Plot Diagram: Macbeth

Plot Diagram: Macbeth

Climax

Climax in Macbeth

• Macduff searches frantically for Macbeth but cannot find him and goes inito battle once again
• Malcolm and Siward enter the castle
• Macduff at last finds and encounters Macbeth
• They start fighting
• Macbeth insists that he will not be be beaten because of what the witches told him, but Macduff then says that he wasn't born of woman because he was ripped from her womb
• Macbeth fears for his life hearing this but doesn't surrender
• They continue fighting and Macduff slays his head off

Act 1, Scenes 5-7

Act 2, Scenes 3-4

Act 3, Scenes 1-3

Act 2, Scenes 1-2

• A drunken porter tends to a knocking heard on the castles doors and finds Macduff and Lennox waiting for him
• Macbeth enters and Macduff asks if Duncan is awake and goes to see him
• Macduff comes running out of Duncan's chamber screaming that the king has been murdered
• Duncan's sons are informed of their father's murder and the chamberlains most likely did it
• Macbeth says that he has killed the chamberlains from rage
• Duncan's sons whisper to each other that they are not safe because whoever killed their father will probably come after them now, so they decide to flee to England and Ireland

• Banquo paces and thinks to himself about Macbeth's coronation and the witches' prophecies
• Macbeth and his Lady enter, dressed as king and queen, and ask Banquo to attend their banquet that night and he accepts
• Macbeth speaks to a servant about some men who have come to see him and orders them in
• While they're being brought up, he says that Banquo is the only man in Scotland whom he fears
• The two men, who are murderers hired by Macbeth, enter and Macbeth says to them all the wrong that Banquo has done and then asks them to kill Banquo and his son, and they accept
• As Banquo and his son, Fleance, approach the castle, the now three murderers ambush and kill Banquo but Fleance escapes
• They leave his body and go to find Macbeth to tel him what happened

• King Duncan is invited to Macbeth's house for Inverness
• Lady Macbeth reads the letter Macbeth sent to her saying what the witches said to him about his future
• She decides she will convince Macbeth to murder Duncan so he can be king
• King Duncan arrives at Macbeth's castle and asks to be taken inside Macbeth
• Macbeth debates to himself whether it would be a good idea murder Duncan
• Macbeth decides that he no longer intends to kill Duncan and Lady Macbeth calls him a coward and questions his manhood
• She tells Macbeth her plan on how the murder will happen and Macbeth sees how brilliant her plan is and agrees to proceed with the murder

• Banquo stumbles upon Macbeth and mentions that he had a dream about the three witches, then they decide to talk about this at a later time
• Macbeth has a hallucination of a bloody dagger floating in front of him aiming toward King Duncan's chamber, he realizes this is just a hallucination
• He hears Lady Macbeth's signal and starts making his way toward Duncan's chamber
• Macbeth emerges with his hands covered in blood saying the deed is done
• As he was doing the deed, he says he heard a voice say, "Sleep no more, Macbeth does murder sleep" (2.2.33-34)
• Lady Macbeth gets angry at Macbeth for not leaving the daggers in the room so she goes and does it herself
• Lady Macbeth tries to calm his frightened husband and helps him the bathroom to wash off the blood

Rising Action

Act 5, Scenes 1-3

Act 3, Scenes 4-6

Act 5, Scenes 4-7

Act 4, Scenes 1-3

• A doctor and a gentlewoman marvel at Lady Macbeth as she sleepwalks and watch her as shes shows her madness
• Macbeth's army betrays him and meets the English army to join forces with them to destroy Macbeth
• Macbeth is fearless as he was told that he cannot be harmed by anyone born of woman
• The doctor informs Macbeth of his wife's sleepwalking and delusions and Macbeth orders him to cure her immediately

• Macbeth and Lady Macbeth enter into the room where the feast is being held
• Macbeth hears the news from one of the murderers and is angered that Fleance has escaped
• Macbeth goes to sit at the royal table but finds Banquo's ghost sitting there and starts to go crazy in front of his guests
• Lady Macbeth tries to make excuses saying that he occassionally has visions and that everyone should just ignore him
• She then tells everyone to leave because of her husband's behavior
• Macbeth decides to visit the witches the next day to learn more about his future
• Lennox and Macduff suspect Macbeth is behind the murders' of Duncan and Banquo and seek help from Malcom's army

• Malcolm and the English lord and decide that each soldier carry a bough of the forest in front of them to disguise their numbers
• A woman's cry is heard and Macbeth is informed that his wife has killed herself
• Macbeth is enraged and terrified by the fact that the trees of Birnam Wood are advancing toward Dunsinane
• He says to himself that he will atleast die fighting
• The battle begins outside the castle and Malcolm orders his soldiers to draw their swords
• Macbeth is confident and fights with might as he fears none
• He kills Lord Siward's son and disappears

• Macbeth visits the witches and is greeded by horrible apparitions who tell him predictions about his fears and future
• First, they tell him fear Macduff because he knows too much
• Second, he's told that no one born of a woman can harm him
• Third, he learns that he is safe until Birnam Wood moves to Dunsinane Hill
• Macbeth wants to know more, but they all vanish
• Lady Macbeth learns that her husband has fled and feels betrayed, then her and her son are killed by a group of murderers
• Malcolm agrees to fight Macbeth alongside Macduff
• Macduff learns that his wife and son have been murdered by Macbeth and turns his grief to anger to have revenge

Falling Action

• Macbeth's second meeting with the witches
• Macbeth's final battle with Macduff and the invading armies

Conflict

Conflict in Macbeth

• The prize of becoming king creates a conflict for Macbeth when he sees the opportunity to murder King Duncan and make the prophecy come true.
• Macbeth is filled with temptation by power to fulfill the witches prophecy and he struggles within his ambition and sense of right and wrong.

Exposition

Event

• At the beginning of the play, the three witches are discussing when and where they should meet again and decide they should meet in an open field where they will meet Macbeth and speak with him.
• Meanwhile, King Duncan walks out into the battlefield with his sons and some of his attendants and sees how Macbeth and Banquo defeated the invading armies.
• King Duncan decides to execute the thane of Cawdor for betraying his country and renames Macbeth as the new thane of Cawdor.
• While Angus and Ross are headed to deliver the news to Macbeth, the witches meet Macbeth and Banquo.
• The witches tell Macbeth that he will be thane of Cawdor and future king of Scotland, and tell Banquo that his children will inherit the throne

Setting

• The setting for this play is Scotland, during the middles ages
• The mood created is dark, because there are also witches and supernatural events
• Macbeth, the main character, is introduced in the exposition. We learn that he is a brave and loyal soldier. He is good on the battlefield and loyal to King Duncan in the beginning. He cares what his wife thinks, and is in communication with her by letter
• We learn the basic problem in the beginning of the play, which is that he is told he will be king, but is not named king right away

Characters

• Macbeth - The protagonist, a nobleman, a general of Scotland, and thane of Glamis
• Lady Macbeth - Macbeth's wife, who's ambitious for power
• Banquo - A Scottish general
• The Three Witches - 'The Weird Sisters' who prophesize that Macbeth will be king of Scotland
• King Duncan - The good king of Scotland
• Macduff - The thane of Fife
• Lady Macduff - The wife of Macduff
• Malcolm and Donalbain - King Duncan's sons
• Hecate - Queen of Witches
• Fleance - Banquo's son
• Lennox and Ross - Scottish noblemen
• The Murderers - Three Murderers hired by Macbeth to kill Banquo and his son
• Porter - The drunken doorman of Macbeth’s castle.

Resolution

Denoument

• Malcolm and Siward walk into the castle, which they have just captured
• Macduff emerges with Macbeth's head in his hands and proclaims Malcolm the new king of Scotland