Macbeth recap

Victorious Scottish general Macbeth meets witches who predict that he will become king and that Banquo's descendants will rule after him. Spurred by Lady Macbeth, he murders King Duncan and takes the crown after Duncan's sons flee. Fearful of the prophecy, Macbeth has Banquo killed, but Fleance escapes; Banquo's ghost then disrupts a royal feast. Further apparitions make Macbeth feel invulnerable while warning him about Macduff. Macbeth orders the slaughter of Macduff's wife and children, driving Macduff to join Duncan's son Malcolm in England. Lady Macbeth breaks under guilt and dies as Malcolm's forces invade. Camouflaged with branches from Birnam Wood, the army reaches Dunsinane. Macduff, delivered before natural birth, falls outside the witches' reassuring prediction and kills Macbeth. Malcolm becomes king and begins restoring Scotland.

Scotland defeats both an internal rebellion and a Norwegian attack, 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 hearing of the honor, Macbeth and Banquo encounter three witches. They hail Macbeth as Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor, and future king; they tell Banquo that his descendants will be kings. When Ross announces Macbeth's new title, the first part of the prediction comes true. Macbeth begins imagining the death of Duncan even as the thought horrifies him. Duncan names his son Malcolm Prince of Cumberland, formally placing him in the succession, and then announces a visit to Macbeth's castle at Inverness.

Lady Macbeth reads her husband's account of the witches and decides Duncan's visit offers the opportunity to seize the crown. She calls on Macbeth to conceal their purpose and plans to intoxicate Duncan's guards so the king can be killed and the blame placed on them. Duncan arrives trusting his hosts. Macbeth recognizes the moral, political, and practical reasons not to murder a kinsman and guest who has ruled well, and briefly decides against it. Lady Macbeth attacks his courage and lays out the plan until he agrees. They prepare to appear welcoming while intending to kill Duncan that night.

On his way to Duncan's room, Macbeth sees an imagined dagger leading him toward the murder. He kills the sleeping king but returns carrying the guards' daggers, too shaken to go back. Lady Macbeth plants the weapons and smears the sleeping men with blood. Macduff arrives in the morning and discovers Duncan's body. Macbeth kills the guards before they can be questioned, claiming rage. Duncan's sons Malcolm and Donalbain fear that the murderer may target them next and flee separately to England and Ireland. Their departure makes them look guilty. Macbeth is chosen king and goes to Scone for coronation, while Macduff pointedly goes home to Fife rather than attend. Violent weather and unnatural events accompany the transfer of power.

As king, Macbeth remains afraid of Banquo, who knows the witches' promises and whose heirs were predicted to rule. Without involving Lady Macbeth in the details, Macbeth hires killers to attack Banquo and Fleance on their way to a royal banquet. Banquo is murdered, but Fleance escapes. At the feast Macbeth sees Banquo's ghost occupying his place and reacts publicly to an apparition no one else can see. Lady Macbeth tries to explain his behavior as an illness and ends the gathering. Macbeth recognizes that Macduff's absence signals opposition and decides to return to the witches for greater certainty. His rule is becoming increasingly isolated and violent, while Banquo's surviving son leaves the succession prophecy open.

The witches summon apparitions that tell Macbeth to beware Macduff, assure him that anyone delivered through ordinary childbirth cannot harm him, and say he will remain secure until the forest at Birnam advances upon his castle. A vision of kings descended from Banquo disturbs him, but the other messages make him feel nearly invulnerable. Learning that Macduff has fled to England, Macbeth sends murderers to Macduff's castle, where they kill Lady Macduff and her children. In England, Malcolm tests Macduff's integrity by pretending to possess vices worse than Macbeth's, then reveals his fitness to rule and reports English military support. Ross arrives with news of the slaughter. Macduff turns his grief toward vengeance, and he and Malcolm prepare to invade Scotland with Siward's forces.

Lady Macbeth sleepwalks under the observation of a doctor and attendant, compulsively reenacting attempts to clean imagined blood from her hands and exposing guilty memories. Malcolm's Scottish and English allies advance while Macbeth's nobles desert him. Near Birnam Wood, Malcolm orders each soldier to cut a branch and carry it as camouflage, causing the wood to appear to move toward Dunsinane. Macbeth learns that Lady Macbeth has died and responds with exhausted despair. He still trusts the witches' assurances, but the report of moving trees shakes that confidence. During the battle he kills Siward's son, then faces Macduff. Macduff reveals that he was delivered before natural birth and therefore does not fit Macbeth's interpretation of the prophecy. Macduff kills and beheads him. Malcolm is acclaimed king, rewards his allies as earls, recalls exiles, and invites Scotland to his coronation at Scone.

Malcolm's army advances on Dunsinane carrying branches cut from Birnam Wood, making the witches' warning appear to come true. Macbeth, already numb after hearing of Lady Macbeth's death, still trusts the prediction that anyone delivered through ordinary childbirth cannot harm him. In battle he kills young Siward, but Macduff finds him and reveals that he was delivered before natural birth. Macbeth refuses surrender and is killed. Macduff brings Macbeth's severed head to Malcolm, who is acclaimed king. Malcolm creates Scotland's first earls, calls home those who fled the tyranny, and promises to punish Macbeth's remaining agents and restore order. Lady Macbeth has died offstage, apparently by suicide, Banquo's descendants have not yet taken the throne, and Fleance's location remains unresolved. The play closes with Malcolm inviting his allies to his coronation at Scone.