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Macbeth
William Shakespeare
Study Guide
Summary Characters Literary Devices Questi
Summary
Act 1, scenes 1–4
Summary Act 1, scenes 1–4
Summary: Act 1, scene 1
Thunder and lightning crash above a Scottish moor.
Three haggard old women, the witches, appear out of
the storm. In eerie, chanting tones, they make plans to
meet again upon the heath, after the battle, to
confront Macbeth. As quickly as they arrive, they
disappear.
Read a translation of Act 1, scene 1
Summary: Act 1, scene 2
At a military camp near his palace at Forres, King
Duncan of Scotland asks a wounded captain for news
about the Scots’ battle with the Irish invaders, who are
led by the rebel Macdonwald. The captain, who was
wounded helping Duncan’s son Malcolm escape
capture by the Irish, replies that the Scottish generals
Macbeth and Banquo fought with great courage and
violence. The captain then describes for Duncan how
Macbeth slew the traitorous Macdonwald. As the
captain is carried o! to have his wounds attended to,
the thane of Ross, a Scottish nobleman, enters and
tells the king that the traitorous thane of Cawdor has
been defeated and the army of Norway repelled.
Duncan decrees that the thane of Cawdor be put to
death and that Macbeth, the hero of the victorious
army, be given Cawdor’s title. Ross leaves to deliver
the news to Macbeth.
Read a translation of Act 1, scene 2
See what’s swinging on Sho.s
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Summary: Act 1, scene 3
On the heath near the
See what’s battlefield,
swinging thunder rolls and the
on Sho.s
three witches appear. One says that she has just come
from “[k]illing swine” and another describes the
revenge she has planned upon a sailor whose wife
refused to share her chestnuts. Suddenly a drum
beats, and the third witch cries that Macbeth is
coming. Macbeth and Banquo, on their way to the
king’s court at Forres, come upon the witches and
shrink in horror at the sight of the old women. Banquo
asks whether they are mortal, noting that they don’t
seem to be “inhabitants o’ th’ earth” (1.3.39). He also
wonders whether they are really women, since they
seem to have beards like men. The witches hail
Macbeth as thane of Glamis (his original title) and as
thane of Cawdor. Macbeth is ba"ed by this second
title, as he has not yet heard of King Duncan’s decision.
The witches also declare that Macbeth will be king
one day. Stunned and intrigued, Macbeth presses the
witches for more information, but they have turned
their attention to Banquo, speaking in yet more riddles.
They call Banquo “lesser than Macbeth, and greater,”
and “not so happy, yet much happier”; then they tell
him that he will never be king but that his children will
sit upon the throne (1.3.63–65). Macbeth implores the
witches to explain what they meant by calling him
thane of Cawdor, but they vanish into thin air.
See what’s swinging on Sho.s
YouTube Visit Site
In disbelief, Macbeth and Banquo discuss the strange
encounter. Macbeth fixates on the details of the
See what’s swinging on Sho.s
prophecy. “Your children shall be kings,” he says to his
friend, to which Banquo responds: “You shall be king”
(1.3.84). Their conversation is interrupted by the arrival
of Ross and Angus, who have come to convey them to
the king. Ross tells Macbeth that the king has made
him thane of Cawdor, as the former thane is to be
executed for treason. Macbeth, amazed that the
witches’ prophecy has come true, asks Banquo if he
hopes his children will be kings. Banquo replies that
devils often tell half-truths in order to “win us to our
harm” (1.3.121). Macbeth ignores his companions and
speaks to himself, ruminating upon the possibility that
he might one day be king. He wonders whether the
reign will simply fall to him or whether he will have to
perform a dark deed in order to gain the crown. At last
he shakes himself from his reverie and the group
departs for Forres. As they leave, Macbeth whispers to
Banquo that, at a later time, he would like to speak to
him privately about what has transpired.
Read a translation of Act 1, scene 3
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Summary: Act 1, scene 4
At the king’s palace, Duncan hears reports of Cawdor’s
execution from his son Malcolm, who says that
Cawdor died nobly, confessing freely and repenting of
his crimes. Macbeth and Banquo enter with Ross and
Angus. Duncan thanks the two generals profusely for
their heroism in the battle, and they profess their
loyalty and gratitude toward Duncan. Duncan
announces his intention to name Malcolm the heir to
his throne. Macbeth declares his joy but notes to
himself that Malcolm now stands between him and
the crown. Plans are made for Duncan to dine at
Macbeth’s castle that evening, and Macbeth goes on
ahead of the royal party to inform his wife of the king’s
impending arrival.
Read a translation of Act 1, scene 4
Analysis: Act 1, scenes 1–4
These scenes establish the play’s dramatic premise—
the witches’ awakening of Macbeth’s ambition—and
present the main characters and their relationships. At
the same time, the first three scenes establish a dark
mood that permeates the entire play. The stage
directions indicate that the play begins with a storm,
and malignant supernatural forces immediately
appear in the form of the three witches. From there,
the action quickly shifts to a battlefield that is
dominated by a sense of the grisliness and cruelty of
war. In his description of Macbeth and Banquo’s
heroics, the captain dwells specifically on images of
carnage: “he unseamed him from the nave to th’
chops,” he says, describing Macbeth’s slaying of
Macdonwald (1.2.22). The bloody murders that fill the
play are foreshadowed by the bloody victory that the
Scots win over their enemies.
Read more about how the setting shapes
Macbeth.
Our initial impression of Macbeth, based on the
captain’s report of his valor and prowess in battle, is
immediately complicated by Macbeth’s obvious
fixation upon the witches’ prophecy. Macbeth is a
noble and courageous warrior but his reaction to the
witches’ pronouncements emphasizes his great desire
for power and prestige. Macbeth immediately realizes
that the fulfillment of the prophecy may require
conspiracy and murder on his part. He clearly allows
himself to consider taking such actions, although he is
by no means resolved to do so. His reaction to the
prophecy displays a fundamental confusion and
inactivity: instead of resolving to act on the witches’
claims, or simply dismissing them, Macbeth talks
himself into a kind of thoughtful stupor as he tries to
work out the situation for himself. In the following
scene, Lady Macbeth will emerge and drive the
hesitant Macbeth to act; she is the will propelling his
achievements. Once Lady Macbeth hears of the
witches’ prophecy, Duncan’s life is doomed.
Read more about foreshadowing in
Macbeth.
Macbeth contains some of Shakespeare’s most vivid
female characters. Lady Macbeth and the three
witches are extremely wicked, but they are also
stronger and more imposing than the men around
them. The sinister witches cast the mood for the entire
play. Their rhyming incantations stand out eerily amid
the blank verse spoken by the other characters, and
their grotesque figures of speech establish a lingering
aura. Whenever they appear, the stage directions
deliberately link them to unease and lurking chaos in
the natural world by insisting on “Thunder” or “Thunder
and lightning.”
Shakespeare has the witches speak in language of
contradiction. Their famous line “Fair is foul, and foul is
fair” is a prominent example (1.1.10), but there are many
others, such as their characterization of Banquo as
“lesser than Macbeth, and greater” (1.3.63). Such
speech adds to the play’s sense of moral confusion by
implying that nothing is quite what it seems.
Interestingly, Macbeth’s first line in the play is “So foul
and fair a day I have not seen” (1.3.36). This line echoes
the witches’ words and establishes a connection
between them and Macbeth. It also suggests that
Macbeth is the focus of the drama’s moral confusion.
Read more about whether Lady Macbeth
is a villain or victim.
Next section
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