Shakespeare’s

The Tragedy of
Macbeth
 The Rise
and Fall
of a
Great Man
Shakespeare’s Inspiration

Shakespeare got his idea for

Macbeth from Raphael Holinshed’s
Chronicles, the most popular book of
British history of Shakespeare's
days.
• Macbeth and Banquo encounter
the witches.
• Illustration from Holinshed's
Chronicles (1577)
 The Real Macbeth
•Macbeth was an 11th Century Scot who took the throne in
1040 after killing King Duncan I, his cousin, in a battle.

•The real Macbeth was believed to be a wise monarch who

reigned over Scotland for seventeen prosperous years.

•In 1057, King Duncan’s oldest son, Malcolm, ended

Macbeth’s reign by killing him in battle and assuming the
role as King Malcolm III.
Witchcraft in Shakespeare’s Day
Many people believed in
the power of witches in
Shakespeare’s day,
especially King James I.
King James became the
King of England in 1603.
Shakespeare knew very
well of King James’s
superstition. Therefore, he
wrote Macbeth, a play full
of elements of evil!
The Tragedy of Macbeth
The action of the play
takes place in northern
Scotland and England.
As The Tragedy of
Macbeth opens, the
Scottish army is battling
invading forces, and King
Duncan wants a victory.
Macbeth was his army
general.
 MAIN CHARACTERS
1. Macbeth: protagonist; ambitious army general in Scotland
2. Lady Macbeth: Wife of Macbeth
3. King Duncan: King of Scotland
4. Malcolm: Oldest son of King Duncan; Prince of Cumberland
5. Donalbain: Youngest son of King Duncan
6. Banquo: Army general; good, loyal friend of Macbeth
7. Macduff: Scottish nobleman and Lord of Fife; known for his
wisdom and integrity
8. Three Witches
 KEY FACTS
• Full Title: The Tragedy of Macbeth | Author: William Shakespeare
• Type Of Work: Play | Genre: Tragedy | Language: English
•Time And Place Written:1606, England | Date Of First Publication: First Folio
edition, 1623

•Tone: Dark and ominous, suggestive of a world turned topsy- turvy by

foul and unnatural crimes

• Setting (Time): The Middle Ages, specifically the eleventh century
• Setting (Place): Various locations in Scotland; also England, briefly
• Protagonist: MACBETH
•Major Conflicts: The struggle within Macbeth between his ambition and his sense of
right and wrong; the struggle between the murderous evil represented by Macbeth
and Lady Macbeth and the best interests of the nation, represented by Malcolm and
Macduff
•Themes: The corrupting nature of unchecked ambition; the relationship
between cruelty and masculinity; the difference between kingship and tyranny
 DEFINITION OF
TRAGIC FLAW/HAMARATIA
In classical tragedy the protagonist faces his downfall because
of his tragic flaw which means the inherent traits of his
character
 MACBETH- THE TRAGIC HERO
In Shakespeare's Macbeth, Macbeth and his wife Lady
Macbeth are both examples of tragic heroes who possess a
tragic flaw.
Macbeth held within his character the flaw of ambition, as
well as moral weakness and selective perception, which
eventually contributed to his untimely death.
In Lady Macbeth's case, the main shortcoming is her
destruction and final suicide was greed, along with an
ignorance and repression of the emotions that contradicted
this desire. Both characters began in high positions and,
throughout the play, accumulated losses caused by their
own weaknesses in personality.
 Plot
While crossing the stormy countryside after the battle,
Macbeth and Banquo encounter a trio of witches.
The weird sisters make these predictions:
• Macbeth will earn noble titles.

• Banquo will produce a line of kings.

• Macbeth will be King of Scotland.

Then, the witches vanish, and a messenger appears to tell

Macbeth that King Duncan has just given him a noble title.
All Macbeth can think about is the sisters’ final
prophecy …

And the thought that he might become king.

Macbeth said to his wife about witches'
prophecies.
One day King Duncan decides to visit Macbeth’s
castle.
Lady Macbeth said to Macbeth that this is their chance,
and persuades him to kill the king that very night.

While Duncan is asleep, Macbeth killed him. And Lady

Macbeth frames Duncan's sleeping servants for the
murder by placing bloody daggers on them.
Duncan's sons Malcolm and Donalbain run away to
England and Ireland, fearing that whoever killed
Duncan desires their demise as well.

Macbeth became a new King of Scotland as a kinsman of the

dead king.
After that Macbeth reminded witches' third prophecy, that
Banquo will produce a line of kings.
Macbeth wanted to kill Banquo and his young son, Fleance.
Macbeth hires men to kill them. The assassins succeed in
killing Banquo, but Fleance escapes.
One day Macbeth saw Banquo’s ghost. So he decided to visit
witches.
The weird sisters again make these
prophecies :

1. He should beware Macduff.

2. No one born of woman
could kill him.
3. There is nothing to worry
until the woods move.
After that Macbeth orders to kill Macduff.
They couldn’t find Macduff, and killed whole his
family .

Macduff was in England visiting Malcolm, to

persuades him to take back the throne.

Malcolm agreed to return the throne, so they came to

Scotland with 10 000 solders. When English
soldiers came to Birnam Wood, they decided to cut
down and carry tree limbs to camouflage their
numbers.
Macbeth’s wife became mad by thinking about her guilt. She
had strange habit of sleepwalking and tries to wash off
imaginary blood from her hands. At last she committed a
suicide.

Macbeth sink into a deep and pessimistic despair and deliver

his "Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow" .
By that time his was losing and most of his solders joined to
English army.
When Macduff came to Macbeth there was a battle between
them. Macbeth said that No one born of woman could kill
him. Macduff said that he was "from his mother's womb /
Untimely ripp'd" (5.8.15–16), i.e., born by Caesarean section.
Macbeth died from Macduff’s hand, Malcolm became a king.
Although Malcolm, and not
Fleance, was placed on the
throne, the witches' prophecy
concerning Banquo (Banquo
will produce a line of kings )
was known to the audience of
Shakespeare's time to be true.
James VI of Scotland (later
also James I of England) was
known a progenies of Banquo.
 Fascinating Facts

The words blood and night (or forms of them,

such as bloody and tonight) occur more than
40 times each in Macbeth.
Other commonly occurring words that help
maintain the mood of the play are terrible,
horrible, black, devil, and evil.
 Act I, Sc (i) to (vii)
•SCENE I: Thunder and lightning crash above a Scottish moor. Three haggard old
women, the witches,appearoutofthestorm.‘When shall we three meet again?’.
•SCENE II: At a military camp near his palace at Forres, King Duncan of Scotland asks
a wounded captain for news about the Scots’ battle with the Irish invaders, - the Scottish
generals Macbeth and Banquo fought with great courage and violence - slew the traitorous
Macdonwald.
• SCENE III: Macbeth and his fellow Captain, Banquo, encounter the three witches,
who hail Macbeth as Thane of Glamis, of Cawdor and as ‘King hereafter’.
Banquo, they promise, will father kings but will never be one himself.
•SCENE IV: At Duncan’s palace in Forres - Macbeth and Banquo are heartily
thanked for their victories on the battlefield. Duncan’s eldest son, Malcolm, is
named the Prince
• SCENE V: Lady Macbeth reads a letter from her husband
•SCENE VI: Duncan and his attendants arrive at Macbeth’s castle, greeted by a
hospitable Lady Macbeth
•SCENE VII: He tells his wife about his change of heart, but she persuades him
back into their murderous plot.
THE END