Macbeth

Witches Predictions

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The first significant event in Macbeth was when the witches gave Macbeth and Banquo three predictions for each of them. For Macbeth, the witches said he would be thane of Glamis, thane of Cawdor, and the future king of Scotland. The witches predictions for Banquo were that he is lesser than Macbeth, yet greater, that he is not as happy as Macbeth, yet happier, and that he will not be king, but his descendants will.

Thane of Cawdor

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The first prediction made by the witches for Macbeth was that he would become thane of Cawdor. Having successfully killed Macdonwald in battle himself, King Duncan was pleased to name Macbeth the new thane of Cawdor. Macbeth realized that this was a prediction that the witches made for him. This lead him to believe more in the predictions, realizing that if one could come true, the others could be accurate as well.

King Duncan's Death

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The Macbeths invited King Duncan into their castle. What he was not aware of was that these seemingly kind hosts were planning to murder him. Lady Macbeth got the guards so drunk that they passed out. When King Duncan went to sleep, Macbeth went into his room and stabbed him to death. They pinned the murder on the guards, who were too drunk to know whether or not they were at fault. By murdering King Duncan, Macbeth felt he was boosting his chance at fulfilling the witches' predictions for him.

King Macbeth

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Following the murder of King Duncan, some suspicion rose about Macbeth or who murdered the king, especially from Banquo. Despite these suspicions, Macbeth became the new King of Scotland. Banquo, who had been most suspicious of Macbeth, felt that he owed Macbeth loyalty because he was now the king. Becoming king was the final prophecy from the witches for Macbeth and it was finally fulfilled.

Banquo's Death

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Macbeth was not satisfied with just his predictions coming true. He did not want the predictions made concerning Banquo to come true. To stop his descendants from becoming kings, Macbeth hired people to kill both Banquo and his son, Fleance. The murderers were successful in killing Banquo; however, when Banquo was attacked, he cried out for Fleance to run. Fleance escaped the murderers and made it out alive.

Three Apparitions

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Macbeth met with the witches again. This time, they had another set of predictions for him. The three apparitions were that no man born naturally by a woman would ever hurt him, he needed to beware of Macduff, and that he should not fear death until the Birnam Forest moves to him. Macbeth considering these apparitions and came to the conclusion that they meant he was invincible. It boosted his confidence and his ego.

Death of Macduff's Family

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Due to the apparition from the witches that said to beware of Macduff, Macbeth took it upon himself to eliminate Macduff's family and servants. He hired murderers to do his dirty work for him. When Macduff got the news from Ross that his family was dead, he cried out in anger and grief. Knowing that Macbeth was behind this, Macduff knew he had to get back at him. He and several others decided to ambush Macbeth's castle and strip him of the throne that he did not deserve.

Lady Macbeth's Death

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Lady Macbeth originally thought it was not hard to move on from murdering the king with her husband. However, now Macbeth is completely unaffected by his actions when he was the one who had a hard time with the first murder and Lady Macbeth is bombarded with guilt when she was the one who was unaffected in the beginning. They have flipped how they feel about what they have done. The guilt became too much for Lady Macbeth to handle and she took her own life.

Birnam Forest

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An army got together to head for Macbeth's castle and take Macbeth title away from him and deliver it to it's rightful owner, Malcolm. The army came out of the Birnam Forest and used branches from the trees to conceal their identities as they marched to the castle. The news of branches from the Birnam Forest moving toward the castle frightened Macbeth. This would mean that he was in danger based upon an apparition from the witches.

Death of Young Siward

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Upon making it to the castle, Siward's son comes face to face with Macbeth. Young Siward challenges Macbeth and they fight to the death. Sadly, Macbeth comes out victorious and Young Siward dies. When his father hears the news of this, he is proud that his son died a noble death in battle. Young Siward did not accept death and allow Macbeth to kill him without a fight.

Death of Macbeth

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Macbeth's next opponent was Macduff. Macbeth did not want to fight Macduff because he felt that he already had enough blood of the Macduff family on his hands. During their fight, Macbeth learns that Macduff was born of a Cesarean section and not a natural birth. This caused Macbeth's confidence to fall, knowing now that he had met his match. Macduff won the fight and beheaded Macbeth.

King Malcolm

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Macduff walked into the room where Malcolm and several others were discussing the death of Young Siward. In Macduff's hand was the head of Macbeth. Macduff then referred to Malcolm as the new king. Malcolm announced that all of the courageous men in the room who helped in getting him the throne were to become Scotland's first earls. Then he invited everyone to the ceremony of his crowning in Scone.