Alone at Macbeth's court, Banquo voices his suspicions that Macbeth has killed Duncan in order to fulfill the witches' prophesies. He muses that perhaps the witches' vision for his own future will also be realized, but pushes the thought from his mind. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth enter to the fanfare of trumpets, along with Lennox and Ross. Macbeth announces that he will hold a banquet in the evening and that Banquo will be honored as chief guest. Banquo states that he must ride in the afternoon but will return for the banquet. Macbeth tells him that Malcolm and Donalbain will not confess to killing their father. After confirming that Fleance will accompany Banquo on his trip, Macbeth wishes Banquo a safe ride.
Left alone, Macbeth summons the two murderers he has hired. While he waits for them, he voices his greatest worry of the moment-that the witches' prophecy will also come true for Banquo, making his children kings. He will put an end to such worries by hiring two men to kill Banquo and Fleance. The men are not professional assassins, but rather poor men who are willing to work as mercenaries. Macbeth has already blamed their current state of poverty on Banquo. He now tells them that while Banquo is his own enemy as much as theirs, loyal friends of Banquo's prevent him from killing Banquo himself. Macbeth proceeds to detail the particulars of the murder: they must attack him as he returns from his ride-at a certain distance from the palace-and they must also kill Fleance at the same time.
Act 3, Scene 2
Alone on stage, Lady Macbeth expresses her unhappiness: there seems to be no end to her desire for power and she feels insecure and anxious. Macbeth enters looking upset and she counsels him to stop mulling over the crimes they have committed. But Macbeth declares that their job is not done: he still spends every waking moment in fear and every night embroiled in nightmares. He even envies Duncan, who now sleeps peacefully in his grave. Lady Macbeth warns him to act cheerful in front of their dinner guests. She also tries to comfort him by reminding him that Banquo and Fleance are by no means immortal. Macbeth responds by telling her that "a deed of dreadful note" will be done in the night, though he will not divulge the details (33).
Act 3, Scene 3
The two murderers are joined by a third, who says that he has also been hired by Macbeth. Horses are heard approaching and Banquo and Fleance enter. The murderers attack Banquo but Fleance manages to escape. The murderers leave to report back to Macbeth.
Act 3, Scene 4
At the banquet, a murderer arrives and reports to Macbeth just as the dinner guests begin to arrive. He informs Macbeth that Banquo is dead but Fleance has escaped. Shaken, Macbeth thanks him for what he has done and arranges another meeting on the following day. The murderer leaves and Macbeth returns to the feast.
Looking over the table, Macbeth declares that the banquet would be perfect if only Banquo were present. At this point Banquo's ghost appears unobserved and takes Macbeth's seat. The guests urge Macbeth to sit and eat with them but Macbeth says that the table is full. When Lennox points to Macbeth's empty seat, Macbeth is shocked to see Banquo's ghost. He addresses the ghost, saying, "Thou canst not say I did it. Never shake / Thy gory locks at me" (49-50). The guests, confused by his behavior, think that he is ill. Lady Macbeth reassures them, however, by saying that he has had similar fits since youth and that he will soon be well. She draws Macbeth aside and attempts to calm him by asserting that the vision is merely a "painting of [his] fear"-just like the dagger he saw earlier (60). Ignoring her, Macbeth charges the ghost to speak but it disappears. After Lady Macbeth scolds him for being "unmanned in folly" (73), Macbeth returns to his guests and claims that he has "a strange infirmity," which they should ignore (85).
Just as the party resumes and Macbeth is offering a toast to Banquo, the ghost reappears. As Macbeth once again bursts out in a speech directed at the ghost, Lady Macbeth tries to smooth things over with the guests. In response to Macbeth's exclamation that he sees sights that make his cheeks "blanched with fear," Ross asks what sights Macbeth means (114). Lady Macbeth asks the guests to leave, since Macbeth's "illness" seems to be deteriorating. Alone with Lady Macbeth, Macbeth expresses his deep anxieties and vows to return to the Weird Sisters.
Act 3, Scene 5
On the heath, the witches meet Hecate, queen of witches, who chastises them for meddling in Macbeth's affairs without involving her or showing him any fancy magic spectacles. She tells them that Macbeth will visit them tomorrow and that they must put on a more dramatic show for him.
Act 3, Scene 6
Lennox and another lord discuss politics. Lennox comments sarcastically on the recent deaths of Duncan and Banquo. He suggests that it seems implausible for Malcolm and Donalbain to be inhuman enough to kill their father. Moreover, Macbeth's slaying of the bodyguards seemed very convenient, since they probably would have denied killing Duncan. Lennox proposes that if Malcolm, Donalbain, and Fleance were in Macbeth's prison, they would also probably be dead now. He also reveals that since Macduff did not attend Macbeth's feast, he has been denounced. The lord with whom Lennox speaks comments that Macduff has joined Malcolm at the English court. The two men have apparently asked Siward to lead an army against Macbeth. Lennox and the lord send their prayers to Macduff and Malcolm.
Analysis
The "be a man" theme recurs in Macbeth's address to the murderers. When Macbeth demands whether the murderers have the courage to kill Banquo, they answer "we are men, my liege" (III i 92). But their answer does not satisfy Macbeth, who berates them as less-than-exemplary examples of men. Macbeth thus uses very much the same goading tactics his wife used in compelling him to kill Duncan. But what does it mean, exactly, to "be a man"? Both Macbeth and his Lady seem to have a clear idea of properly masculine actions. In Act 1, Lady Macbeth suggests that masculinity is largely a question of ruthlessness: one must be willing to "das[h] the brains out" of one's own baby (58). She claims that she herself is less "full o' th' milk of human kindness" than Macbeth-that is, more capable of casting away the last shreds of compassion, tenderness, loyalty, and guilt.
Lady Macbeth is not the only character that values ruthlessness as a masculine trait. Duncan, too, evaluates heroic action on a rather gory scale. When the captain describes how Macbeth "unseamed [Macdonald] from the nave to th' chops" with "his brandished steel / Which smoked of bloody execution," Duncan responds with high praise: "O valiant cousin, worthy gentleman" (I ii 17-22)! A "real man" in Macbeth, then, is one who is capable of copious bloodshed without remorse. The catch, of course, is that the bloodshed must be justified. Whereas Macbeth needs no reason to slay Macdonald in battle per se, the two murderers require the justification that Banquo is an evil man.
As for the terms of murder, Macbeth warns the murderers to kill Fleance and thus "leave no rubs nor botches in the work" (III i 135). Macbeth "require[s] a clearness"-that is, a clearance from suspicion but also a mental and physical cleanliness. The theme of stains and washing runs throughout the play. From Macbeth's cry about all "great Neptune's ocean" in Act 2, to his instructions to the murderers in Act 3, to Lady Macbeth's famous "Out, damned spot" speech in Act 5, the Macbeths are haunted by the idea that they will be forever stained. Even when Macbeth has Banquo killed at a safe distance from himself, the spilled blood still returns to haunt Macbeth. When the murderer shows up to report his success, Macbeth observes: "There's blood upon thy face" (III iv 11). The blood itself serves a sign and reminder of the Macbeths' culpability-ultimately driving Lady Macbeth mad.
Banquo's murder itself makes use of a common theme in Shakespeare's plays: the contrast between light and dark. While the murderers wait for Banquo and Fleance to approach, one of them observes that the sun is setting. This is no coincidence: Banquo serves as a bright contrast to the dark night that accompanies Macbeth's rise to power. He is a man who does not allow his ambitions to eclipse his conscience. At the moment that he dies, therefore, it is appropriate for the last remnant of sunlight to fade away. Such symbolism is reinforced by the fact that Banquo and Fleance approach the murderers carrying a torch. The torchlight is the first thing that the murderers see: "a light, a light" notes the second murderer (III iii 14). And after the deed is finished, the third murderer asks: "who did strike out the light?" (III iii 27). At the same moment that the good and kind Banquo dies, the light is extinguished.
Another aspect of Banquo's murder has intrigued generations of scholars: who is the third murderer? Some believe that it is Lady Macbeth, who expressed curiosity about Macbeth's plans in Scene 2. Others believe that it is Macbeth himself, who could not trust the murderers fully. The third murderers could even be the three witches in disguise. In any case, introducing a third murderer rounds out the number of murderers so that they balance the three witches. There is power in the number three: Macbeth meets three witches, commits three separate murders, and sees three apparitions. The number three recurs throughout the play, adding to its mysterious and magic atmosphere
Finally, one of the most compelling scenes in Macbeth takes place at the banquet haunted by Banquo's ghost. Once again, the boundaries between reality and the supernatural are blurred as Banquo's ghost appears twice-both at exactly the moment Macbeth mentions him. It seems that the vision of Banquo accompanies the idea of Banquo in Macbeth's mind. The ghost thus seems more like the manifestation of an idea-a figment of the imagination-rather than a "real" ghost. Lady Macbeth says as much when she pulls Macbeth aside: "This is the very painting of your fear; / This is the air-drawn dagger which you said / Led you to Duncan" (III iv 60-62). Just like the dagger, Banquo's ghost appears to be a realization of Macbeth's guilt. Even if the occurrence is supernatural, the event is very real for Macbeth.
ACT 4
Act 4, Scene 1
The witches circle a cauldron, mixing in a variety of grotesque ingredients while chanting "double, double toil and trouble; / Fire burn, and cauldron bubble" (10-11). Hecate appears, they sing all together, and Hecate leaves. Macbeth then enters, demanding answers to his pressing questions about the future. The witches complete their magic spell and summon forth a series of apparitions. The first is an armed head that warns Macbeth to beware the Thane of Fife (Macduff). The second apparition is a bloody child, who tells him that "none of woman born / Shall harm Macbeth" (96-97). This news bolsters Macbeth spirits. The third apparition is a crowned child with a tree in its hand, who says that "Macbeth shall never vanquished be until / Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill / Shall come against him" (107-09). This cheers Macbeth even more, since he knows that nothing can move a forest. Macbeth proceeds to ask his last question: will Banquo's children ever rule Scotland?
The cauldron sinks and a strange sound is heard. The witches now show Macbeth a procession of kings, the eighth of whom holds a mirror in his hand, followed by Banquo. As Banquo points at this line of kings, Macbeth realizes that they are indeed his family line. After the witches dance and disappear, Lennox enters with the news that Macduff has fled to England. Macbeth resolves that he will henceforth act immediately on his ambitions: the first step will be to seize Fife and kill Macduff's wife and children.
Act 4, Scene 2
At Fife, Ross visits Lady Macduff, who is frightened for her own safety now that her husband has fled. He reassures her by telling her that her husband did only what was right and necessary. After he leaves, Lady Macduff engages her son in a conversation about his missing father. The little boy demonstrates wisdom well beyond his years. A messenger interrupts them with a warning to flee the house immediately. But before Lady Macduff can escape, murderers attack the house and kill everyone including Lady Macduff and her son.
Act 4, Scene 3
Macduff arrives at the English court and meets with Malcolm. Malcolm, remembering his father's misplaced trust in Macbeth, decides to test Macduff: he confesses that he is a greedy, lustful, and sinful man who makes Macbeth look like an angel in comparison. Macduff despairs and says that he will leave Scotland forever if this is the case, since there seems to be no man fit to rule it. Upon hearing this, Malcolm is convinced of Macduff's goodness and reveals that he was merely testing him; he has none of these faults to which he has just confessed. In fact, he claims, the first lie he has ever told was this false confession to Macduff. He then announces that Siward has assembled an army of ten thousand men and is prepared to march on Scotland.
A messenger appears and tells the men that the king of England is approaching, attended by a crowd of sick and despairing people who wish the king to cure them. The king, according to Malcolm, has a gift for healing people simply by laying his hands on them.
Ross arrives from Scotland and reports that the country is in a shambles. When Macduff asks how his wife and children are faring, Ross first responds that they are "well at peace" (180). When pressed further, he relates the story of their death. Macduff is stunned speechless and Malcolm urges him to cure his grief by exacting revenge on Macbeth. Macduff is overcome with guilt and sorrow from the murders that occurred while he was absent. Again Malcolm urges him to put his grief to good use and seek revenge. All three men leave to prepare for battle.
Analysis
As the act opens, the witches carry on the theme of doubling and equivocation that threads throughout the play. As they throw ingredients into their cauldron, they chant "double, double, toil and trouble"-a reminder that their speech is full of double meanings, paradox, and equivocation (IV i 10). The apparitions that the witches summon give equivocal messages to Macbeth, and they appear to know quite consciously that he will only understand one half of their words. Although Macbeth himself has previously acknowledged that "stones have been known to move and trees to speak" (III iv 122), the apparitions give Macbeth a false sense of security. He takes the apparitions' words at face value, forgetting to examine how their predictions could potentially come true.
The theme of doubling is amplified when the witches summon the "show of kings." Each king who appears looks "too like the spirit of Banquo," frightens Macbeth with their resemblance (IV i 128). For Macbeth, it is as if the ghosts of Banquo have returned to haunt him several times over. In the procession of kings, Macbeth also notes that some carry "twofold balls and treble scepters"-as if even the signs of their power have been doubled.
On a historical note, it is generally thought the eighth king holds up a mirror in order to pander to James I. This last king-the eighth-generation descendant of Banquo-is none other than a figure of James I himself. He thus carries a mirror to signal as much to the real James I, who sits at the forefront of the audience. A similar moment of pandering occurs when Malcolm notes that the king of England has a special power to heal people affected by "the evil" (147). In various subtle ways, Shakespeare complimented King James I-a legendary descendant of Banquo and author of a book on witchcraft (Daemonologie [1597]).
James I is not the only character who is doubled in Macbeth. Throughout the play, characters balance and complement each other in a carefully constructed harmony. As a man who also receives a prophecy but refuses to act actively upon it, Banquo serves as sort of inverse mirror image of Macbeth. Although he has troubled dreams like Macbeth, his arise from the suppression of ambitions whereas Macbeth's arise from the fulfillment thereof. Other major characters, including Malcolm, Macduff, and Lady Macbeth, can also be seen as foils or doubles for Macbeth. Particularly interesting is the case of Lady Macbeth, who in some sense "switches roles" with Macbeth as the play progresses. Whereas she first advises Macbeth to forget all remorse and guilt, Lady Macbeth becomes increasingly troubled by her own guilt as Macbeth begins to heed her advice.
Another form of doubling or equivocation is found in the theme of costumes, masks, and disguises. While planning Duncan's murder, Lady Macbeth counsels Macbeth to "look like the innocent flower, / But be the serpent under't"-to "beguile the time" by disguising his motives behind a mask of loyalty (I v 61). After the murder, Lady Macbeth paints the bodyguards' faces with a mask of blood to implicate them. Similarly, while preparing to kill Banquo, Macbeth comments that men must "make [their] faces visors to [their] hearts, / Disguising what they are" (III ii 35-36). Thus when Malcolm tests Macduff's loyalty, he begins appropriately by saying that "all things foul would wear the brows of grace" (IV iii 23). Even the most foul of men-perhaps like Macbeth and the murderers-are able to disguise themselves. Just as the witches' equivocation covers up the true harm within their alluring words, disguises and masks hide the inner world from the outer.
Finally, during the scene in which the murders occur, Lady Macduff reflects the bird symbolism that began in Act 1. When Lady Macduff complains to Ross about the abrupt departure of Macduff, she states: "the poor wren / The most diminutive of birds, will fight, / Her young ones in her nest, against the owl" (IV ii 9-11). Her metaphor comes to life when she and her son are attacked by Macbeth's men. Macbeth, as earlier established, is identified with the owl; so Lady Macduff, trying to protect her son, becomes the wren in a realization of her own figure of speech. It is with particular pathos that the audience sees Macduff's precocious son fall prey to the swords of Macbeth's ruthless murderers.
ACT 5
At the Scottish royal home of Dunsinane, a gentlewoman has summoned a doctor to observe Lady Macbeth's sleepwalking. The doctor reports that he has watched her for two nights now and has yet to see anything strange. The gentlewoman describes how she has seen Lady Macbeth rise, dress, leave her room, write something on a piece of paper, read it, seal it, and return to bed-all without waking up. The gentlewoman dares not repeat what Lady Macbeth says while thus sleepwalking.
The two are interrupted by a sleepwalking Lady Macbeth, who enters carrying a candle. The gentlewoman reports that Lady Macbeth asks to have a light by her all night. The doctor and the gentlewoman watch as Lady Macbeth rubs her hands as if washing them and says " Yet here's a spot. . . Out, damned spot; out I say" (27-30). As she continues to "wash" her hands, her words betray her guilt to the two onlookers. Lady Macbeth seems to be reliving the events on the night of Duncan's death. She cannot get the stain or smell of blood off her hand: "What, will these hands ne'er be clean. . . All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand" (37-43). As the sleepwalking Lady Mabeth imagines she hears knocking at the gate and returns to her chamber, the doctor concludes that Lady Macbeth needs a priest's help and not a physician's. He takes his leave, asserting that he and the gentlewoman had better not reveal what they have seen or heard.
Act 5, Scene 2
The thanes Menteith, Caithness, Angus, and Lennox march with a company of soldiers toward Birnam Wood, where they will join Malcolm and the English army. They claim that they will "purge" the country of Macbeth's sickening influence (28).
Act 5, Scene 3
At Dunsinane, Macbeth tires of hearing reports of nobles who have defected to join the English forces. He feels consoled, however, by the witches' prophesy that he has nothing to fear until Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane, or until he counters a man not born of woman. Since both of the events seem impossible, Macbeth feels invincible.
A servant enters with the news that the enemy has rallied a thousand men but Macbeth sends him away, scolding him for cowardice. After calling for his servant Seyton to help him put on his armor, Macbeth demands the doctor's prognosis about Lady Macbeth. The doctor replies that she is "not so sick" but troubled with visions (39). In some way or other, she must cure herself of these visions-an answer that displeases Macbeth. As attendants put on his armor, he declares that he would applaud the doctor if he could analyze the country's urine and therein derive a medicine for Lady Macbeth. Abruptly, Macbeth leaves the room, professing once again that he will not fear "death and bane" until Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane (61). Aside, the doctor confesses that he would like to be as far away from Dunsinane as possible.
Act 5, Scene 4
Malcolm, Siward, Young Siward, Macduff, Mentieth, Caithness, and Angus march toward Birnam Wood. As they approach the forest, Malcolm instructs the soldiers to cut off branches and hold them up in order to disguise their numbers. Siward informs Malcolm that Macbeth confidently holds Dunsinane, waiting for their arrival. Malcolm comments that almost all of Macbeth's men have deserted him. The army marches on.
Act 5, Scene 5
Macbeth orders his men to hang his banners on the outer walls of the castle, claiming that it will hold until the attackers die of famine. If only the other side were not reinforced with men who deserted him, he claims, he would not think twice about rushing out to meet the English army head-on. Upon hearing the cry of a woman within, Macbeth comments that he has almost forgotten the taste of fears. Seyton returns and announces the death of Lady Macbeth. Seemingly unfazed, Macbeth comments that she should have died later, at a more appropriate time. He stops to muse on the meaning of life:
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing. (23-27)
A messenger enters and reports that he has seen something unbelievable: as he looked out toward Birnam Wood, it appeared that the forest began to move toward the castle. Macbeth is stunned and begins to fear that the witch's words may come true after all. He instructs his men to ring the alarm.
Act 5, Scene 6
Malcolm tells his soldiers that they are near enough to the castle now to throw down the branches they carry. He announces that Siward and Young Siward will lead the first battle. He and Macduff will follow behind. The trumpeters sound a charge.
Act 5, Scene 7
Macbeth waits on the battlefield to defend his castle. He feels like a bear that has been tied to a stake for dogs to attack. Young Siward enters and demands his name. Macbeth responds that he will be afraid to hear it. Macbeth kills Young Siward in the ensuing duel, commenting that Young Siward must have been "born of woman" (12).
Act 5, Scene 8
Macduff enters alone and shouts a challenge to Macbeth, swearing to avenge the death of his wife and children. As he exist, he asks Fortune to help him find Macbeth.
Act 5, Scene 9
Malcolm and Siward enter and charge the castle.
Act 5, Scene 10
Macbeth enters, asserting that he should not "play the Roman fool" and commit suicide (2). Macduff finds him and challenges him. Macbeth replies that he has thus far avoided Macduff but that he is now ready to fight. As they fight, Macbeth tells him that he "bears a charmed life": he will only fall to a man who is not born of woman (12). Macduff replies that the time has come for Macbeth to despair: "let the angel whom thou still hast served / Tell thee Macduff was from his mother's womb / Untimely ripped"-Macduff was born through the equivalent of a caesarian section (13-16). Hearing this, Macbeth quails and says that he will not fight. Macduff replies by commanding him to yield and become the laughing stock of Scotland under Malcolm's rule. This enrages Macbeth, who swears he will never yield to swear allegiance to Malcolm. They fight on and thus exit.
Act 5, Scene 11
Malcolm, Siward, and the other thanes enter. Although they have won the battle, Malcolm notes that Macduff and Young Siward are missing. Ross reports that Young Siward is dead and eulogizes him by stating that "he only lived but till he was a man, / The which no sooner had his prowess confirmed / In the unshrinking station where he fought, / But like a man he died" (6-9). After confirming that his son's wounds were on his front-in other words, that the Young Siward died bravely in battle-Siward declares that he not wish for a better death for his son.
Macduff enters, carrying Macbeth's severed head and shouting "Hail, King of Scotland!" The men echo this shout and the trumpets flourish as Malcolm accepts the kingship. Malcolm announces that he will rename the current thanes as earls. He will call back all the men whom Macbeth has exiled and will attempt to heal the scarred country. All exit towards Scone, where Malcolm will be crowned as King of Scotland.
Analysis
Until Act 5, Macbeth has been tormented with visions and nightmares while Lady Macbeth has derided him for his weakness. Now the audience witnesses the way in which the murders have also preyed on Lady Macbeth. In her sleepwalking, Lady Macbeth plays out the theme of washing and cleansing that runs throughout the play. After killing Duncan, she flippantly tells Macbeth that "a little water clears us of this deed" (II ii 65). But the deed now returns to haunt Lady Macbeth in her sleep. Lady Macbeth's stained hands are reminiscent of the biblical mark of Cain-the mark that God placed on Cain for murdering his brother Abel (Genesis 4:15). But Cain's mark is a sign from God that protects Cain from the revenge of others. Lady Macbeth's mark does not protect her from death, as she dies only a few scenes later.
The doctor's behavior in Act 5 Scene 3 resembles that of a psychoanalyst. Like a Freudian psychoanalyst, the doctor observes Lady Macbeth's dreams and uses her words to infer the cause of her distress. Lady Macbeth's language in this scene betrays her troubled mind in many ways. Her speech in previous acts has been eloquent and smooth. In Act 1 Scene 4, for example, she declares to Duncan:
All our service,
In every point twice done and then done double,
Were poor and single business to contend
Against those honors deep and broad wherewith
Your Majesty loads our house. For those of old,
And the late dignities heaped upon them,
We rest your hermits. (I vi 14-19)
In this speech, Lady Macbeth makes use of metaphor (Duncan's honor is "deep and broad"), metonymy (he honors "our house," meaning the Macbeths themselves), and hyperbole ("in every point twice done and then done double"). Her syntax is complex but the rhythm of her speech remains smooth and flowing, in the iambic pentameter used by noble characters in Shakespearean plays. What a contrast it is, therefore, when she talks in her sleep in Act 5:
Out, damned spot, out, I say! One. Two. Why then, 'tis time to do't. Hell is murky. Fie, my lord, fie, a soldier and afeard? What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to account? Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him. . . The Thane of Fife had a wife. Where is she now? What, will these hands ne'er be clean? No more o' that, my lord, no more o' that. You mar all with this starting. (V i 30-48)
In this speech, Lady Macbeth's language is choppy, jumping from idea to idea as her state of mind changes. Her sentences are short and unpolished, reflecting a mind too disturbed to speak eloquently. Although she spoke in iambic pentameter before, she now speaks in prose-thus falling from the noble to the prosaic.
Lady Macbeth's dissolution is swift. As Macbeth's power grows, indeed, Lady Macbeth's has decreased. She began the play as a remorseless, influential voice capable of sweet-talking Duncan and of making Macbeth do her bidding. In the third act Macbeth leaves her out of his plans to kill Banquo, refusing to reveal his intentions to her. Now in the last act, she has dwindled to a mumbling sleepwalker, capable only of a mad and rambling speech. Whereas even the relatively unimportant Lady Macduff has a stirring death scene, Lady Macbeth dies offstage. When her death is reported to Macbeth, his response is shocking in its cold apathy. (Here again Macbeth stands in relief to Macduff, whose emotional reaction to his wife's death almost "unmans" him.)
As the play nears its bloody conclusion, Macbeth's tragic flaw comes to the forefront: like Duncan before him, his character is too trusting. He takes the witches' prophesies at face value, never realizing that things are seldom what they seem-an ironic flaw, given his own treachery. He thus foolishly fortifies his castle with the few men who remain, banking on the fact that the events that the apparitions foretold could not come true. But in fact the English army does brings Birnam Wood to Dunsinane. And Macduff, who has indeed been "untimely ripped" from his mother's womb, advances to kill Macbeth. The witches have equivocated; they told him a double truth, concealing the complex reality within a framework that seems simple. (As a side note, it may also be worthwhile to consider the dramatic "weight" of such a conclusion: does it appear strange that such a tragic play should be resolved through a more or less frivolous play on words?)
It is fitting that the play ends as it began-with a victorious battle in which a valiant hero kills a traitor and holds high the severed head. The first we hear of Macbeth in Act 1 is the story of his bravery in battle, wherein he decapitated Macdonwald's and displayed it on the castle battlements. At the end of the tragedy, Macbeth-himself a traitor to Duncan and his family-is treated in exactly the same manner. After killing Macbeth, Macduff enters with Macbeth's severed head and exclaims "behold where stands / Th'usurper's cursed head" (V xi 20-21) The play thus ends with the completion of a parallel structure.
One moral of the story is that the course of fate cannot be changed. The events that the Weird Sisters predicted and set in motion at the beginning of the play happen exactly as predicted, no matter what the characters do to change them. Macbeth tries his hardest to force fate to work to his bidding, but to no avail. Banquo still becomes the father of kings and Macbeth still falls to a man not born of woman. The man who triumphs in the end is the one who did nothing to change the fate prescribed for him. The prophecy is self-fulfilling.
The river of time thus flows on, despite the struggles of man. Although Macbeth's reign of terror has made "the frame of things disjoint," by the end of the play the tide of time has smoothed over Scotland (III ii 18). The unnatural uprising of Macbeth now in the past, Macduff comments that "the time is free" (V xi 21). And Macbeth's life proves to be indeed a "tale / Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing" (V v 27-29). Time washes over his meaningless, bloody history: Banquo's family will give rise to the line of Stuart kings and Malcolm will regain the throne his father left him-all exactly as if Macbeth had never dared to kill Duncan.
