Macbeth Act V Summary

Macbeth Act V Summary

In the beginning of Scene I, in the king’s palace at Dunsinane, a doctor and a gentlewoman discuss Lady Macbeth’s strange habit of sleepwalking. Then, while they are talking, Lady Macbeth enters in a trance with a candle. She is muttering about the murders of Lady Macduff and Banquo, she seems to see blood on her hands and claims that nothing will ever wash it off, saying “Out, damned spot; out, I say. . . . Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?”(377). After leaving, the doctor and gentlewoman discuss her mental state.

Scene II begins outside the castle. A group of Scottish lords discusses the military situation: the English army is approaching, being led by Malcolm, and the Scottish army will meet them near Birnam Wood to ally with them. They will go against the “tyrant,”(378), the name the other lords call Macbeth. Macbeth has fortified Dunsinane Castle and is making his military preparations in a mad rage.

Scene III shows Macbeth as he strides into the hall of Dunsinane with the doctor and his attendants, boasting proudly that he has nothing to fear from the English army or from Malcolm, since “none of woman born”(379) can harm him. He calls his servant Seyton, who confirms that an army of ten thousand Englishmen approaches the castle. Macbeth insists upon wearing his armor, though the battle is still some time off. The doctor tells the king that Lady Macbeth is kept from rest by “thick-coming fancies,”(381) and Macbeth orders him to cure her of her deranged mental state.

Scene IV shows Malcolm talks with the English lord Siward and his officers near Birnam Wood. They are discussing Macbeth’s plan to defend the fortified castle. They decide that each soldier should cut down a bough of the forest and carry it in front of him as they march to the castle, in order to confuse Macbeth of their size.

Scene V shows Macbeth ordering that banners be hung and boasting that his castle will repel the enemy. A woman’s cry is heard, and Seyton appears to tell Macbeth that the queen, Lady Macbeth, is dead. Shocked by this news, Macbeth speaks numbly about the passage of time and declares famously that life is “a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing” (383). A messenger enters with astonishing news: the trees of Birnam Wood are advancing toward Dunsinane. Enraged and terrified, Macbeth remembers the prophecy that said he could not die till Birnam Wood moved to Dunsinane. In a surrendering tone, he declares that he will die fighting.

In Scene VI the battle begins. Malcolm orders the English soldiers to throw down their trees and draw their swords. Macbeth strikes those around him vigorously, under the belief that no man born of woman can harm him. After killing Lord Siward’s son he disappears into the fray.

In Scene VII Macduff emerges and searches