This document provides an overview of the plot of Shakespeare's play Macbeth. It summarizes the main characters, including Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Duncan and Banquo. It outlines the key events of the play, including Macbeth murdering Duncan after being influenced by his wife and the witches' prophecies. It also describes Macbeth's descent into madness and paranoia after becoming king through his criminal acts. The document is intended to help readers understand the essential elements and storyline of Macbeth.

1. MACBETH
English FAL
Gr11
Reading and viewing
Annemi Kruger

3. MACBETH PLOT

Story about the murder of
a king.
 Macbeth‟s rise and fall
 Three witches who plot
against Macbeth

4. CHARACTERS






Duncan: King of Scotland
Macbeth: A general in the army of
Duncan.
Banquo: Macbeth‟s friend and
general
Lady Macbeth: Macbeth‟s wife
Fleance: Banquo‟s son
Macduff: Thane of Fife

7. THEMES:
 Short tragedy
 Tragedy of a
 character
 Tragedy of moral
 order
 Poetic tragedy

8. Macbeth Murder’s duncan

The audience gets the account of the murder as he
retells the story to Lady Macbeth

The guards stir, but do not wake sufficiently to
realize what is happening

Macbeth laments “I had most need of blessing and
„Amen‟ / Stuck in my throat” (2.2.35).

Macbeth‟s “sleep no more” speech (2.2.38-46)
suggests that he has murdered peaceful sleep as
well – in fact, the two will not sleep well again for
the remainder of the play.

10. The murder discovered
In Scene 3, the porter provides comic relief
to the tense scenes playing out on stage.
Duncan‟s body is discovered and the guards
are the prime suspects.
Macbeth murders the guards before they
can be questioned, saying, “Who could
refrain, / That had a heart to love and in
that heart / Courage to make‟s love known?
(2.3.112-113)
Macbeth is made High King of Scotland.

12. The
apparitions
 First apparition (an armed head): Beware
Macduff
 Second apparition (a bloody babe): No man
born of woman can harm Macbeth
 Third apparition (a royal child holding a
tree): He will never be vanquished until
Great Birnam Wood comes against him

13. The Death of the Macduffs
 Macbeth
plots the death of the House of
Macduff
He really has no motive to kill Lady
Macduff and her children; they pose no
threat to her
Lady Macduff laments that she has
been abandoned by her husband; he
has left them alone, knowing that
Macbeth will come for them; she calls
him a traitor (4.2.4-5)

14. ACT 1
 King Duncan hears about Macbeth‟s recent
success in battling an army of Irish.
 On the battlefield, Macbeth and Banquo
encounter three witches.
 The witches tell Macbeth that according to their
prophecy, Macbeth will become King of Scotland.
 However they also tell Banquo that his children
will also one day be King

16. Act 2
 Before killing Duncan, Macbeth
suddenly has a hallucination; a
dagger is floating in mid air pointing
towards Duncan.
 Macbeth rationalizes and concludes
that the dagger is just a result of his
mind coping with the guilt of killing
the King of Ireland.
 Macbeth leaves the hall to kill Duncan
and Lady Macbeth enters.

19. Homework assignment
Write an essay of 500 words where
you discuss Macbeth‟s madness.
Ranging from where he started to
see the apparitions to killing the
king.
Due date: 20 March 2014

20. references
 Di Mateo, M. Gurino, E. (n.d). Macbeth. Available from:
www.slideshare.net
 Anonymous, (n.d). Macbeth. Accessed on: 08 March 2014. Available
from: www.slideshare.net
 Thomas, n. (n.d). Macbeth: act 1-3. Accessed on: 8 March 2014.
Available from: www.slideshare.net
 Anonymous, (n.d). Macbeth. Accessed on: 08 March 2014. Available
from: www.slideshare.com
 Anonymous, (n.d). Macbeth: What has happened so far? Accessed
on: 08 March 2014. Available from: www.slideshare.com