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    Macbeth

    tragedy

    Macbeth is Shakespeare's shortest and darkest tragedy. A victorious soldier meets three witches who promise him the throne, and the prophecy lights a hunger he cannot control. Pushed on by his wife, Lady Macbeth, he murders the king and seizes the crown, then kills again and again to keep it as guilt destroys them both. It is a play about ambition, and about how the thing you want most can rot you from the inside.

    ▸SCENE I. A desert place.▸SCENE II. A camp near Forres.▸SCENE III. A heath near Forres.▸SCENE IV. Forres. The palace.▸SCENE V. Inverness. Macbeth's castle.▸SCENE VI. Before Macbeth's castle.▸SCENE VII. Macbeth's castle.

    ▸SCENE I. Court of Macbeth's castle.▸SCENE II. The same.▸SCENE III. The same.▸SCENE IV. Outside Macbeth's castle.

    ▸SCENE I. Forres. The palace.▸SCENE II. The palace.▸SCENE III. A park near the palace.▸SCENE IV. The same. Hall in the palace.▸SCENE V. A Heath.▸SCENE VI. Forres. The palace.

    ▸SCENE I. A cavern. In the middle, a boiling cauldron.▸SCENE II. Fife. Macduff's castle.▸SCENE III. England. Before the King's palace.

    ▸SCENE I. Dunsinane. Ante-room in the castle.▸SCENE II. The country near Dunsinane.▸SCENE III. Dunsinane. A room in the castle.▸SCENE IV. Country near Birnam wood.▸SCENE V. Dunsinane. Within the castle.▸SCENE VI. Dunsinane. Before the castle.▸SCENE VII. Another part of the field.▸SCENE VIII. Another part of the field.

    Characters

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    MacbethThane of Glamis, later King of ScotlandLady MacbethWife of MacbethBanquoGeneral, Macbeth's fellow soldierMacduffThane of Fife

    Famous Quotes

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    “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, creeps in this petty pace from day to day to the last syllable of recorded time.”

    Macbeth — Act 5, Scene 5

    “Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand?”

    Macbeth — Act 2, Scene 1

    “Out, damned spot! out, I say!”

    Lady Macbeth — Act 5, Scene 1

    Further Reading

    Lady Macbeth: Ambition, Guilt and the Original Villain

    Lady Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's most complex characters, not simply evil, but a woman who talks herself into catastrophe. From "unsex me here" to "out, damned spot," here is how the play builds and dismantles her.

    10 Powerful Female Characters in Shakespeare

    From Lady Macbeth to Beatrice, these ten women prove that Shakespeare's female characters are anything but dated. Meet the heroines who seize agency, mock patriarchy and still set the bar for complexity.

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