Macbeth Booklet.docx - Macbeth Year 12 English Literature...

Macbeth
Year 12 English Literature
Term 3
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Plot
Set in medieval Scotland and partly based on a true historical
account, Macbeth charts the bloody rise to power and tragic
downfall of the warrior Macbeth . Already a successful soldier in the
army of King Duncan , Macbeth is informed by Three Witches that
he is to become king. As part of the same prophecy, the Witches
predict that future Scottish kings will be descended not from
Macbeth but from his fellow army captain, Banquo . Although
initially prepared to wait for Fate to take its course, Macbeth is
stung by ambition and confusion when King Duncan nominates his
son Malcolm as his heir.
Returning to his castle, Macbeth allows himself to be persuaded and
directed by his ambitious wife, who realizes that regicide — the murder of the
king — is the quickest way to achieve the destiny that her husband has been promised.
A perfect opportunity presents itself when King Duncan pays a royal visit to Macbeth's castle. At first
Macbeth is loth to commit a crime that he knows will invite judgment, if not on earth then in heaven. Once
more, however, his wife prevails upon him. Following an evening of revelry, Lady Macbeth drugs the guards
of the king's bedchamber; then, at a given signal, Macbeth, although filled with misgivings, ascends to the
king's room and murders him while he sleeps. Haunted by what he has done, Macbeth is once more
reprimanded by his wife, whose inner strength seems only to have been increased by the treacherous
killing. Suddenly, both are alarmed by a loud knocking at the castle door.
When the drunken porter of Macbeth's castle finally responds to the noise, he opens the door to Macduff , a
loyal follower of the king, who has been asked to awake Duncan in preparation for the return journey.
Macbeth indicates the location of the king's room, and Macduff discovers the body. When the murder is
revealed, Macbeth swiftly kills the prime witnesses, the sleepy guards of the king's bedchamber, and Lady
Macbeth faints. The assembled lords of Scotland, including Macbeth, swear to avenge the murder. With
suspicion heavy in the air, the king's two sons flee the country: Donalbain to Ireland and Malcolm to raise
an army in England.
Macbeth is duly proclaimed the new king of Scotland, but recalling the Witches' second prophecy, he
arranges the murder of his fellow soldier Banquo and his son Fleance, both of whom represent a threat to
his kingship according to the Witches' prophecy. The hired murderers kill Banquo but mistakenly allow
Fleance to escape. At a celebratory banquet that night, Macbeth is thrown into a state of horror when the
ghost of the murdered Banquo appears at the dining table. Again, his wife tries to strengthen Macbeth, but
the strain is clearly beginning to show.