73 pages • 2 hours read
William ShakespeareMacbeth
Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 1623A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Act VChapter Summaries & Analyses
Scenes 1-4 Summary
A doctor and a gentlewoman discuss Lady Macbeth. Ever since Macbeth went to war, the gentlewoman has seen Lady Macbeth sleepwalking through the hallways of the castle but the doctor has seen no evidence of this. The gentlewoman has heard Lady Macbeth say something dreadful but she will not reveal what. As the doctor presses her for information, Lady Macbeth enters holding a candle. Lady Macbeth is sleepwalking and rubbing her hands, as though she is trying to wash them. While rubbing her hands, Lady Macbeth complains that she cannot remove a “damned spot” (5.1.25) from her skin. Continuing to talk, she bemoans the murders of Banquo and Lady Macduff and then exits. The doctor blames her behavior on supernatural forces and asks the gentlewoman to look after Lady Macbeth.
Scottish lords gather to talk about the war waged by Macbeth. They know that a large English army is approaching led by Malcolm. A Scottish army is set to join forces with them near a forest called Birnam Wood. The lords have lost faith in Macbeth, who has become a despot. Macbeth has holed up in Dunsinane Castle, where he prepares for his war while descending into madness. The lords might join forces with Malcolm.
Accompanied by his attendants and a doctor, Macbeth stalks through the halls of his castle, loudly proclaiming that the rapidly approaching army does not scare him. He feels that he cannot be harmed unless Birnam Wood picks itself up and comes to Dunsinane somehow. Likewise, he believes that no man born from a woman can defeat him, so he has nothing to fear from Malcolm. He dismisses a servant’s warning that 10,000 soldiers are approaching. Macbeth demands his armor while asking the doctor about his wife’s condition. The doctor fears that he cannot do anything for Lady Macbeth. Macbeth orders him to cure her.
In the area beside Birnam Wood, Malcolm tells his men to break off branches and hold them in front of their bodies as camouflage. He hopes that this will conceal their numbers and ruin Macbeth’s battle plans. There are reports that Macbeth is inviting a siege; Malcolm believes it is because all of Macbeth’s men are deserting him. They march on Dunsinane.
Scenes 5-7 Summary
In the castle, Macbeth welcomes the siege and bemoans his deserters, who have robbed him of the chance to meet the enemy in the field. The sound of a crying woman interrupts his bluster. When he asks what has upset her, she replies that Lady Macbeth is dead. In a state of shock, Macbeth says that her death was inevitable and meaningless—if it hadn’t happened now, “should have died hereafter” (5.5.17). Life, he says, is little more than an illusion. A messenger tells Macbeth that he has seen Birnam Wood seemingly advance on the castle. Macbeth calls him a liar and threatens to hang the man. His confidence is beginning to falter but he is determined to die fighting.
Malcolm and his army approach Dunsinane Castle carrying branches. They make their final approach, blow their trumpets, and the battle begins.
On the battlefield, Macbeth is trapped but not scared. Young Siward challenges Macbeth to a fight. Macbeth accepts and kills him, announcing that he cannot be killed by anyone “born of woman” (5.7.13). Macbeth departs for a different part of the battlefield. Macduff passes through the stage, searching desperately for Macbeth. Siward encourages Malcolm to enter the castle.
Macbeth dismisses the idea of suicide. Macduff challenges Macbeth to a fight. As their swords clash, Macbeth tells Macduff that he is wasting his time as he cannot be killed by anyone woman-born. Macduff reveals that he was never born—rather, he was “untimely ripped” (5.8.16) from his mother’s womb via caesarian section. Macbeth, realizing what this means, curses the witches’ misleading promises. Macduff tells Macbeth to surrender but Macbeth refuses. They chase one another off the stage.
As a trumpet sounds a call to retreat, Malcolm enters, mourning the friends he has lost in the battle. When Siward hears that his son is dead, he is deeply sad, but pleased that his son died a soldier’s death. Macduff returns to the stage, carrying Macbeth’s severed head. He hails Malcolm as the new king of Scotland. Malcolm accepts the praise from his noblemen and envisions a new era for Scotland. He invites everyone to his coronation.
Act V Analysis
Time is compressed exponentially in the play’s final act. Scenes become shorter, many containing fewer than 30 lines. As the pace of the narrative becomes ever more frenzied, characters mentally break down. Lady Macbeth frantically tries to wash phantom blood from her hands, while Macbeth charges around the castle philosophizing that life isn’t real.
For all of Macbeth’s plotting and ambition, neither he nor his wife gets a heroic death. Much like Duncan’s murder, Lady Macbeth’s death and the murder of Macbeth himself happen offstage. Instead, a messenger brings news of Lady Macbeth’s suicide, while Macduff holds up Macbeth’s severed head. This is fitting, since the Macbeths are just a tiny blip in the history of Scotland: Macbeth is only king for a very short while and leaves no legacy. His life is of significance only in terms of the dynasties and the rulers who follow—his ambitions have failed entirely.
The freneticism of the action finds its parallel in Macbeth’s Act V soliloquy, a numbed response to the news of his wife’s death. He fluctuates between emotions. One moment he laments the meaningless of life, the next he seems to be almost bragging about his own potency. He still thinks that he is invincible, even as his entire world collapses around him. The speech is a testament to Macbeth’s delusions; even at the moment when he might snatch at self-realization, he cannot help but imbue himself with a false sense of ambition. This bravado recurs during the battle scenes. When Macduff reveals that he was not born of woman, Macbeth knows that Macduff will kill him. But rather than yield, Macbeth rages against his fate. He fights Macduff and loses, once again falling victim to his ambitions.
In his final moments, Macbeth has lost the audience’s sympathies, becoming a truly repulsive figure. His severed head is a triumphant symbol of tyranny and usurpation defeated. It’s not monarchical rule that is the problem—just its hijacking by the wrong person. Macbeth is visibly punished, his corpse desecrated. The severed head assures the audience that Macbeth met a suitably bloody and final end.
From there, the switch in tone is evident. Malcolm ascends to the throne and invites everyone (including the audience) to his coronation as rightful ruler. His vision of a brighter, more hopeful Scotland stands in stark contrast to Macbeth’s reign of terror and the audience can exit feeling satisfied that justice means putting the correct person on the throne rather than toppling the whole system.
Related Titles
By William Shakespeare
