he must murder Banquo and his son Fleance. He gets two murders to go out and murder Banquo and his son while they are walking so that his promise of becoming king will not be in jeopardy. This is an ironic act of betrayal because Macbeth and Banquo have been friends for a long time and have done everything together. Banquo was not just his friend he was also the co-commander of the army and had some power in Scotland.
After everyone has found out that the king is dead Banquo suspects Macbeth of doing something to make the witches predictions that they ways saying to become true. At that time Macbeth is king so he turns on his best friend Banquo and has him and all of his family including Fleance killed because he was the only person there when the predictions of Macbeth becoming king and also the witches said that Banquos son Fleance would become king too. So this shows that that Macbeth is getting over protective of his crown to the throne so he will do anything to stop people becoming king. So he will kill he’s best friend and his family only because the three withes said that predictions of Macbeth becoming king. So Macbeth is going into a downward spiral towards great darkness and becoming ever more evil from every action he makes and does to protect the crown.
Macbeth soon realises that he can not stop at just killing King Duncan. There are now other people that he must eliminate in order to retain his position as King. He realises that the one person who is most likely to threaten his position is Banquo. This is because Banquo was present when the weird sisters gave Macbeth their predictions, and he may suspect that Macbeth is the true murderer of the King. In Act Three, Scene One, Line 48, there is a large speech which shows Macbeth’s fears about Banquo’s knowledge of his dirty crime. After this speech, the three murderers enter, and he assigns them to kill both Banquo and his son Fleance. This act does seem to be butcher-like as Banquo was Macbeth’s best friend and had done nothing wrong. However, it has become a necessity for Macbeth to have Banquo killed.
Coincidentally, Duncan, honoring the hero, decides to stay at Macbeth’s castle overnight. Lady Macbeth believes that this is a perfect opportunity given by fate to kill Duncan and usurp his power. Exhibiting extreme ambition and masculinity, Lady Macbeth orchestrates the entire scheme and persuades her husband into committing evil deeds, chiding him for behaving like a feminine and coward. Macbeth eventually yields to his wife’s pressure and manipulation. After the murder is discovered, Malcolm and Donalbain, Duncan’s sons, flee to England and Ireland, respectively, while Macbeth assumes a dictatorial sovereignty of Scotland. Macbeth, however, becomes insecure about his power, for the witches have prophesied that Banquo’s descendants will be kings and Macduff, another Scottish nobleman in England, may threaten him. Hence, the vicious tyrant assassinates Banquo and Macduff’s family. As a result, Macduff, with aids from Malcolm and England, vows to retaliate against Macbeth. Meanwhile, Lady Macbeth is greatly agonized by guilt, sleepwalking, rubbing her hands as if trying to wash away the bloodstains, and finally committing suicide. The downfall of Macbeth immediately succeeds when the English army invades his castle and is marked by Macduff outplaying Macbeth in a fierce
Act 3 is the most brutal and violent scene in Macbeth. Banquo, the general of King Duncan's army, is murdered. However, this wasn't an accident as it was planned by Macbeth prior to it happening. It all started when Macbeth explained to his servants why killing Banquo is a necessity, and he expounds on his reasons in a speech that he recently wrote. The motive behind this erratic idea is that Banquo's kids will eventually take over the throne because that’s what the witches predicted, and they were not wrong the first time. Anyhow, Macbeth calls in two men and orders them to kill Banquo. Of course the men question Macbeth's orders and explain to him that “We are men, my liege”(Line 94), meaning they aren’t use to killing and doing such things.
In this soliloquy, we learn how Banquo's ambition begins to collide with what's wrong and right. After Duncan's mysterious death, Banquo is considering the possibilities of Macbeth's actions and expresses his emotions aloud to him. Banquo is the only character that is completely aware of the witches prophecies and Macbeth's involvement with them. In this excerpt he decides not to share his suspicions, revealing his loyalty for Macbeth. His words give more insight on how much faith he is beginning to have in the sisters after a state of doubt.
Macbeth’s paranoia eventually leads Macbeth to plan the murders of Banquo and Fleance (even though only Banquo was killed). Prior to Macbeth’s ascension to the position of king, he never mentions any fears of his inferiors. The kingship and its providence to him induces severe detrimental effects on his delectation and security of
After killing King Duncan , Macbeth is starting to realize what it is that he has done, and becomes suspicious and paranoid of everyone around him by puting spy's in every castle and killing those who are any treat to him what so ever. Banquo is the only other person who knows of the meeting with the witches and he would assume that it was Macbeth who killed the King. The witches also said that Banquo would beget kings but he himself would never be king after Macbeth, and so Macbeth decides that Banquo is a threat to him. To get rid of the treat with banquo he decides to kill him and his son Fleance.
She figuratively speaking smacks him and tells him to get ahold of himself. He then comes to his senses and tells Lady Macbeth what happens if we fail. She then says, we shall fail then. So the night comes and Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth that she could not kill the king because he reminded her of her father, and she could not kill her own father. Macbeth then tells her that he has already killed the king, but he forgets to plant the daggers on the guards. She then tells him to go back and plant the daggers, but he refuses and she ends up doing it herself. A few days later Macbeth is crowned king, but Macduff doesn't believe him and is plotting to get revenge on Macduff.
First off, Macbeth’s ambition leads him to fall into paranoia. It drives him mad, and makes him hallucinate. Macbeth kills so many men seamlessly but after the murder of Banquo he begins to go crazy. “Macbeth does murder sleep…Macbeth shall sleep no more.”(II.II). When he sleeps he sees Banquo and he cannot deal with the guilt. He even began to have visions of Banquo’s ghost “If thou canst nod, speak too. /if charnel-houses and our graves must send/those that we bury back, our monuments/shall be the maws of kites.”(III.IV) Not only does he ask the murderers twice if Banquo is dead but he also becomes paranoid because Fleance got away. In Act 3 scene 4, Macbeth as king holds a feast with all his friends. During this feast he begins to hallucinate, he sees Banquo’s ghost. Lady
Macbeth has some combination of both a villain and a victim in the novel ‘The Tragedy of Macbeth’ by William Shakespeare. Macbeth is a brave and powerful nobleman that was urged by his wife lady Macbeth to invite his cousin King Duncan to sleep over. Then, later on kill him so he can become king and become more powerful. Lennox, arrives early in the morning to wake the king and sees that King Duncan is dead. They announce that King Duncan is dead. Macbeth acts upset, Macduff and Banquo are frightened. Lady Macbeth faints once she hears that King Duncan has been murdered. Donalbain flees to Ireland and Malcolm flees to England because they think the murderer of their father will come after them next. Macduff gets very suspicious about Macbeth that he raises an army in order to kill Macbeth. Macbeth goes from an innocent nice nobleman to a murderer.