Macbeth acts breakdown Flashcards
Act 1 key points
-Scotland is at war
-Macbeth and Banquo are fighting in the war and won on behalf of Duncan
-Macbeth and Banquo meet 3 witches
-The witches offer both men 3 prophecies
-Macbeth is told he will get a promotion and then be king
-Banquo is told he will be the father of kings but not a king
-A messenger tells Macbeth he has been promoted
-Lady Macbeth hears about the promotion and plans to help her husband become king quickly.
Act 2 key points
-Macbeth returns to the castle and finds out Duncan will visit
-The Macbeths plot to kill Duncan in his sleep, Lady Macbeth will drug the guards then Macbeth will stab Duncan and frame the guards
-Macduff arrives and discovers Duncan’s body
-Macbeth accuses and murders the guards in a ‘show of rage’
-Now the guards can’t expose that they were framed, Macbeth thinks he’s safe
-Malcolm and Donalbain (Duncans sons) flee Scotland
Act 3 key points
-Macbeth is crowned king of Scotland
-Macbeth fears his legacy because of Banquo’s prophecy
-Macbeth arranges for Banquo and Fleance (his son) to be murdered
-Banquo is killed but Fleance escapes
-Macbeth hallucinates the ghost of Banquo in front of his noblemen
-Lady Macbeth, embarrassed, tries to calm Macbeth down
Act 4 key points
-Macbeth seeks out the witches and asks for more prophecies
-He is told: to fear Macduff, he cannot be killed by a man born of woman, and he cannot be killed until Birnam wood comes to Dunsinane.
-He is told again that the throne will pass to Banquo’s family
-Macduff leaves Scotland to join Malcolm in raising an army to fight Macbeth
-Macbeth orders Macduff’s family to be murdered
Act 5 key points
-Malcolm and Macduff move to battle Macbeth
-Macbeth feels safe in the knowledge of the prophecies
-Malcolms forces chop down branches and use them to hide their numbers
-This shows that Birnam wood is moving to Dunsinane and Macbeth’s prophecy is being fulfilled
-Macbeth fights Macduff
-He finds out that Macduff was born via cesarean and not ‘born of woman’ so he kills Macbeth
-Malcolm is crowned king of Scotland
