Macbeth - Act 1 summary

• The play opens with

  • Three witches gathering amidst thunder and lightening
  • They plan to meet with Macbeth that evening, 'when the battle's lost and won' at 'the set of sun'
• At King Duncan's camp


  1. A wounded captain tells the king that 'brave Macbeth' fought well against the rebel forces led by Macdonald

  2. He also reports that there was 'a fresh assault' from Norwegian troops after they had defeated Macdonald, but Macbeth and Banquo 'doubly redoubled strokes upon the foe' and pushed them back as well

  3. Duncan thanks the Captain for the 'honour' of his words and his wounds and sends him to be treated by a surgeon

  4. Ross arrives from Fife with further news of victory

  5. The Norwegian king is pleading for a peace treaty and has paid a ransom, while the rebellious Thane of Cawdor has been captured

  6. Duncan sentences Cawdor to 'present death' and tells Ross to 'greet Macbeth' with his 'former title'
• The witches meet on the heath


  • One has been killing pigs
  • Another has been insulted by a sailor's wife so they plot to cast a spell which will disrupt the sailor's next sea journey to Aleppo
  • They hear Macbeth and Banquo approaching and cast a spell
• Macbeth and Banquo encounter the witches

  1. The witches hail Macbeth firstly by his title Thane of Glamis, then as Thane of Cawdor and finally as 'king hereafter!'

  2. Banquo says there is no need to 'fear things that sound so fair', and asks the witches for his future

  3. They predict that his children will be 'kings, though thou be none'

  4. Macbeth demands to know how their prediction about him can be true when the Thane of Cawdor is still alive but the witches vanish

  5. Ross and Angus arrive to tell Macbeth that he has been given the title Thane of Cawdor by Duncan to thank him for his valiant efforts in the battle

  6. Macbeth considers 'this supernatural soliciting'

  7. He realises that to become king, Duncan would have to die but he thinks this is a 'horrid image'

  8. Then he adds in an aside that 'chance may crown me, without my stir'

  9. Banquo and Macbeth decide to discuss the witches' prophecies at a later time
• King Duncan asks about the execution of Cawdor

  1. King Duncan's son Malcolm reports that he confessed and died nobly

  2. Macbeth and Banquo, along with Ross and Angus, join the rest of Duncan's party

  3. Duncan thanks them both for their part in the battle and announces that his eldest son, Malcolm, will inherit the throne from him when he dies

  4. Duncan then says they will visit Macbeth's castle as they travel 'from hence to Inverness' and will celebrate there

  5. Macbeth decides to go on ahead to tell his wife

  6. He remarks to himself that Malcolm is now 'a step on which I must fall down, or else o'erleap' to get to the throne
• Lady Macbeth reads a letter from her husband about his encounter with the witches


  1. She fears that her husband is 'too full o'th'milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way' of achieving the throne

  2. She wants him to come home quickly so that she can 'pour' her words of ambition into his ears

  3. She is interrupted by news that the king is coming to the castle that evening and that Macbeth is already on his way

  4. She celebrates the 'fatal entrance' of Duncan into their home

  5. She calls on the spirits to 'unsex' her and make her capable of murder
• Macbeth arrives home and Lady Macbeth immediately plants the seed of her murderous intentions


  She advises him to hide their plans with innocence, but be a 'serpent' underneath
• Duncan and the thanes arrive at Macbeth's castle


  1. They enjoy the 'gentle' surroundings

  2. Duncan is delighted to see the 'honoured hostess' Lady Macbeth

  3. She welcomes him into their home, taking him to see Macbeth
• Outside the banqueting hall, Macbeth considers his complex thoughts about killing Duncan


  1. He struggles with his conscience and decides not to go through with it because it is only his 'vaulting ambition' that is pushing him onwards

  2. Lady Macbeth tells him off for leaving the hall

  3. When Macbeth tells her that he has decided against killing Duncan, she is furious, calling him a coward and a 'beast'

  4. She goads him by saying that she would have 'dash'd the brains out' of her own baby if she had promised it to him

  5. Macbeth is further persuaded by the strength of their plan

  6. She will give Duncan's two guards so much wine that they 'lie as in death', allowing Duncan to be an unguarded target for Macbeth to attack in the night

  7. They will frame the guards for Duncan's murder by covering their daggers in Duncan's blood

  8. The final step of the plan is for Lady Macbeth and Macbeth to act horrified on the discovery of the murder and 'clamour roar / Upon his death'

  9. Macbeth is 'settled' to kill Duncan