Macbeth encounters three witches who prophesy he will become King of Scotland. He tells his wife Lady Macbeth, who hatches a plan to kill King Duncan when he stays at their castle. Macbeth kills Duncan and becomes king, but grows increasingly paranoid. He arranges to have his friend Banquo murdered for fear Banquo's descendants will inherit the throne. At a banquet, Macbeth sees Banquo's ghost and grows more unstable, deciding to visit the witches again for more prophecy. Meanwhile, Macduff flees Scotland out of fear for his life, joining Malcolm in England to plan an invasion of Scotland to dethrone Macbeth.

1. Act 1-3 Summary
By Megha Soni

2. Act 1 Scene 1
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZcFnZ2ZM
R0
• The Story starts of with the three weird sister
(witches) planning their meeting with Macbeth.
They plan to meet upon the heath, after the
battle is over. They disapear right before
Macbeth, the thane of Glamis, and Banquo, the
Scottish General in the king’s army, arrive.

3. Act 1 Scene 2
• Here, King Duncan hears of Macbeths great
courage through out the battle against the
Irish. He decides that the title of Thane of
Cawdor will be given to Macbeth. The
previous Thane had been a traitor and was put
to death. This decision is made at a military
camp away from Macbeth and Banquo and
messengers are sent to notify them or this
great news.

4. Act 1 Scene 3
• The Witches were awaiting Macbeth and Banquo
and as they arrive the three witches great him
with Than of Glamis, Cawdor and the King. He
was surprised at this because he was only the
Thane of Glamis and wonder why the witches
had said that. Banquo also asks for his fate and is
told that he will not be king but his sons will.
Macbeths asks them to explain further but they
disappear. Later messengers arrive telling
Macbeth of him being the new Thane or Cawdor
and wonder if the other prediction would come
true as well.

5. Act 1 Scene 4
• Banquo and Macbeth arrive at the king’s
castle and discuss the battle with the King.
The king notifies him personally on his new
title and Macbeth expresses gratitude. King
Duncan makes plans to come to Macbeths
home and Macbeth goes first to tell him wife
of the king’s arrival.

6. Act 1 Scene 5
• Lady Macbeth reads a letter from Macbeth
and hears of the encounter with the witches
and his new titles. She realizes that it is
necessary to kill the king for Macbeth to claim
that title as well but knows he’s is too kind of
a man. Once he arrives home Lady Macbeth
persuades him to kill the king using her
manipulative speech.

7. Act 1 Scene 6
• The king arrives and is kind to Lady Macbeth
for her hospitality and she replies with it being
her duty. He asks to go inside to meet
Macbeth and enters.

8. Act 1 Scene 7
• Macbeth spends the evening sketching over
what he was possibly about to do because he
was more concerned about what other bad
deed must follow. He is then pressured by his
wife and told that after the murder they put
the blood of the king on his servants and hold
them guilty. He proceeds with the murder and
hallucinates during it.

9. Act 1 Video
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LC9G_CZ
VAL8

10. Act 2 Scene 1
AS Macbeth makes his way towardthe king’s, he bumps
Banquowith his son Fleance. Banquocouldntsleep and
explains to Macbeth that he has been dreaming ofWitches
they saw. They arranging to meet again in order to discuss the
matter further. As he is about to enter the room, he sees a
dagger indicating the way to the Duncan. Convinced that
"there's no such thing," he climbs to the king's chamber.

11. Act 2 Scene 2
Lady Macbeth now meets her husband in the lower courtyard
after drugging the servants. Macbeth's conscience is clearly
disturbed by what he has done, and once more his wife
criticizes his lack of firmness. Macbeth brought the daggers
with him which could get them in trouble. Lady Macbeth
returns to the murder site to place the daggers and to smear
the king's sleeping servants with blood. The scene closes with
a loud and persistent knocking at the door.

12. Act 2 Scene 3
The knocking continues, but the porter does not immediately
open the door.He plays a game with himself in which he
imagines himself as the porter of hell and jokes about the kind of
sinners he might let in. Eventually, however, he opens the door
to Lennox and Macduff, who have been commanded to call upon
the king to arrange the royal departure. It is early morning, and
most of those in the castle are still asleep. One who is not is
Macbeth, and he directs Macduff to the king's chamber.The
news breaks: King Duncan has been murdered. Macbeth acts
very suspicious, and lady Macbeth faints. Duncan's sons,
Malcolm and Donalbain, thinking themselves open to the charge
of murdering their father, plan to flee to England and Ireland.

13. Act 2 Scene 4
Thane of Ross encounters an Old Man while exiting the
castle, who confirms the widespread reports of
disruption in the natural world. Macduff appears with
fresh news that Duncan is buried, that his sons have
fled, and that the kingship has passed to Macbeth.

14. Act 2 Video
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZQOyiH
DptU&list=PL8C46E50305745D26

15. Act 3 Scene 1
Banquo is suspicious Macbeth but gains comfort from the second
part of the Witches' prediction that his own children will be kings.
Having announced his intention to go riding with Fleance, Banquo is
persuaded by the Macbeths to return later that evening to their new
palace at Forres for a special feast. However, Macbeth realizes that
the Witches' prophecy regarding Banquo represents a threat to his
own position. Unable to endure the thought of Banquo's
descendants claiming his position, Macbeth summons two hired
murderers and confirms with them prior arrangements for the killing
of Banquo and Fleance.

16. Act 3 Scene 2
As the hired killers make their way toward Banquo,
Macbeth and his wife meet secretly. His wife attempts to
soothe his troubled mind but ironically feels the same
doubts herself. Killing the king has provided them with
many more difficulties than they first envisioned. To the
astonishment of his wife, Macbeth reveals his plan to
murder Banquo.

17. Act 3 Scene 3
Hired murderers meet as arranged. On hearing approaching
horses, a signal is given, and Banquo and his son Fleance are
attacked. The murderers' lantern is accidentally extinguished,
and the job is left half-done: Although Banquo is killed, Fleance
escapes.

18. Act 3 Scene 4
Macbeth and his wife host the thanes of Scotland to the banquet. Immediately
prior to the feast, one of the murderers appears at a side door and reveals to
Macbeth the truth about the mission: their success in the killing of Banquo and
their failure to murder Fleance. Macbeth recomposes himself and returns to
the table. As he raises a toast to his absent friend, he imagines he sees the
ghost of Banquo. As with the ethereal dagger, the ghost of Banquo appears to
come and go, propelling Macbeth into alternating fits of courage and despair.
Lady Macbeth invites the thanes to depart and, once alone, tries one last time
to soothe her husband. But Macbeth's paranoid mind is already on to the next
murder, that of Macduff. He decides to visit the Weird Sisters once more to gain
more knowledge.

19. Act 3 Scene 5
Hecate, the classical goddess of the lower
world who represents the spirit of ancient
witchcraft, calls the weird sisters to her to
complain that her own part in Macbeth's
downfall has been overlooked and that she
now wishes personally to make his downfall
complete

20. Act 3 Scene 6
Lennox argument is that those who might be immediately suspected of
murdering their kinsmen are less likely to have done so than Macbeth, who
had killed the guards of Duncan's chamber so hastily. Although Lennox is
prepared to accept Macbeth's actions, he cannot help feeling deeply
suspicious of him. The other lord reveals to Lennox that Macduff has fled
from Scotland to join forces with Malcolm in England. Moreover, they have
requested help from England's King Edward the Confessor. Both Lennox and
the other lord pray that God's vengeance may swiftly fall on the tyrannical
Macbeth and that Scotland may return to peace once more.

21. Act 3 Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8riYRDFp7A&list=PL8C46E50305745D26

22. Bibliography
"BBC Shakespeare Animated Tales - Macbeth - Part 1." YouTube. YouTube, 14 Apr.
2008. Web. 31 July 2013. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LC9G_CZVAL8>.
"BBC Shakespeare Animated Tales - Macbeth - Part 3." YouTube. YouTube, 04
May 2008. Web. 31 July 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=Q8riYRDFp7A>.
"BBC Shakespeare Animated Tales - Macbeth - Part 2." YouTube. YouTube, 14 Apr.
2008. Web. 31 July 2013. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZQOyiHDptU>.