Macbeth: The Simplified

Story
The play begins with the brief appearance of a trio of witches and
then moves to a military camp, where the Scottish King Duncan
hears the news that his generals, Macbeth and Banquo, have
defeated two separate invading armies—one from Ireland
and one from Norway.
Following their battle with these enemy forces, Macbeth and
Banquo encounter the witches as they cross a moor. The witches prophesy that
Macbeth will be made thane (a rank of Scottish nobility) of Cawdor and eventually King
of Scotland. They also prophesy that Macbeth’s companion, Banquo, will start a line of
Scottish kings, although Banquo will never be king himself.
The witches vanish, and Macbeth and Banquo treat their prophecies sceptically until some of
King Duncan’s men come to thank the two generals for their victories in battle and to tell
Macbeth that he has indeed been named thane of Cawdor. The previous thane betrayed
Scotland by fighting for the Norwegians and Duncan has condemned him to death. Macbeth
is intrigued by the possibility that the remainder of the witches’ prophecy—that he will be
crowned king—might be true, but he is uncertain what to expect. He visits King Duncan, and
they plan to dine together at Inverness, Macbeth’s castle, that night. Macbeth writes ahead
to his wife, Lady Macbeth, telling her all that has happened.
Lady Macbeth suffers none of her husband’s uncertainty. She desires
the kingship for him and wants him to murder Duncan in order to
obtain it. When Macbeth arrives at Inverness, she overrides all of her
husband’s objections and persuades him to kill the king that very
night.
He and Lady Macbeth plan to get Duncan’s two chamberlains drunk
so they will black out; the next morning they will blame the murder
on the chamberlains, who will be defenceless, as they will remember
nothing.
While Duncan is asleep, Macbeth stabs him, despite his doubts and a number of supernatural
portents, including a vision of a bloody dagger. When Duncan’s death is discovered the next
morning, Macbeth kills the chamberlains—pretending to be outraged at their crime—and
soon becomes king. Duncan’s sons Malcolm and Donalbain flee to England and Ireland,
respectively, fearing that whoever killed Duncan desires their deaths as well.
Fearful of the witches’ prophecy that Banquo’s heirs will seize the throne, Macbeth hires a
group of murderers to kill Banquo and his son Fleance. They ambush Banquo on his way to a
royal feast, but they fail to kill Fleance, who escapes into the night. Macbeth becomes furious:
as long as Fleance is alive, he fears that his power remains insecure.
At the feast that night, Banquo’s ghost visits Macbeth. When he sees the ghost,
Macbeth raves fearfully, startling his guests, who include most of the great Scottish
nobility. Lady Macbeth tries to neutralize the damage, but Macbeth’s kingship now
falls under suspicion from his nobles and subjects.
Frightened, Macbeth goes to visit the witches in their
cavern. There, they show him a sequence of demons and
spirits who present him with further prophecies: he must beware of
Macduff, a Scottish nobleman who opposed Macbeth’s accession to
the throne; he is incapable of being harmed by any man born of
woman; and he will be safe until Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane
Castle. Macbeth is relieved and feels secure, because he knows that all men are born of
women and that forests cannot move. When he learns that Macduff has fled to England to
join Malcolm, Macbeth orders that Macduff’s castle be seized and, most cruelly, that Lady
Macduff and her children be murdered. When news of his family’s execution reaches Macduff
in England, he is stricken with grief and vows revenge.
Prince Malcolm, Duncan’s son, has succeeded in raising an army in England, and Macduff joins
him as he rides to Scotland to challenge Macbeth’s forces. The invasion has the support of
the Scottish nobles, who are appalled and frightened by Macbeth’s tyrannical and murderous
behaviour.
Lady Macbeth, meanwhile, becomes plagued with fits of sleepwalking in which she bemoans
what she believes to be bloodstains on her hands. Before Macbeth’s opponents arrive,
Macbeth receives news that she has killed herself, causing him to sink into a deep and
pessimistic despair.
Nevertheless, he awaits the English and fortifies Dunsinane, to which
he seems to have withdrawn in order to defend himself, certain that
the witches’ prophecies guarantee his invincibility. He is struck numb
with fear, however, when he learns that the English army is advancing
on Dunsinane shielded with boughs cut from Birnam Wood. Birnam
Wood is indeed coming to Dunsinane, fulfilling half of the witches’
prophecy.
In the battle, Macbeth fights violently, but the English forces gradually
overwhelm his army and castle. On the battlefield, Macbeth
encounters the vengeful Macduff, who declares that he was not “of
woman born” but was instead “untimely ripped” from his mother’s
womb (what we now call birth by caesarean section). Though he
realizes that he is doomed, Macbeth continues to fight until Macduff
kills and beheads him. Malcolm, now the King of Scotland, declares his
benevolent intentions for the country and invites all to see him
crowned at Scone.

Sum up the story in this box – you can draw diagrams, summarise
the story or any other method. You must not go outside the box!
(AO1)
Relevant Vocabulary
Ambition Chivalry Cowardice
(noun) (noun) (noun)
A strong desire to do or Bravery, military skill, Fear and self-concern leading
achieve something. generosity in victory, courtesy to putting yourself first.
to women

Conflict Desire Duplicity

(noun) (noun) (noun)
A serious disagreement or A strong wish for something or Deceitfulness; being two-
argument. someone. faced.

Femininity Machiavellian Masculinity

(noun) (adjective) (noun)
The quality of being female; Being cunning, evil and sly. The quality of being male;
womanliness. manliness.

Monarchy Paranoia Patriarchal

(noun) (noun) (adjective)
The king, queen and royal A worry that you are being
family of a country. persecuted or victimised.
 A social system where men
(particularly fathers) hold the
power and influence.

Prophecy Soliloquy Superstition

(noun) (noun) (noun)
A prediction of the future. A speech given to the A belief in supernatural
audience. influences which there are no
evidence for.

Tyranny Usurp Villainy

(noun) (verb) (noun)
An unfair, unjust and cruel To take someone else’s place Wicked or criminal behaviour.
government or rule. illegally or by force.

Hamartia Hubris Catharsis

(noun) (noun) (noun)
A fatal flaw leading to the Excessive pride or confidence. Releasing – and finding release
downfall of a tragic hero. from – strong emotions.
 ➔ Write the story of Macbeth.
➔ Use as many of these new words as possible.
➔ Highlight them once you have done.
➔ Lang AO5 communicate clearly, effectively and imaginatively
➔ Lang AO6/Lit AO4 accurate SPaG

Witches and Witchcraft in Shakespeare’s Time

Throughout the ages there have been people who have believed in
witches and witchcraft. The people of Shakespeare’s day were no
different. Shakespeare drew on the popular traditions of his time and
used them for his own purposes. In Macbeth he used popular beliefs
about witches and witchcraft.

When Shakespeare wrote Macbeth, witchcraft was a topic of

considerable interest. The new king of England, James I, had written a book called
Demonology which was published in 1597. Until the time of Queen Elizabeth, no-one could
be executed simply for being a witch. But in 1604, witchcraft became a capital
offence. Evidence of a relationship with evil spirits condemned a suspect to death by
hanging, burning or drowning. Whether Shakespeare himself believed in witches does not
matter. He used them for his play, and many of his audience would have believed in them
as thoroughly evil servants of the devil. For the people of Shakespeare’s time, the devil was
very real who they believed spent his time trying to trap men and women into his power.

Witches were supposed to be capable of doing all the things that the three weird sisters
are said to perform in Macbeth. It was believed that they could see into the future; that
they could create storms, hail, thunder and lightning; stop the sun and change night into
day and day into night. In order to work their charms they would open graves and steal
parts of the bodies to make potions. For this purpose the bodies of unbaptized babies were
especially prized. And witches could call up the dead.

For a king like Macbeth to visit and have dealings with witches would have seemed both a
crime and a sin.

Macbeth is easily captured by their power and by their prophecies. But note that they
never tell him a lie. However, they do allow him to deceive himself. The devil does not
lie...but leads us into temptation.
Identify four things people believed about witches... (AO1)
1.
2.
3.
4.
What was the penalty for witchcraft? (AO1)

King James, Witch Trials and Daemonologie

The North Berwick witch trials were the trials in 1590 of a number of Scottish people
accused of witchcraft. They ran for two years and implicated seventy people. The
confessions of the ‘witches’ were extracted by torture in Edinburgh.
As King James sailed to Copenhagen to marry Princess Anne of Denmark, a terrible storm
hit their ship, causing them to seek shelter in Norway for several weeks. Somehow, this was
blamed on various women in Denmark who confessed (probably after being tortured) to
raising the storm through sorcery. Two were burned for their crime.
Scottish women were linked to the storms when Gillis Duncan confessed to her employer
that she had developed an ability to heal herself. She would also regularly sneak out after
dark. She could not explain her strange behaviour, so she was tortured – a result of which
was her confession of witchcraft. She accused many others too.
The situation snowballed, with more than a hundred suspects arrested. Under torture,
many confessed to meeting with the Devil and devoting themselves to his evil work –
including poisoning the king and attempting to sink his ship.
King James established a court hear their trials. Two of the most horrific cases are detailed
below...
Agnes Sampson
Sampson was an elderly woman who refused to confess. She suffered horribly – she was
fastened to the wall of her cell by a witch’s bridle, an iron instrument with four sharp
prongs forced into the mouth, so that two prongs pressed against the tongue, and two
others against the cheeks. She was kept without sleep and strangled. Only after these
ordeals did she confess to her ‘crimes’. She was hanged and burned as a witch.
Dr John Fian
Like Sampson, he refused to confess to witchcraft. His fingernails were forcibly removed,
with iron pins thrust into his fingertips. Thumbscrews are also used to slowly crush his
thumbs. A similar device called ‘the boot’ was used to crush his feet. He was finally burned
at the stake having confessed.
Influenced by his involvement in the ‘attack’ upon his boat and his role in the subsequent
trials, King James wrote his book Daemonologie in 1597.

DAEMONOLOGIE (edited extract)

My intention in this book, is only to prove two things, as I have already said: the one, that
such devilish arts exist. The other, what exact trial and severe punishment they deserve:
& therefore reason I, what kind of things are possible to be performed in these arts, & by
what natural causes they may be, not that I touch every particular thing of the Devil’s
power.
I say and prove, that Witches can, by the power of their Master, cure or cast on diseases:
Now by these same reasons, that proves their power by the Devil of diseases in generally
is as well proved their power in special: as of weakening the nature of some men, to make
them unable for women: and making it to abound in others, more then the ordinary course
of nature would permit. And such like in all other particular sicknesses.

How do you think what you’ve learned

about King James I and Daemonologie
influenced Shakespeare’s writing of
Macbeth? (AO3)

The Role of Women

Patriarchal Society
Elizabethan society was patriarchal, meaning that men were considered to be the leaders
and women their inferiors. Women were regarded as "the weaker sex", not just in terms
of physical strength, but emotionally too. It was believed that women always needed
someone to look after them. If they were married, their husband was expected to look
after them. If they were single, then their father, brother or another male relative was
expected to take care of them.

Housewives and Mothers

Even though there had been an unmarried woman on the throne in Elizabethan England,
the roles of women in society were very limited. There were very clear expectations of
men and women, and in general men were expected to be the breadwinners and women
to be housewives and mothers. On average, a woman gave birth to a child every two
years, but as a lot of babies and children died from sickness, families were not always
large. Childbearing was considered a great honour to women, as children were seen as
blessings from God.

Professional Women
Women were not allowed to enter the professions i.e law, medicine, politics, but they
could work in domestic service as cooks, maids, etc. Women were also allowed to write
works of literature, providing the subject was suitable for women: mainly translations or
religious works. Women were not allowed to act on the public stage or write for the
public stage. Acting was considered dishonourable for women. In Shakespeare's plays, the
roles of women were often played by young boys.
Marriage
A man was considered to be the head of a marriage, and he had the legal right to chastise
his wife. However, it is important to understand what this "headship" meant. It did not
mean, as if often supposed, that the husband was able to command his wife to do
anything he pleased. He was expected to take care of her, make sure she had everything
she needed, and most importantly to love her and be a good father to any children they
had. If a husband felt the need to chastise his wife, then he was not allowed to be cruel or
inflict bodily harm. If he did abuse his wife, then he could be prosecuted or prevented
from living with her. There was no divorce: marriage generally lasted as long as the couple
both lived.
(AO1) Sum up each heading in one sentence:
Patriarchal Society

Housewives and Mothers

Professional Women

Marriage