Macbeth recap

Scottish general Macbeth returns from victory and hears three witches predict that he will become king, while his companion Banquo will father kings. When Duncan rewards Macbeth and visits his castle, Lady Macbeth persuades her husband to murder the king and blame his guards. Duncan's sons flee, allowing Macbeth to take the crown. Fearful of Banquo's predicted heirs, Macbeth arranges Banquo's murder, but Fleance escapes, and Banquo's ghost disrupts a royal banquet. New prophecies make Macbeth feel invulnerable even as he orders the slaughter of Macduff's family. In England, Macduff joins Duncan's son Malcolm and an army marching against the tyrant. Lady Macbeth, consumed by guilt, sleepwalks and later dies. Malcolm's soldiers conceal themselves with branches from Birnam Wood, fulfilling one warning, while Macduff reveals he was not born by ordinary means and kills Macbeth. Malcolm becomes king and begins restoring Scotland.

Scotland defeats an invasion and rebellion, largely through the courage of Macbeth and Banquo. King Duncan orders the execution of the treacherous Thane of Cawdor and gives that title to Macbeth. Before Macbeth receives the news, three witches greet him as Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor, and a future king; they tell Banquo that his descendants will rule. The first prediction is confirmed almost at once, making Macbeth take the promise of kingship seriously. Duncan names his son Malcolm heir and announces a visit to Macbeth's castle. Lady Macbeth reads her husband's report of the prophecy and worries that his conscience will prevent him from taking the shortest route to power. When Macbeth arrives, she begins planning Duncan's death and tells him to conceal their intentions beneath the conduct of loyal hosts.

Macbeth hesitates to kill Duncan because the king is his guest, relative, and benefactor, but Lady Macbeth challenges his courage and fixes the plan: they will intoxicate Duncan's guards, murder the sleeping king, and use the guards' weapons and blood to incriminate them. After a vision of a dagger leads him toward Duncan's room, Macbeth commits the murder. Lady Macbeth returns the daggers when her shaken husband cannot. Macduff discovers the body the next morning. Macbeth kills the guards before they can defend themselves, claiming rage. Duncan's sons Malcolm and Donalbain fear the killer will pursue them and flee separately, which makes them look guilty. Macbeth is crowned at Scone, but Macduff avoids the ceremony and suspicion surrounds the new order.

Banquo suspects Macbeth obtained the crown by violence, while Macbeth fears the prophecy that Banquo's descendants, rather than his own, will inherit it. Macbeth hires killers to ambush Banquo and Fleance. Banquo is murdered, but Fleance escapes. At a state banquet, Macbeth sees Banquo's ghost occupying his place and reacts with terror in front of the nobles, though no one else can see the apparition. Lady Macbeth tries to explain away his behavior and ends the feast when he cannot recover. Macbeth resolves to consult the witches again and begins treating Macduff, who has refused to attend, as an enemy. Scottish nobles increasingly understand that their country is suffering under a fearful and violent ruler.

The witches summon apparitions that warn Macbeth to beware Macduff, then assure him that no man born by ordinary means from a woman can harm him and that he will remain secure until Birnam Wood moves to Dunsinane. He interprets the last two predictions as guarantees, though a vision of kings descended from Banquo enrages him. Learning that Macduff has fled to England, Macbeth orders an attack on Macduff's castle. Murderers kill Lady Macduff and her son. In England, Malcolm tests Macduff's loyalty by pretending he would be an even worse ruler than Macbeth. Macduff's despair for Scotland convinces him, and Malcolm reveals that English forces are ready to help. Ross then reports the murder of Macduff's family. Macduff turns his grief toward the coming campaign against Macbeth.

Lady Macbeth sleepwalks under the observation of a doctor and attendant, repeatedly trying to cleanse imagined blood from her hands and revealing the burden of the crimes. Malcolm, Macduff, Siward, and Scottish defectors march toward Dunsinane. Their soldiers cut branches from Birnam Wood to conceal their numbers, making the forest appear to move and fulfilling a prophecy Macbeth had considered impossible. Lady Macbeth dies, and Macbeth responds with bleak resignation but refuses to surrender. He kills Young Siward in battle, still trusting that no man born naturally from a woman can defeat him. Macduff reveals that he was delivered by surgery rather than ordinary birth, then kills and beheads Macbeth. Malcolm is hailed as king. He calls home the exiles, rewards his allies, and promises to repair the damage done under Macbeth's rule.

As Malcolm's army advances under branches cut from Birnam Wood, the prophecy about the forest moving toward Dunsinane is fulfilled in a practical but unexpected way. Lady Macbeth dies offstage, and Macbeth responds with despair yet continues fighting. He kills Young Siward and clings to the witches' assurance that no man born naturally from a woman can harm him. Macduff then reveals that he was delivered prematurely by surgery, placing him outside the protection Macbeth thought absolute. Macduff kills and beheads Macbeth. Malcolm is acclaimed king, invites the exiled nobles home, and promises to restore order by rewarding his supporters and recalling those driven abroad by the tyranny. Banquo's descendants have not yet taken the throne within the play, so that part of the witches' prediction remains beyond the action, but Macbeth's attempt to defeat fate has destroyed him and Lady Macbeth and ends with Duncan's line restored through Malcolm.