Macbeth

Macbeth was King of Scotland from 1040 to 1057AD. This is not the Scotland we think we know through stereotypes. There were no kilts or bagpipes, Christianity was still relatively new to the area, and the succession of kings was often determined by strength and a bit of well-timed murder. The action of the play takes place between the natural world of forest, river, and heath and the man-made world of castle and town. This juxtaposition in setting reflects the constant struggle between man and nature which is so  integral to the play, and sets the backdrop for the struggle between one man and his own nature.

The witches are an extension of the space itself. They are connected to the trees and the earth, the spirits and the rain, as nature itself rebels against mankind. Macbeth, in a way, represents all of mankind – all of our ambitions and secret desires and all of our mistakes and regrets. From the start he is locked in conflict with his fellow man; with nature, as represented by the witches; and with his own desires and fears.

I often ask myself why Macbeth is such a compelling figure. Harold Bloom suggests that we are able to relate to Macbeth on a level unmatched by any other Shakespearean hero. At first that seems unlikely since most of us aren’t so murderously ambitious, and yet we have all, at some point, made choices that we would describe as going against our nature. Those choices not only change the circumstances around us but inexorably change who we are, making the next compromise easier than the last until we look back over a life gone by and can hardly recognize the person we were. That is essentially Macbeth’s story. We look at him and see our own small regrets reflected back at us – we see the person we once were struggling with the person we have become. When he speaks to us, even while in the process of doing appalling things, we see a glimmer of vulnerability, fear, and resignation which is both captivating and terrifying.

- Jeremy Hutton

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Macbeth Plot Synopsis
Prepared by Susan Bond, Dramaturge.

First Half

Three weird sisters make a plan to meet with Macbeth, the thane of Glamis, after a battle. Macbeth and his friend Banquo win a series of battles on behalf of Duncan, the King of Scotland: MacBeth kills MacDonwald, and wins a battle against the thane of Cawdor, who had been supporting incursions by the King of Norway. When Duncan hears of Macbeth’s success and loyalty, he has the old thane of Cawdor executed, and gives his title to Macbeth. Meanwhile, the weird sisters meet Macbeth and Banquo, calling Macbeth thane of Glamis, thane of Cawdor, and future king; and calling Banquo a father of kings. Moments later, messengers from Duncan arrive to tell Macbeth about his new title. Shortly thereafter, Duncan names his eldest son, Malcolm, his heir (the custom of male primogeniture was not yet established in this period). Duncan heads to Macbeth’s castle in Inverness. Macbeth arrives home shortly before Duncan arrives, and his wife (to whom he had written about the weird sisters’ prophesy) encourages him to kill Duncan that very night, talking him back into it when he panics, and encouraging him to frame two of Duncan’s attendants who she will get drunk enough that they won’t hear him. Macbeth kills Duncan using the attendants’ own daggers, but when he brings the bloody daggers out of the room, Lady Macbeth has to bring them back and leave them with the attendants, who she also smeared with Duncan’s blood. When Macduff, the thane of Fife, arrives to greet the king the next morning and finds him dead, he shouts the castle awake, and in the ensuing confusion Macbeth kills the two attendants, claiming that it was a crime of passion in anger over the death of Duncan. Duncan’s sons Malcolm and Donalbain run away to England and Ireland respectively, which makes people suspect it is they who orchestrated the murder of their father. Macbeth is crowned king, and remembering the prophecy that Banquo’s children would be kings, hires men to kill Banquo and his son Fleance. Banquo is killed but Fleance escapes, and when Macbeth is hosting a party and sees the ghost of Banquo, he says things in front of his guests that could reveal his guilt. He decides to seek out the weird sisters to consult them again.

Second Half

When Macbeth next meets the weird sisters, they tell him to beware of Macduff, that no man of woman born can harm Macbeth, and that his reign will end when Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane Hill. When he asks again about Banquo’s sons being kings, they show him a procession of Kings descended from him. When Macbeth discovers that Macduff has fled to England, he has his wife and children killed. Macduff joins Malcolm in England, who, after testing Macduff’s loyalty and integrity, reveals his plan to return to Scotland at the head of an English army led by Old Siward to reclaim his throne. The thane of Ross arrives from Scotland to bring Macduff news of his family’s murder, he vows to kill Macbeth himself, and they set off for battle in Scotland, filling their army with disgruntled Scottish noblemen as they go. Meanwhile, lady Macbeth has begun sleepwalking and Macbeth himself is increasingly tyrannical: even the news of his wife’s death only gives him brief pause. When the English army reaches Birnam Wood, Malcolm has each soldier cut down a branch to carry in front of them as a disguise. When they reach Macbeth’s camp at Dunsinane Hill, a more unhinged Macbeth gives battle, but his army does not fight much. MAcneth himself kills Old Siward’s son. When Macduff meets Macbeth in single combat, and hears of the prophecy, he advises that because he was born by Caesarean section, he wasn’t born of woman. He kills Macbeth and cuts off his head, and presents Malcolm with the crown.

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