Act 5, Scene 1 Summary

The scene begins with a doctor and a gentlewoman discussing Lady Macbeth’s sleepwalking problem. Lady Macbeth enters with a candle in her hand, seemingly in a trance. She bemoans the killings of Duncan, Banquo, and Lady Macduff and seems to see blood on her hands, which she cannot wash away. As she leaves, the doctor and the gentlewoman marvel at her descent into madness.

Act 5, Scene 1 Analysis

This scene depicts the complete disintegration of Lady Macbeth. Once a charming hostess and a determined and domineering wife, she is now incoherent and delusional; she cannot sleep and her speech only amounts to gibberish. The royal couple’s sleeplessness was foreshadowed in the hallucination Macbeth experienced when he murdered Duncan. In the hallucination, Macbeth had heard voice call out, “Macbeth does murder sleep.”

Lady Macbeth’s fragmented speech indicates the extent of her emotional and psychological turmoil. Her recollections, and her speech in general, are bereft of coherence and chronology. She also speaks in non-sequiturs. For instance, when she attempts to speak of Lady Macduff, she only manages to say “Out damned spot” and “The Thane of Fife had a wife.” When she hears a knock at the gate, she assumes it is from the dead Banquo. She says, “Banquo’s buried: he cannot come out on’s grave.”

All murders seem to have coalesced into one seamless spectacle of bloodshed in Lady Macbeth’s mind. That her hands seem permanently bloodstained to her represents Lady Macbeth’s inability to cope with her crippling guilt. Her suffering is so extreme that it seems like a fitting punishment for her actions.

Act 5, Scene 2 Summary

The English army, led by Malcolm, advances toward Dunsinane and is now camped at Birnam Wood. Four Scottish lords—Lennox, Menteth, Angus, and Caithness—decide to join Malcolm.

Act 5, Scene 2 Analysis

This short scene is a plot-filler, depicting the preparation for battle, which in turn paves way for the climax. The conversation between the characters reminds the audience of the various military alliances between Malcolm, England, and the rebel Scots. By deciding to join Malcolm, the lords exhibit admirable courage and clarity of thought. Once more, Scotland is depicted as a sick patient who can only be cured with the drops of their own blood.

The much dreaded Birnam Wood—mentioned in the witches’ prophecies in Act 4, Scene 1—is also referred to in this scene. The audience now knows that Macbeth’s downfall is imminent.

Act 5, Scene 3 Summary

News of the invasion reaches Macbeth. However, he is confident on account of his interpretation of the witches’ prophecies; he is certain that he is invincible. Macbeth’s servant, Seyton, confirms that the English army has about 10,000 men. He also states that the army is heading toward Dunsinane. Macbeth momentarily appears to lose courage, but soon puts on his armor. When Macbeth’s doctor enters and informs him about Lady Macbeth’s hallucinations, he is dismissed with contempt.

Act 5, Scene 3 Analysis

Macbeth’s speech is dismissive and brazen in this scene. He seems very self-assured and confident of his masculinity, perceiving others to be cowards. For instance, he calls his servant “lily-livered” and the soldiers “epicures,” meaning lazy. However, the scene also reveals another Macbeth, one who confesses to being “sick at heart” and who feels he has entered the season of the “yellow leaf,” indicating the loss of his reputation and honor. The leaf metaphor also acknowledges the gloom and sickness that seems to have afflicted his kingdom at large. However, when he dons the armor, he resolves to fight to the finish.

Act 5, Scene 4 Summary

Malcolm is seen in conversation with Siward, the English lord, discussing Macbeth’s plans. Macbeth’s castle is being prepared for the impending attack, and the duo comes up with a strategy to infiltrate it. They decide that each soldier will cut off a bough from Birnam Wood, and that the soldiers will hold the boughs in front of them as they approach the castle. In doing so, they believe they can camouflage themselves and prevent Macbeth’s men from deducing how many men are approaching the castle.

Act 5, Scene 4 Analysis

This scene features the fulfillment of the second prophecy offered by the witches in Act 4, Scene 1. It must be remembered that Malcolm is unaware of the prophecies. The camouflage strategy also reinforces Macbeth’s troubled relationship with ambiguity: he had once remarked that “nothing is but what is not.” Macbeth’s downfall is quickened by his inability to recognize that it is not the forest that is approaching him, but the camouflaged enemies.

The scene also shows that Macbeth’s command over his few remaining followers is based on constraint, not loyalty. Macbeth’s ruthlessness is in stark contrast to the genuine loyalty Malcolm is able to inspire.

Act 5, Scene 5 Summary

Macbeth is still in his castle. He is fully confident that the advancing army will not be able to pass the castle’s barriers. Suddenly, he hears a woman’s scream. Seyton enters and informs Macbeth that Lady Macbeth is dead. Macbeth now delivers his famous lines: “Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player / That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, / And then is heard no more. It is a tale / Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, / Signifying nothing.” A messenger now enters and declares that the trees of Birnam Wood are moving toward the castle. This astonishing development makes Macbeth realize that his end is near and inevitable.

Act 5, Scene 5 Analysis

This scene begins with a bold declaration from Macbeth: “Hang out our banners on the outward walls.” His speech is defiant and the curses that he rains on his enemies are vivid—“Here let them lie / Till famine and the ague (disease) eat them up.” However, the audience knows that this is mere rhetoric, that justice will soon prevail and that curses will rain down on Macbeth.

Macbeth’s famous lines—“Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow”—have a resigned, wistful tone to them, occasioned not only by the death of his wife but also by the dire situation engulfing him. However, when the news of the advancing Birman Wood reaches him, he seems to secretly accept his fate. He seems to recognize that, just as Lady Macbeth has paid for her sins, he, too, will be held accountable shortly. When he cries, “Come wind, blow wrack!” it is the cry of a hopeless man.

Act 5, Scenes 6–7 Summary

Malcolm and his troops reach Dunsinane in Scene 6. They hide behind the boughs of Birnam Wood, and Malcolm tells his soldiers to drop the branches and commence the battle.

Macbeth enters the battlefield in Scene 7. He still believes that he cannot be harmed by men born of women, as predicted by the witches. He swings his sword aggressively. He is challenged by Lord Siward’s son in single combat, whom Macbeth slays. Macbeth exits before anyone can attempt to kill him.

Act 5, Scenes 6–7 Analysis

These short, fast-paced scenes convey the sense of urgency, chaos, and action that characterize the battle raging outside Dunsinane Castle. On the battlefield, Macbeth is shown as a wild beast, aggressive and insolent, believing that he cannot be killed by a man born of a woman. Soon, however, he finds himself unable to move. Furiously, he cries: “They have tied me to a stake: I cannot fly.” All he can do is await his destiny. When Lord Siward’s son enters, he mocks Macbeth by calling him the devil and a liar. When he kills Siward’s son, Macbeth mocks Siward; he also tells Siward’s son that “Thou wast born of woman.”

Act 5, Scene 8 Summary

The scene opens withMacbeth convincing himself that he shouldn’t commit suicide. When Macduff enters and finally confronts him, Macbeth tells him that he doesn’t wish to see him. Macbeth tells him that he is already dealing with the guilt of having killed Macduff’s family. Macduff in turn tells Macbeth that he does not wish to speak with him, that he is there only to fight him. Macduff also reveals that he was not born of a woman, that he was “from his mother’s womb / Untimely ripped.” Though Macbeth at once understands the implications of this revelation, he decides not to surrender. He decides to fight till his death. The act ends with Macduff decapitating Macbeth, and Malcolm being declared the new king of Scotland.

Act 5, Scene 8 Analysis

Macduff enters as Macbeth finds himself considering suicide. Macbeth still believes in the prophecies nonetheless and tells Macduff that he (Macbeth) is invincible, “uncuttable” like the air itself. Macduff’s revelation shatters Macbeth’s desperate hope in the prophecy. With Macbeth’s death, the prophecy comes true. The tyrant is disposed of and with the declaration of Malcolm as the new king, the natural order is finally restored in Scotland.