Macbeth

When Duncan was the King of Scotland, there was a lord named Macbeth. He was related to the king and respected at court for his bravery in battles. He had recently shown his skills in a big fight against a rebel army and troops from Norway.

On their way back from the fight, Macbeth and another general, Banquo, saw three figures. They looked like women, but they had beards and their clothes were strange. They didn’t look like any people from Earth. 

Macbeth spoke to them first, and they responded by putting their fingers on their lips, as if to tell him to be quiet. Then one of them called Macbeth the Thane of Glamis.

The general, Macbeth, was surprised that these creatures knew who he was. But he was even more shocked when the second one called him Thane of Cawdor, a title he didn’t have. The third one then said, “All hail! that shalt be king here after!” This amazed him because he knew he couldn’t become king while the king’s sons were alive. 

The creatures then spoke to Banquo. They said he was LESSER THAN MACBETH, AND GREATER! NOT SO HAPPY, BUT MUCH HAPPIER! They also said that he would not be king, but his sons would be. After saying this, the creatures disappeared into thin air. The generals realized they were the weird sisters, or witches.

While they were thinking about this strange event, messengers from the king came. They were there to make Macbeth the Thane of Cawdor. This was exactly what the witches had predicted, which left Macbeth in shock. He started to hope that he might also become king one day, just as the third witch had said.

Macbeth then asked Banquo, “Do you not hope that your children shall be kings, when what the witches promised to me has so wonderfully come to pass?”

Banquo replied, “That hope might make you want to become king. But the witches often tell small truths to make us do big, dangerous things.”

But Macbeth couldn’t stop thinking about what the witches had said. From that point on, he focused on trying to become king.

Macbeth had a wife and he told her about the witches’ prediction and how part of it had already come true. His wife was ambitious and didn’t care how they got power. She kept pushing Macbeth, who was feeling guilty about thinking of murder, and insisted that killing the king was the only way to make the prophecy come true.

Around this time, the king decided to visit Macbeth’s house. He came with his two sons, Malcolm and Donalbain, and a large group of thanes and helpers, to show his appreciation for Macbeth’s victories in war. Macbeth’s castle was in a lovely spot and the air around it was clean and healthy. You could tell because the martlet, a kind of swallow, built nests all over the building. 

The king was happy with the location and with the welcome from Lady Macbeth. She was very good at hiding her true intentions and could seem very innocent.

The king, tired from his journey, went to bed early. Two servants also slept in his room, as was the custom. He was very pleased with the welcome he had received and had given gifts to his hosts, including a diamond for Lady Macbeth, whom he called his kind hostess.

It was now midnight. Most of the world seemed asleep, and only the bad dreams disturbed people. Only the wolf and the murderer would be awake at this time. This was the moment Lady Macbeth chose to plan the king’s murder. 

She wouldn’t have done something so terrible, but she was afraid her husband was too kind-hearted to kill the king on purpose. She knew her husband was ambitious, but also careful. He hadn’t yet committed a crime that often goes with extreme ambition. 

She had convinced him to agree to the murder, but she doubted his decision. She was afraid his kind nature would stop him from carrying out the plan. So, she took a knife and went to the king’s bed. The king’s servants were drunk and asleep, not guarding him. The king was fast asleep after his journey. But as Lady Macbeth looked at him, she saw he looked like her father when he was sleeping, and she didn’t have the courage to continue.

She went back to talk to her husband. He was starting to doubt his decision. He thought there were strong reasons not to kill the king. He was not only a subject but also a close relative of the king. He had invited the king to his home that day. 

As a host, it was his duty to protect the king from murderers, not to be the murderer himself. He also thought about how just and kind the king was to his subjects and nobles, especially to him. Kings like this are protected by Heaven, and their subjects should avenge their deaths. Moreover, the king had honored Macbeth and he was respected by everyone. This respect would be ruined by the reputation of such a terrible murder!

In this state of mind, Lady Macbeth saw that her husband was leaning towards doing the right thing and not killing the king. But she was a strong-willed woman and began to convince him again. She told him many reasons why he should not back out now; how easy it would be; how quickly it would be over; and how this one night’s action would give them control and power for the rest of their lives! 

Then she mocked his change of heart, calling him inconsistent and cowardly. She said she knew what it was like to love a baby she was nursing, but even then, she would have killed the baby if she had promised to do it, just like he had promised to kill the king. 

She added that they could blame the murder on the drunk, sleeping servants. With her strong words, she pushed him to have the courage to do the terrible deed again.So, he took the knife and quietly went to the king’s room in the dark. As he went, he thought he saw another knife in the air, with blood on it. But when he tried to grab it, it was just air, an illusion from his heated mind and the terrible act he was about to do.

Getting over his fear, he went into the king’s room and killed him with one stroke of his knife. 

Just after he did this, one of the servants in the room laughed in his sleep, and the other one shouted, “Murder,” which woke them both up.

But they said a quick prayer. One of them said, “God bless us!” and the other one replied, “Amen.” 

Then, they went back to sleep. Macbeth, who was listening to them, tried to say “Amen” when the servant said “God bless us!” But, even though he needed a blessing the most, he couldn’t say the word.

Then, he thought he heard a voice saying: “Sleep no more! Macbeth has killed sleep, the innocent sleep that gives life energy.”

 The voice kept saying, “Sleep no more!” to the whole house. 

“Glamis has killed sleep, so Cawdor will sleep no more. Macbeth will sleep no more.”

With these scary thoughts, Macbeth went back to his wife who was waiting for him. She started to think that he hadn’t done the murder and that something had gone wrong. He was so upset that she told him off for not being strong enough. Then, she told him to wash the blood off his hands. She took his knife to make it look like the servants did it by putting blood on their faces.

Morning came, and everyone found out about the murder, which couldn’t be hidden. Even though Macbeth and his wife acted very sad, and the servants looked guilty because of the knife and the blood on their faces, everyone suspected Macbeth. 

The king’s two sons, Malcolm and Donalbain, ran away. Malcolm went to England, and Donalbain went to Ireland.

The king’s sons, who should have become kings after him, had run away. So, Macbeth was crowned king because he was the next in line. This is exactly what the weird sisters had predicted.

Even though they were now very important, Macbeth and his queen couldn’t stop thinking about the other prediction. The weird sisters had said that their children wouldn’t be kings. Instead, Banquo’s children would be kings. 

They were so upset about this that they decided to kill Banquo and his son, to stop the predictions from coming true.For this, they planned a big dinner and invited all the important people. They also invited Banquo and his son Fleance with special respect. 

Macbeth had arranged for killers to wait for Banquo on his way to the palace at night. They killed Banquo, but Fleance managed to run away. 

Later, Fleance’s descendants became kings of Scotland, including James the Sixth of Scotland and the First of England, who united England and Scotland.

At dinner, the queen was very friendly and played the hostess very well, making everyone like her. Macbeth was talking happily with his guests, saying that all the honorable people in the country were in his house. 

He just wished his good friend Banquo was there. He hoped that he could tell Banquo off for being late rather than be sorry for any bad thing that might have happened to him. Just as he was saying these words, the ghost of Banquo, who he had ordered to be killed, walked into the room and sat in the chair Macbeth was about to sit in.

Even though Macbeth was a brave man, and one who could have faced the devil without being scared, at this terrible sight his face turned white with fear and he stood there shocked, staring at the ghost. 

His queen and all the nobles, who saw nothing, but noticed him staring at an empty chair, thought he was not well; and she told him off, whispering that this was just like when he saw the knife in the air before he killed Duncan. But Macbeth kept seeing the ghost, and ignored everything they said, while he spoke to it in a confused way. 

His words were so clear that his queen, scared that the awful secret would come out, quickly sent the guests away, excusing Macbeth’s behavior as a condition he often had. Macbeth often had these scary thoughts. He and his queen had terrible dreams, and they were troubled by Banquo’s blood and Fleance getting away, who they now saw as the father of future kings who would stop their children from becoming king. 

They found no peace with these unhappy thoughts, and Macbeth decided to go and see the weird sisters again to learn the worst. He found them in a cave on the heath, where they were getting ready their scary charms to call up evil spirits to tell them the future. 

They knew he was coming. 

The horrible things they used were toads, bats, and snakes, the eye of a newt and the tongue of a dog, the leg of a lizard and the wing of a night-owl, a dragon’s scale, a wolf’s tooth, the stomach of a hungry sea-shark, a witch’s mummy, the root of a poisonous plant (this had to be dug up in the dark), a goat’s bile, and the liver of a Jew, along with pieces of the yew-tree that grows in graves, and a dead child’s finger. 

All these were put to boil in a big kettle, or pot, which was cooled with baboon’s blood whenever it got too hot. They added the blood of a pig that had eaten its babies, and they threw into the fire the fat that had dripped from a murderer’s hanging place. With these charms, they made the evil spirit answer their questions.

They asked Macbeth if he wanted his questions answered by them or by their bosses, the spirits.

He, not scared by the scary things he saw, bravely answered: “Where are they? Let me see them.”

And they called the spirits, which were three. The first one looked like a head in armor, and it called Macbeth by his name and warned him about the Thane of Fife. Macbeth thanked him for this warning; because Macbeth had been suspicious of Macduff, the Thane of Fife.

The second spirit looked like a bloody child, and it called Macbeth by his name and told him not to worry, but to laugh at the power of man, because no one born from a woman could hurt him; and it told him to be bloody, bold, and strong.

“Then live, Macduff!” shouted the king. “Why should I fear you? But still, I want to be doubly sure. You won’t live, so I can tell my weak-hearted fear it’s wrong, and sleep despite the thunder.”

When that spirit was gone, a third one came that looked like a child wearing a crown, with a tree in his hand. It called Macbeth by his name and comforted him against plots, saying that he would never be defeated until the forest of Birnam came to Dunsinane hill to fight him.

“Great omens! Good!” shouted Macbeth; “Who can move the forest from its roots? I see I will live a normal human life, not killed in a violent way. But I really want to know one thing. Tell me, if your magic can tell this, will Banquo’s children ever rule this kingdom?”

At this point, the pot sank into the ground, and there was music, and eight shadows like kings walked by Macbeth, and Banquo last, who had a mirror that showed more figures. Banquo, all bloody, smiled at Macbeth, and pointed at them. From this, Macbeth knew that these were Banquo’s children who would rule Scotland after him. 

The witches, with soft music and dancing, making Macbeth feel welcome, disappeared. From then on, Macbeth only thought about scary and bloody things. 

The first news he heard after leaving the witches’ cave was that Macduff, Thane of Fife, had gone to England to join the army against him, led by Malcolm, the oldest son of the previous king, aiming to replace Macbeth and put the rightful heir, Malcolm, on the throne. 

Macbeth, very angry, attacked Macduff’s castle and killed his wife and children, who Macduff had left behind, and killed everyone even slightly related to Macduff. All these violent actions made his top nobles turn against him. Those who could escape joined Malcolm and Macduff, who were coming with a big army from England. 

The others secretly wanted them to win, but they were too scared of Macbeth to help. His army grew slowly. Everyone hated the cruel king; no one loved or respected him; but everyone was suspicious of him; and he started to wish he was like Duncan, who he had killed, who was now safe in his grave, free from any harm.

While all this was happening, the queen, who had been his only partner in crime, the only one who could give him brief relief from their terrible nightly dreams, died. It is thought she killed herself, unable to deal with the guilt and hatred from the public. 

This left him alone, with no one to love or care for him, or a friend he could trust with his evil plans. He stopped caring about life and wished for death. But the coming of Malcolm’s army woke up his old bravery, and he decided to die (as he said) “with armor on his back.” 

Also, the misleading promises of the witches had filled him with false hope. He remembered what the spirits had said, that no one born from a woman could hurt him, and he would never be defeated until Birnam wood came to Dunsinane, which he thought could never happen. 

So he locked himself in his castle, which was so strong it couldn’t be attacked. Here, he waited for Malcolm’s approach. Then, one day, a messenger came to him, white and shaking with fear, barely able to say what he had seen. 

He claimed that while he was on his watch on the hill looking towards Birnam, he thought the forest was moving!

“Liar and slave!” yelled Macbeth. “If you’re lying, you’ll be hung alive from the next tree, until you starve. If you’re telling the truth, I don’t care if the same happens to me.” 

Macbeth started to lose hope, and question the tricky words of the spirits. He wasn’t supposed to worry until Birnam wood came to Dunsinane; and now a forest was moving!

“However,” he said, “if what he says is true, we should get our weapons and fight. We can’t run away or stay here. I’m tired of living, and I want my life to end.” 

With these hopeless words, he went out to fight the attackers, who were now near the castle. The strange sight that made the messenger think a forest was moving is easy to explain. 

When the attacking army went through Birnam forest, Malcolm, a smart general, told his soldiers to cut down a branch each and carry it in front of them, to hide how many of them there really were. 

From far away, the soldiers with branches looked like a moving forest, which scared the messenger. This is how the spirit’s words came true, but not in the way Macbeth thought, and he lost some of his hope.

And then a tough battle happened, where Macbeth, with weak support from people who pretended to be his friends, but actually hated the cruel king and liked Malcolm and Macduff, still fought with extreme anger and bravery, defeating everyone against him, until he met Macduff. 

Seeing Macduff, and remembering the spirit’s warning to avoid Macduff more than anyone else, he tried to move away, but Macduff, who had been looking for him during the whole fight, stopped him, and a fierce fight started, with Macduff accusing him of killing his wife and children. 

Macbeth, already guilty of killing that family, tried to avoid the fight; but Macduff kept pushing him into it, calling him cruel ruler, murderer, evil dog, and criminal.

Then Macbeth remembered the spirit’s words, that no one born from a woman could hurt him; and, confidently smiling, he said to Macduff:

“You’re wasting your time, Macduff. You can’t hurt me any more than you can cut the air with your sword. I’m protected by magic, which can’t be broken by anyone born from a woman.”

“Lose hope in your magic,” said Macduff, “and let the lying spirit you serve tell you that Macduff wasn’t born normally, but was taken from his mother too early.”

“Curse the words that tell me this,” said the shaking Macbeth, who felt his last bit of hope disappear; “and let no one ever trust the tricky words of witches and deceitful spirits who trick us with words that have two meanings, and, while they keep their promise in one way, they ruin our hopes with a different meaning. I won’t fight you.”

“Then live!” said the scornful Macduff. “We’ll display you like a monster, and on a sign we’ll write, ‘Here you can see the cruel ruler!'”

“Never,” said Macbeth, his bravery coming back with his hopelessness. “I won’t live to bow to young Malcolm or be cursed by the public. Even though Birnam wood has come to Dunsinane, and you’re against me, you who were born from a woman, I’ll fight till the end.”

With these wild words he attacked Macduff, who, after a tough fight, finally defeated him, and cut off his head as a gift for the young and rightful king, Malcolm. Malcolm then became the king that he had been kept from becoming because of the usurper, and took Duncan the Gentle’s place on the throne, cheered on by the nobles and the people.

THE END