The source of Shakespeare for the writing of Macbeth was Ralph Holinshed’s Chronicles of England, Scotland and
Ireland. Macbeth was a Scottish king who, to arrive to the throne, killed Duncan. Then he was killed by Duncan’s son,
Malcolm. In the play Duncan was presented as a weak king and Macbeth as a great monarch.
In the first act there is the news that the invasion of the Norwegians thanks to a traitor, the Thane of Cawdor, has
failed thanks to Macbeth. When they are returning from the battle, Macbeth and Banquo, his friend, meet three
witches. These three witches do some predictions for Macbeth and Banquo’s future. They say that Macbeth will
become King of Scotland and that after Banquo a line of kings will come.
In the second act there is the murder of Duncan and the King’s sons leave Macbeth’s castle, because they are
worried for their lives. Macbeth is on the throne, but he does not feel safe because the witches had promised the
throne to Banquo and after him to his son, so he decides to kill Banquo and his son Fleance, who escapes. The
witches also had warned Macbeth to beware of Macduff and they also predicted that Macbeth will be safe as long as
Birnam Wood does not move towards him and that none of woman born shall harm him.
The fifth act opens with the sight of the madness of Lady Macbeth, who, walking in her sleep, tries to wash from her
hands Duncan’s blood. Meanwhile, Duncan’s son, Malcolm, is marching into Scotland with his army. Macbeth is
alone because all the Lords have left him to go with Malcolm, who represents order and stability. Macduff, according
to the frame of the witches, “none of woman borne could harm Macbeth”, so because Macduff was not born from a
woman but thanks to surgeon, kills Macbeth; the play ends with Macduff carrying Macbeth’s head and proclaming
Malcolm king of Scotland.
Macbeth is the shortest of Shakespeare’s tragedies. Macbeth mainly analyses what takes place in the mind of a
criminal. In this play there isn’t a villain, because Macbeth himself is both the good and the villain. The reversal of
values, introduced by the three witches, represent the most dangerous aspect of equivocation, the darkest. An
important theme in this play is time. Shakespeare deals with the theme of time saying that whatever action we do it
is done with the intention of changing the future and the time is also concerned with theme of growth, so babies,
seeds plants and trees. Macbeth can be regarded as a tragic hero, because at the beginning of the play he is a
member of a social group, instead, when he died he was alone because of his free decisions. Nothing that he does in
the play is forced upon him, and he is never deceived by some external agent. His death is the inevitable
consequence of what he has chosen to do for his own reasons.
In Macbeth there is a striking use of imagery. After Duncan’s death there were exceptional natural events, like: the
sky is troubled, darkness covers the earth during the day and Duncan’s horses break their stalls and eat one another.
Darkness characterises the whole play, the sun shines only twice and the night is not connected with the idea of
sleep and peace but it is connected to the lack of sleep and madness.
