May 18, 2025
Macbeth, a brave Scottish general, has a story that makes people realise the importance of checks and balances. The guilt drives him crazy, power makes him hungry, and killing is like a job to retain his Kingship. Here we try to explain Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’ in 10 sentences.
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Macbeth, a respected Scottish general, wins a battle, is praised by King Duncan, and his fate takes a turn when he meets three witches who predict that he will become the Thane of Cawdor and then king.
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Soon after, Macbeth is greeted with the news that the King has named him Thane of Cawdor, just as the witches predicted, and the idea of becoming king makes him lose his conscience, and his wife persuades him that he should make the prophecy come true by killing King Duncan.
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Macbeth is overwhelmed by fear but also consumed by ambition and with Lady Macbeth’s manipulation, Macbeth murders King Duncan while he sleeps and frames the guards to secure the throne for himself.
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Once he becomes the King, Macbeth is obsessed with power and always fearful of losing it, as the witches had said that Banquo’s descendants would be kings, and so Macbeth conspires to kill Banquo and his son Fleance.
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Banquo is murdered, but his son escapes, leaving Macbeth even more paranoid and unstable; he begins to hallucinate and sees Banquo’s ghost at a royal banquet, shocking his guests who see his guilt and how it has shaken his personality.
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Mad about regaining control, Macbeth goes to see the witches again who give him more prophecies about how he can’t be harmed by anyone born of a woman and that he’ll be safe until Birnam Wood moves to Dunsinane.
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Eventually, Lady Macbeth, the bold and cunning woman who staged it all, also becomes haunted by guilt over the murders, starts sleepwalking, and the weight of her crimes wears her down.
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Macbeth soon becomes suspicious of everyone and kills more people so that he remains uncontested, but soon Macduff joins hands with Malcolm, the rightful heir, and raises an army to bring Macbeth down.
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The final battle occurs and the soldiers disguise themselves with branches from Birnam Wood, which was a part of the witches’ prophecy; people also learn that Macduff was delivered by a C-section, so he was ‘not born of a woman’ which helped him defeat Macbeth.
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In the end, Macduff kills Macbeth, restores order to Scotland, crowns Malcolm as king, and justice is served with the end of Lady Macbeth and Macbeth, giving people a lesson in unchecked jealousy, ambition, and emotions.
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