Video SparkNotes: Shakespeare's Macbeth summary — Transcript

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1. 0:04McBth is a play about ambition. McBth is
2. 0:07a thing, which is a Scottish lord. He's
3. 0:10the thing of Gloms. He gets the idea
4. 0:12that he could be king of Scotland from
5. 0:14some witches he meets. But to do that,
6. 0:16he would have to kill the current king,
7. 0:17Duncan. McBth's ambition overrides any
8. 0:20moral qualms he has, and he murders
9. 0:22Duncan and takes the throne. But once
10. 0:24he's in charge, he becomes so paranoid
11. 0:26that he's going to lose power that he
12. 0:28starts having other people killed.
13. 0:30Eventually, everyone turns on him, even
14. 0:32his own army, and he's killed. Here's
15. 0:34how it happens. King Duncan listens to a
16. 0:37report about the battle where McBth is
17. 0:39fighting. He hears how McBth and Banquo,
18. 0:42the Scottish generals, just defeated two
19. 0:44separate armies, the rebel McDonald's
20. 0:46army and an invading army from Norway.
21. 0:48The Norwegian army had help from a
22. 0:50Scottish traitor, the thing of Kodor. So
23. 0:53Duncan announces that the thing of Codor
24. 0:54should be executed and his title given
25. 0:56to McBth.
26. 0:58Three witches wait on a heath for McBth
27. 1:00after the battle. And when he and Bank
28. 1:02ride by, the witches speak to him,
29. 1:04calling him the Thain of Gloms, the
30. 1:06Thain of Codor, and the future king of
31. 1:08Scotland. McBth doesn't know at this
32. 1:10point that he's been named the Thain of
33. 1:12Kodor, so he doesn't know what the
34. 1:13witches are talking about. Banquo asks
35. 1:16the witches if they can see his future,
36. 1:18too. And they tell him that he won't be
37. 1:19king, but that his children will be
38. 1:21kings. Then they vanish.
39. 1:24Ross and Angus, two other things, arrive
40. 1:26and tell McBth that the thing of Codor
41. 1:28is going to be executed and that McBth
42. 1:30will be the new thing of Codor. McBth
43. 1:32starts to believe the witches since they
44. 1:34seem to know about this before it
45. 1:35happened. The witch has also called him
46. 1:37the future king of Scotland. So, McBth
47. 1:39starts to think about murdering Duncan,
48. 1:41which makes his heart pound and his hair
49. 1:43stand on end. This series of events
50. 1:46creates a paradox in the play. The
51. 1:48witches appear to know already that
52. 1:49McBth will become king of Scotland. But
53. 1:51McBth doesn't even consider it until he
54. 1:53meets the witches. They put the idea in
55. 1:55his head. So, we don't know if he would
56. 1:58have thought about being king if he
57. 1:59hadn't met them. And it's unclear
58. 2:01whether McBth's actions are fate or the
59. 2:03result of the witches manipulating him.
60. 2:05McBth and Banquo go to meet King Duncan,
61. 2:07who thanks them for their services and
62. 2:09promises to promote them. Duncan
63. 2:11announces that he's making his son
64. 2:13Malcolm the heir to the throne. And then
65. 2:15he tells McBth he's going to visit him
66. 2:17at his castle.
67. 2:19Lady McBth reads a letter from her
68. 2:20husband telling her about the witch's
69. 2:22prophecy. She decides right away to make
70. 2:24it come true. She worries that her
71. 2:26husband is too kind-hearted to murder
72. 2:28Duncan, which he'll have to do to become
73. 2:30king, but she plans to persuade him.
74. 2:33McBth arrives and tells her that the
75. 2:34king is going to stay with them that
76. 2:36night and leave the next day. She says
77. 2:38Duncan isn't going anywhere because
78. 2:40he'll be dead. She tells McBth to act
79. 2:42normal and leave the rest to her. After
80. 2:45Duncan arrives, McBth goes off by
81. 2:47himself and thinks about what it would
82. 2:49mean to kill Duncan. He says if he could
83. 2:51just do it quickly with no consequences,
84. 2:53he'd do it. But that's not how it works.
85. 2:55Murderers do face consequences. Also, he
86. 2:59has no good reason to kill Duncan, who
87. 3:01is a guest in his home and a good king.
88. 3:04McBth tells Lady McBth he doesn't want
89. 3:05to go through with it and she calls him
90. 3:07a coward for chickening out when they
91. 3:08have the perfect opportunity. She tells
92. 3:11him not to worry because she'll get
93. 3:12Duncan's servants drunk before killing
94. 3:14him, then blame the servants. McBth
95. 3:16agrees to go along with this. McBth
96. 3:19waits outside Duncan's bedroom to hear
97. 3:21Lady McBth ring a bell, signaling that
98. 3:23it's time to commit the murder. He
99. 3:25hallucinates and sees a dagger in front
100. 3:27of him with the handle toward his hand,
101. 3:29which then shows splashes of blood. He
102. 3:32hears the bell and sets off, determined
103. 3:34to kill Duncan.
104. 3:36After the murder, he meets Lady McBth
105. 3:38outside Duncan's room. He comes out
106. 3:41carrying two bloody daggers. He tells
107. 3:43her he'll never sleep again, but she
108. 3:45tells him to pull himself together or
109. 3:47he'll screw the whole thing up. She says
110. 3:49he has to put the daggers back in the
111. 3:50servant's room and wash the blood off
112. 3:52his hands. He says he can't bear to see
113. 3:54the crime scene again, so she says
114. 3:56she'll take them and smear Duncan's
115. 3:57blood on the servants's faces. They hear
116. 3:59a knocking on the castle door. McBth
117. 4:02says he'll never get his hands clean,
118. 4:04and she tells him to snap out of it,
119. 4:05wash his hands, and put on his night
120. 4:07gown.
121. 4:09The porter, who opens the castle door,
122. 4:11is drunk, and fantasizes about being the
123. 4:13gatekeeper to hell. McDuff comes in,
124. 4:16greets McBth, then goes into the king's
125. 4:18room, and finds him murdered. McBth goes
126. 4:21in to see and when he comes back he says
127. 4:23he saw the servants with their bloody
128. 4:25daggers and he got so angry that he just
129. 4:27killed them right there. While he's
130. 4:29explaining this, Lady McBth faints.
131. 4:32Duncan's two sons, Malcolm and Donald
132. 4:35Bane, decide to run away because they
133. 4:37think they're in danger. Malcolm goes to
134. 4:39England and Donald Bane to Ireland.
135. 4:41After they disappear, people suspect
136. 4:43that they bribed the servants to kill
137. 4:45their father.
138. 4:47McBth is made king.
139. 4:50Banquo, when he's by himself, says he
140. 4:52suspects that McBth is actually the
141. 4:54murderer, and he wonders if the witch's
142. 4:56prophecy might come true for him, too.
143. 4:58McBth comes along and tells Banquo to be
144. 5:00sure to come to his feast that night.
145. 5:03McBth wants to get rid of Banquo because
146. 5:05the witches predicted his children would
147. 5:07be kings. He summons two murderers and
148. 5:10hires them to assassinate Banquo and his
149. 5:12son, Flance. The two murderers, plus a
150. 5:15third one sent by McBth, attack Banquo
151. 5:18and Flance on their way to the feast.
152. 5:19They kill Banquo, but Flance escapes.
153. 5:23McBth has his feast. The first murderer
154. 5:25comes in with Bango's blood on his face
155. 5:27and tells McBth that Bango's dead, but
156. 5:30Flance escaped. Lady McBth tells McBth
157. 5:32to pay attention to his guests, and the
158. 5:34lords tell him to come sit down where
159. 5:36they're keeping a place for him. McBth
160. 5:39sees Banquo's bloody ghost in his chair
161. 5:41and freaks out. Lady McBth tells the
162. 5:44lords to ignore McBth, that he's always
163. 5:46had fits like this, and they pass
164. 5:47quickly. But McBth keeps seeing the
165. 5:50ghost, and Lady McBth finally tells
166. 5:52everyone to leave. Lady McBth scolds her
167. 5:54husband, saying it's a hallucination,
168. 5:56just like the bloody daggers. McBth says
169. 5:59his problem is that he's not yet used to
170. 6:00murder, and he has more blood to spill
171. 6:02before he's finished. He says he'll go
172. 6:04see the witches the next day to learn
173. 6:06more. McBth goes to the witches and
174. 6:09demands they answer his questions. They
175. 6:11make spirits appear before him, who show
176. 6:13him what's going to happen. A head
177. 6:15wearing an armored helmet tells him to
178. 6:16beware McDuff. A bloody child tells him
179. 6:19to laugh at anyone who threatens him
180. 6:21because no one born of woman can hurt
181. 6:22him. A child wearing a crown and holding
182. 6:25a tree tells him he will not be defeated
183. 6:27until Burnham Wood comes to Dunane
184. 6:29Castle. McBth is happy because it sounds
185. 6:32like nothing bad will happen to him, but
186. 6:34he demands to know if Banquo's children
187. 6:35will really be kings. A procession of
188. 6:38eight future kings passes in front of
189. 6:40him, followed by Banquo. These are all
190. 6:42the descendants of Banquo who become
191. 6:44kings. The witches dance and disappear.
192. 6:47McBth decides he's going to act boldly,
193. 6:49so he sets off to McDuff's castle to
194. 6:51kill him and his family.
195. 6:54Lady McDuff complains to her friend Ross
196. 6:56that her husband has fled the country,
197. 6:58leaving her and her children
198. 6:59defenseless. She asks her young son what
199. 7:01he will do for a father now that his is
200. 7:03as good as dead. A messenger comes to
201. 7:06warn her to take her children and run
202. 7:07away, but murderers come and kill her
203. 7:09son and chase her off the stage. McDuff
204. 7:12has gone to England to urge Duncan's
205. 7:14son, Malcolm, to come back to Scotland
206. 7:16with an army and fight McBth. Malcolm
207. 7:19says Scotland would be worse off if he
208. 7:20were king than McBth because he has an
209. 7:22insatiable lust for women, is greedy,
210. 7:25and doesn't have any qualities of a good
211. 7:26king. McDuff gives up, wailing about how
212. 7:29his hopes for Scotland are dead now. But
213. 7:32Malcolm tells him he was just testing
214. 7:33him. He's ready to be king. In fact,
215. 7:36he's about to leave with 10,000
216. 7:37soldiers. Ross brings them the news that
217. 7:40McDuff's family has been slaughtered.
218. 7:42McDuff blames himself for their deaths
219. 7:44and vows to kill McBth himself. A doctor
220. 7:47and a lady who waits on Lady McBth watch
221. 7:49her as she sleepwalks. She tries to wash
222. 7:52imaginary blood off her hands and talks
223. 7:53about the murders of Duncan, Banquo, and
224. 7:55Lady McDuff.
225. 7:57In Dunenain Castle, McBth hears reports
226. 8:00that his lords are deserting to join the
227. 8:02English armies and that over 10,000
228. 8:04soldiers are approaching.
229. 8:06Malcolm tells his soldiers to cut large
230. 8:08boughs out of trees in the forest. So,
231. 8:10as they approach Dunen Castle, they'll
232. 8:11be harder to count.
233. 8:13McBth hears women screaming in another
234. 8:15room, and Seatan brings the report that
235. 8:17Lady McBth has killed herself. McBth
236. 8:20laments that life is slow and pointless.
237. 8:23A messenger reports that Burnham Woods
238. 8:25seems to be marching toward Dunenane.
239. 8:28In the battle, things go against McBth
240. 8:30because no one wants to fight for him.
241. 8:32McDuff challenges him and they fight
242. 8:34until McBth tells him he's wasting his
243. 8:36time since no one born of woman can hurt
244. 8:38him. McDuff says he wasn't born a woman.
245. 8:41He was taken out of his mother by
246. 8:42Cesarian section. McBth realizes he's
247. 8:45defeated and that the witches were
248. 8:46misleading him. McDuff kills McBth and
249. 8:50takes his head to Malcolm.
250. 8:52Malcolm invites the other lords to scone
251. 8:54where he will be crowned king.
252. 9:01For more information about McBTH, check
253. 9:03out the McBth Sparknote on
254. 9:04sparknotes.com.
255. 9:06For a translation of the entire play
256. 9:08into modern English, go to No Fear
257. 9:10Shakespeare at nfs.sparknotes.com.