SmartPass Plus Audio Education Study Guide to Macbeth (Unabridged, Dramatised, Commentary Options) recap

After Scottish general Macbeth helps defeat a rebellion, three witches predict that he will gain a new title and become king, while Banquo's descendants will rule. The first prediction comes true at once. Encouraged by Lady Macbeth, Macbeth murders King Duncan during a royal visit and takes the crown, while Duncan's sons flee. Fearful of Banquo's prophecy, Macbeth has Banquo killed, though Fleance escapes, and Banquo's ghost exposes Macbeth's distress at a banquet. Further apparitions give Macbeth confidence through deceptive assurances. He orders the slaughter of Macduff's wife and children after Macduff joins Malcolm in England. Lady Macbeth, burdened by guilt, sleepwalks and later dies. Malcolm's army uses branches from Birnam Wood as camouflage while advancing on Dunsinane, fulfilling a warning Macbeth dismissed. Macduff, who was delivered by surgical birth, kills Macbeth. Malcolm becomes king and begins restoring Scotland after Macbeth's rule.

Scotland is fighting rebellion and foreign attack. King Duncan receives reports that Macbeth and Banquo have fought with exceptional courage, and he orders that Macbeth receive the title of the defeated Thane of Cawdor. Before the news reaches them, Macbeth and Banquo encounter three witches. They address Macbeth by his current title, by the title of Cawdor, and as a future king; they tell Banquo that his descendants will be kings though he will not. Ross and Angus then arrive and announce Macbeth's new title, making part of the prediction immediately true. Macbeth begins imagining the crown and is disturbed by the violent possibility that accompanies it. Duncan names his son Malcolm heir and plans to visit Macbeth's castle, placing both an obstacle and an opportunity before Macbeth.

Lady Macbeth reads her husband's account of the witches and fears he lacks the hardness to seize the crown. When Duncan's visit is announced, she resolves that he must not leave alive. Macbeth initially considers reasons against murder: Duncan is his king, relative, guest, and a good ruler, while Macbeth has no motive beyond ambition. Lady Macbeth attacks his courage and outlines a plan to intoxicate Duncan's guards, kill the sleeping king, and blame the servants. Macbeth agrees. Duncan arrives at the castle and is welcomed with formal loyalty, unaware of the plan. As the household settles for the night, Banquo tells Macbeth that he has dreamed of the witches. Macbeth conceals his thoughts and moves toward Duncan's room after imagining a dagger leading him there.

Macbeth murders Duncan but returns shaken, carrying the guards' daggers. Lady Macbeth takes the weapons back to the room and smears the sleeping guards with blood. Macduff discovers the king's body the next morning. Macbeth kills the guards, claiming rage, and Lady Macbeth diverts attention when his explanation draws scrutiny. Duncan's sons Malcolm and Donalbain fear a wider plot and flee separately, which makes them appear guilty. Macbeth is crowned at Scone. Banquo suspects that Macbeth gained the crown through murder but remembers that the witches promised kingship to his own descendants. Macduff avoids the coronation and returns home, a sign that acceptance of the new king is not complete. The natural and political order of Scotland has been disrupted, while Macbeth has obtained the position he and his wife sought.

As king, Macbeth fears Banquo's knowledge and the prophecy about Fleance. He hires murderers to attack father and son. Banquo is killed, but Fleance escapes. At a state banquet Macbeth sees Banquo's ghost occupying his place, though no one else can see it. His public terror disrupts the gathering, and Lady Macbeth dismisses the guests before he reveals more. Macbeth concludes that he must seek further knowledge from the witches and keep using violence to secure his position. Macduff has stayed away from the banquet and gone to England, where Malcolm is seeking support. Scottish nobles begin speaking cautiously about Macbeth as a tyrant and hope that Malcolm and Macduff can restore lawful government. Macbeth's crown is secure in appearance but increasingly dependent on fear, secrecy, and further killing.

The witches summon apparitions that warn Macbeth to beware Macduff, then tell him that no man born of woman will harm him and that he will remain safe until Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane. A final vision shows Banquo's line continuing through future kings. Macbeth treats the apparently impossible conditions as guarantees, yet orders an immediate attack on Macduff's home. Murderers kill Lady Macduff and her children. In England, Malcolm tests Macduff's loyalty by pretending to possess qualities that would make him an even worse ruler than Macbeth. Macduff's despair for Scotland convinces him, and Malcolm reveals that English forces are ready to help. Ross arrives with news of the slaughter at Macduff's castle. Macduff turns his grief toward the campaign against Macbeth, while Malcolm urges him to seek justice in battle.

Lady Macbeth sleepwalks under a doctor's observation, repeatedly acting as though she is washing blood from her hands and revealing the burden of remembered crimes. Malcolm, Macduff, and their allies advance toward Dunsinane. Malcolm orders each soldier to cut a branch from Birnam Wood and carry it as camouflage, making the wood appear to move. Macbeth remains confident in the witches' assurances even as supporters desert him. He receives news of Lady Macbeth's death and then hears that Birnam Wood seems to be advancing, forcing him to recognize that one prediction has turned against him. In battle Macbeth kills Young Siward, but Macduff seeks him personally. Macduff explains that he was delivered before natural birth; the assurance about ordinary birth therefore does not protect Macbeth. Macbeth fights and is killed. Macduff presents his head, Malcolm is acclaimed king, and the new ruler calls the exiles home and prepares for his coronation at Scone.

Malcolm's army advances on Dunsinane with soldiers carrying branches cut from Birnam Wood, fulfilling the apparition's warning in a form Macbeth had assumed impossible. Macbeth learns that Lady Macbeth has died but continues to rely on the assurance that no man born in the ordinary way can harm him. In the battle he kills Young Siward and refuses to surrender. Macduff confronts him and reveals that he was delivered by surgical birth rather than born naturally. Macbeth understands that the witches' assurances were dangerously incomplete, yet fights and is killed. Macduff enters with Macbeth's severed head and hails Malcolm as king. Malcolm rewards his supporters, calls home the exiles who fled Macbeth's rule, and announces his coronation at Scone. Lady Macbeth's death, Banquo's murder, the destruction of Macduff's family, and Scotland's losses cannot be reversed, but Duncan's line is restored through Malcolm and Macbeth's violent reign ends.