‘Macbeth’ - Plot Summary

• Act One - The Witches make two prophecies


  1. The three Witches plan to meet Macbeth

  2. Macbeth and Banquo meet the Witches

  3. Witches tell Macbeth he’ll be Thane of Cawdor, then King

  4. Witches tell Banquo his descendants will be kings

  5. Duncan makes Macbeth Thane of Cawdor

  6. Macbeth wonders if the Witches’ prophecy about him being King will come true

  7. Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth about the prophecy

  8. Lady Macbeth plans to persuade him to murder Duncan

  9. Duncan comes to stay with the Macbeths

  10. Macbeth is reluctant to kill Duncan

  11. Lady Macbeth convinces him to frame Duncan’s servants for the murder

  12. Macbeth agrees to the plan
• Macbeth and Banquo meet the Witches


  Witches tell Macbeth he’ll be Thane of Cawdor, then King
• Witches tell Banquo


  His descendants will be kings
• Duncan makes Macbeth Thane of Cawdor


  Macbeth starts to wonder if the Witches’ prophecy about him being King will come true
• Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth about the prophecy

  She plans to persuade him to murder Duncan
• Duncan comes to stay with the Macbeths

  Macbeth is reluctant to kill him
• Lady Macbeth convinces Macbeth

  They can frame Duncan’s servants for the murder
• Macbeth agrees to the plan

  They will murder Duncan
• Macbeth murders Duncan
• Lady Macbeth plants blood-stained daggers on Duncan’s servants
• Macduff arrives and discovers the King’s body
• The King’s sons, Malcom and Donalbain, leave Scotland


  They fear for their lives, making them look guilty of Duncan’s murder
• Ross and an old man discuss the strange and unnatural things that have been happening since Duncan’s murder
• Macbeth is about to be crowned, but not all the other noblemen support him
• Macbeth is now King
• Macbeth is worried by the Witches’ prophecy about Banquo’s descendants being kings
• Macbeth orders some murderers to kill Banquo and his son, Fleance
• The murderers kill Banquo, but Fleance escapes
• Macbeth hosts a feast and sees Banquo’s ghost
• Macbeth decides to visit the Witches again
• Lennox and a lord suspect Macbeth of murdering Duncan and Banquo
• Lennox and a lord say that Macduff is getting an army together to attack Macbeth and put Malcom on the throne
• Macbeth visits the Witches again and they summon three apparitions
• Three apparitions' prophecies


  • First warns Macbeth about Macduff
  • Second tells him that no one born from a woman can harm him
  • Third tells him that he can’t be beaten until Birnam Wood moves to Dunsinane Hill
• When Macbeth demands to know if Banquo’s children will ever rule Scotland, the Witches show him Banquo’s ghost and a line of kings who seem to be Banquo’s descendants
• Macduff has fled to England
• Macbeth sends his murderers to kill Macduff’s wife and children
• In England, Macduff proves his loyalty to Malcom
• Malcom reveals that the English King has given him ten thousand soldiers to fight Macbeth
• Macduff learns that Macbeth has killed his family
• Macduff vows to avenge their deaths
• Act Five - Macbeth is overthrown
• Lady Macbeth has gone mad
• Lady Macbeth sleepwalks and keeps washing invisible blood from her hands
• The Scottish lords plan to meet the English army at Birnam Wood and attack Macbeth
• Macbeth hears about the approaching English army
• Macbeth isn’t scared because of the Witches’ predictions
• Malcom tells the soldiers to cut down branches from Birnam Wood and hide behind them as they march towards Macbeth’s castle
• Macbeth prepares for battle
• Macbeth finds out that Lady Macbeth has killed herself