Macbeth

1. Macbeth Act 5

2. Act 5 Scene 1 • Doctor and the gentlewoman witness Lady Macbeth sleepwalking • In her hand, Lady Macbeth holds a candle that she has beside her continually (IMAGERY=LIGHT VS. DARK) • Lady Macbeth makes a scrubbing motion with her hands and says, • Line 38 “Out, damned spot! Out, I say!” • Makes reference to the murder of Macduff’s family as well as Banquo’s murder • Doctor doesn’t quite know how to handle Lady Macbeth’s insanity • The Doctor and the Gentlewoman agree not to tell anyone what they have witnessed

3. Scene 2. • The English army is nearing • The Scottish nobles speak about Macbeth’s state of mind (madness/valiant fury) • The English and Scottish are to meet at Birnam Wood (a forest just near Dunsinane where Macbeth is fortified

4. Scene 3 • Macbeth puts on a show about not fearing the English army because he cannot be vanquished ‘til Birnam Wood come to Dunsinane. • Asks for Seyton (his armor bringer) to bring his armor so that he can dress for battle • Doctor tells Macbeth that Lady Macbeth is “mind diseased” • Macbeth treats his messenger very badly calling him a “lily-livered boy”

5. Scene Four • Malcolm meets with the army generals and suggests that they all “hew” (cut) a bough (branch) from the trees of Birnam Wood. They will use the boughs as camouflage and carry it before them. • Malcolm also says that the soldiers who are still defending Macbeth are “constrained things/ Whose hearts are absent too” lines 14-15 • War is about to begin between the English/Scottish and Macbeth’s forces

6. Scene Five • Macbeth asks for the banners to be put out to prepare for war • There is a woman’s cry and Seyton tells Macbeth that Lady Macbeth is dead • KEY LINES: line 17-28 • “Out out brief candle” life as a light that can be exstinguished • “Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player/ That struts and frets his hour upon the stage” Life is like a stage /play and then is quickly over (meaninglessness??) • “(Life) is a tale/ Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,/Signifying nothing” • Macbeth reflects upon the lack of meaning life (human ambitions etc.) can sometimes hold • Now the messenger tells Macbeth that Birnam Wood looks like it’s moving • Macbeth prepares for battle (he does not back down)

7. Scene Six: • Malcolm tells the soldiers to put down their camouflage (branches) • And they prepare for battle • Building of tension • Rhyming couplet “give them all breath/ . . .. blood and death”—signals the end of the scene and prepares the reader for the next scene/completes the previous scene

8. Scene Seven • Macbeth kills young Siward and feels strong because he knows that no one of woman born can harm him and exits • Macduff enters and wants to find Macbeth to get revenge • Malcolm’s side is winning the war—they are going to breach Macbeth’s castle walls

9. Scene Eight: • Macbeth says that he will not yield and he will continue to fight • Macduff finds Macbeth and Macbeth says that he’s been avoiding Macduff (prophesy and he’s killed his whole family) • “Macduff says on line 15 “Macduff was from his mother’s womb Untimely ripp’d” Macduff was born as the result of a Caesarean section (baby surgically removed from the mother’s stomach) • Although all odds are against Macbeth, he continues to fight on • Macduff reenters with Macbeth’s head that he’s chopped off • Before that, Siward is told of young Siward’s brave death fighting Macbeth • Malcolm gets the last words (common to Shakespearean plays where the good king/character has the final thoughts) • Malcolm speaks the fact that they can all move forward from this point onwards, free from Macbeth’s “tyranny” • ORDER HAS BEEN RESTORED: • Line 73 “We will perform in measure time and place” • Malcolm to be crowned at Scone • THE END!!! Well done!