MACBETH

a general in King Duncan's army who is spurred on by the prophecy of the Weird Sisters and his own ambition (and that of Lady Macbeth) to change the course of Scotland's succession in Shakespeare's Macbeth. At the outset of the play, Macbeth is a brave, trusted, and respected soldier. He is undone by his inability to hold his own moral ground, his constant need to feel secure, and his overwhelming need (essentially) to prove his manhood to his wife. Despite feeling horror at Macbeth's unconscionable acts, the audience is moved by his self-awareness, uneasiness, and haunted spirit and to some extent must sympathize with Macbeth during the downward spiraling of events. Haunted by his acts and unforeseeable future, he meditates on the probable personal toll: Methought I heard a voice cry Sleep no more!'. The ultimate hopelessness of his position becomes clear to him at last, and he spells this out in two poignant speeches in Act V, I have lived long enough and Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow. tragedy in five acts by William Shakespeare, performed at the Globe Theatre, London, in 160506 and published in the First Folio of 1623, from a promptbook of a version prepared for court performance. Some portions of the original text are corrupted or missing from the published edition. The play is the shortest of Shakespeare's tragedies, without diversions or subplots. It chronicles Macbeth's seizing of power and subsequent destruction, both his rise and his fall the result of blind ambition. Macbeth and Banquo, who are generals serving King Duncan of Scotland, meet the Weird Sisters, three witches who prophesy that Macbeth will become thane of Cawdor, then king, and that Banquo will beget kings. Soon thereafter Macbeth is indeed made thane of Cawdor, which leads him to believe the rest of the prophecy. He tells Lady Macbeth, who plots to kill Duncan when he spends a night at Macbeth's castle, Dunsinane. Spurred by his wife, Macbeth kills Duncan, and the murder is discovered by Macduff. Duncan's sons Malcolm and Donalbain flee the country, fearing for their lives. Their speedy departure seems to implicate them in the crime, and Macbeth becomes king. Worried by the witches' prophecy, Macbeth arranges the death of Banquo, though Banquo's son Fleance escapes. Banquo's ghost haunts Macbeth, and Lady Macbeth is driven to madness by her guilt. The witches assure Macbeth that he will be safe until Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane and that no one of woman born shall harm him. Learning that Macduff is joining Malcolm's army, Macbeth orders the slaughter of Macduff's wife and children. When the army, using branches from Birnam Wood as camouflage, advances on Dunsinane, Macbeth sees the prophecy being fulfilled. Lady Macbeth dies, Macbeth is killed in battle by Macduffwho was from his mother's womb untimely ripp'dand Malcolm then becomes the rightful king. Macbeth was intended to stir the interest of the new king, James I. The play's focus on regicide, a supreme crime in Shakespeare's day, addressed the feelings that had been stirred by the Gunpowder Plot (November 1605). The play was thus a great success in its day and remains one of the most frequently performed plays by Shakespeare. died Aug. 15, 1057, near Lumphanan, Aberdeen, Scot. Macbeth king of Scots from 1040, the legend of whose life was the basis of Shakespeare's Macbeth. He was probably a grandson of King Kenneth II (ruled 971995), and he married Gruoch, a descendant of King Kenneth III (ruled 9971005). About 1031 Macbeth succeeded his father, Findlaech (Sinel in Shakespeare), as mormaer, or chief, in the province of Moray, in northern Scotland. Macbeth established himself on the throne after killing his cousin King Duncan I in battle near Elginnot, as in Shakespeare, by murdering Duncan in bedon Aug. 14, 1040. Both Duncan and Macbeth derived their rights to the crown through their mothers. Macbeth's victory in 1045 over a rebel army, near Dunkeld (in modern Tayside region) may account for the later references (in Shakespeare and others) to Birnam Wood, for the village of Birnam is near Dunkeld. In 1046 Siward, Earl of Northumbria, unsuccessfully attempted to dethrone Macbeth in favour of Malcolm (afterward King Malcolm III Canmore), eldest son of Duncan I. By 1050 Macbeth felt secure enough to leave Scotland for a pilgrimage to Rome. But in 1054 he was apparently forced by Siward to yield part of southern Scotland to Malcolm. Three years later Macbeth was killed in battle by Malcolm, with assistance from the English. Macbeth was buried on the island of Iona, regarded as the resting place of lawful kings but not of usurpers. His followers installed his stepson, Lulach, as king; when Lulach was killed on March 17, 1058, Malcolm III was left supreme in Scotland.