Introduction	Shakespeare's Times	The Nature of Tragedy	Act 1	Act 2	Act 3	Act 4	Act 5
Supernatural	Macbeth's Scotland	Dramatic Techniques	Motifs	Themes	Opinion	Class Notes

Macbeth Act 5.pdf

Act 5 Quiz

Scene 1 - The Madness of Lady Macbeth

Lady Macbeth has been slowly going mad since the start of Act 4 when Macbeth leaves the castle to seek out the witches for another prophecy. She has been sleepwalking, haunted in her dreams by the horror of the deeds that she and her husband have committed.

Lady Macbeth's servant has asked a doctor to sit with her through the night as a witness to the tormented dreams of the Queen:

DOCTOR

I have two nights watched with you, but can perceive no truth in your report.

When was it she last walked?

GENTLEWOMAN

Since his majesty went into the field, I have seen her

rise from her bed, throw her night-gown upon her,

unlock her closet, take forth paper, fold it, write upon't,

read it, afterwards seal it, and again return to bed;

yet all this while in a most fast sleep.

Lady Macbeth sleepwalks and relives the murder of Duncan and imagines the horror of the murder of Lady Macduff, her children and their entire household. This descent into madness is in complete contrast with the ruthless Lady Macbeth we met in Act 1, who helped convince her husband to carry out the murder of Duncan and seize the crown.

It was Lady Macbeth who cursed herself in scene 5 of Act 1: Bloodied Hands.jpg

Come, you spirits

That tend on mortal thoughts,

unsex me here,

And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full

Of direst cruelty!

The consequences of her actions are now plain for us to see. The darkness that she called down upon herself has unhinged her mind, tormenting her to the point of despair.

LADY MACBETH

Yet here's a spot.

DOCTOR

Hark! she speaks: I will set down what comes from her,

to satisfy my remembrance the more strongly.

LADY MACBETH

Out, damned spot! out,

I say!--One: two: why, then, 'tis time to do't.--

Hell is murky!--Fie, my lord, fie! a soldier, and afeard?

What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to account?--

Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him.

Lady Macbeth Sleepwalking

Near the end of the scene, the doctor, after viewing the sad scene of the tormented Lady Macbeth; gives great insight into the plight of the Macbeths. He identifies her ailment as spiritual, based upon her committing unnatural deeds.

DOCTOR

Foul whisperings are abroad: unnatural deeds

Do breed unnatural troubles: infected minds

To their deaf pillows will discharge their secrets:

More needs she the divine than the physician.

God, God forgive us all!

Questions:

What is the cause of Lady Macbeth's nightly wanderings?
What are the past deeds that are tormenting Lady Macbeth at this time in the play?
How does this depiction of Lady Macbeth contrast with her characterisation in Act 1.
What conclusion does the doctor arrive at after witnessing Lady Macbeth's sleepwalking?

Scene 2 - The Scottish Forces Gather Against Macbeth

Within this scene the Scottish thanes of: Menteith, Caithness, Angus and Lennox; gather their forces and plan their meeting with Malcolm, Siward and the English army at Birnam Wood.

It is the Thane of Angus who points out that Macbeth's position is hopeless against such overwhelming forces and that Macbeth must be feeling very vulnerable at this stage. Angus is unaware that Macbeth still clings to the security of the witches' prophecies:

Those he commands move only in command,

Nothing in love: now does he feel his title

Hang loose about him, like a giant's robe

Upon a dwarfish thief.

We learn from this scene that the combined Scottish and English forces will meet at Birnam Wood.

Watch Act 5 of Polanski's Macbeth from Chapter 23 onwards

Scene 3 - Macbeth Clings to the Prophecies in Hope

Another short scene within the castle where Macbeth seems slightly unhinged. He is threatened by the large English force, which has been enlarged by the betrayal of all of Scotland's thanes, and he concerned with the madness of his wife. Macbeth begins the scene by restating his belief in the truth of the witches' prophecies:

MACBETH

Bring me no more reports; let them fly all:

Till Birnam wood remove to Dunsinane,

I cannot taint with fear. What's the boy Malcolm?

Was he not born of woman? The spirits that know

All mortal consequences have pronounced me thus:

'Fear not, Macbeth; no man that's born of woman

Shall e'er have power upon thee.'

Then fly, false thanes, And mingle with the English epicures:

The mind I sway by and the heart I bear

Shall never sag with doubt nor shake with fear.

When Macbeth hears a report that the English force are 10,000 strong his confidence falters and a sense of fatalism enters his language. He knows that this battle will either make him of destroy him. He is willing to accept whatever comes knowing that he has little to live for. He doesn't have any honour in his achievements, just the curses of the people:

MACBETH

This push will cheer me ever, or disseat me now.

I have lived long enough: my way of life Is fall'n into the sear, the yellow leaf;

And that which should accompany old age,

As honour, love, obedience, troops of friends,

I must not look to have; but, in their stead,

Curses, not loud but deep, mouth-honour, breath,

Which the poor heart would fain deny, and dare not.

Scene 4 - Scottish and English Forces at Birnam Wood.

A very short scene but a fateful one. The forces of the Scottish thanes meet up and combine with the army brought from England by Malcolm, under the generalship of Siward.

Upon Siward asking the name of Birnam Wood from the Scottish locals, Malcolm decides that every soldier should chop a bough from the trees to use as camouflage as they approach the castle of Dunsinane. Malcolm believes it will help hide their numbers, but in giving the order he fulfils the third of the witches' prophecies: that Macbeth will be defeated when Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane.

SIWARD

What wood is this before us?

MENTEITH

The wood of Birnam.

MALCOLM

Let every soldier hew him down a bough

And bear't before him: thereby shall we shadow

The numbers of our host and make discovery

Err in report of us.

Scene 5 - Lady Macbeth Dies as Birnam Wood Moves

Despite the huge forces moving against him Macbeth is still confident of his indestructibility at the start of this scene. He laments not being able to meet the attackers in the field but admits that many of his thanes have joined Malcolm. Macbeth's forces are small and so he must defend his castle.

At this point Macbeth learns that his wife has died. Macbeth's response is selfish and without lament. Macbeth has long moved past the ability to feel anything but fear and anger:

MACBETH

I have almost forgot the taste of fears;

The time has been, my senses would have cool'd

To hear a night-shriek; and my fell of hair

Would at a dismal treatise rouse and stir

As life were in't: I have supp'd full with horrors;

Direness, familiar to my slaughterous thoughts

Cannot once start me.

Upon hearing that his wife is dead Macbeth retorts that she should have waited and died later, because then he would have had time to lament. Macbeth then moves into his famous "Tomorrow, Tomorrow" speech that represents the meaninglessness of his existence. The audience is left thinking that Macbeth has indeed drunk from a "Poisoned Chalice".

SEYTON

The queen, my lord, is dead.

MACBETH

She should have died hereafter;

There would have been a time for such a word.

To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day

To the last syllable of recorded time,

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

The way to dusty death.

Out, out, brief candle!

Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage

And then is heard no more: it is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing.

Macbeth is shocked out of his nihilistic thoughts by the news from one his his guards that Birnam Wood is moving towards the castle. The third prophecy has been fulfilled. Macbeth now knows his fate and again falls into fatalistic language, hoping for the end of all things.

MACBETH

...If this which he avouches does appear,

There is nor flying hence nor tarrying here.

I gin to be aweary of the sun,

And wish the estate o' the world were now undone.

Questions

Speculate as to why Lady Macbeth has died at this point in the play.
What does Macbeth mean when he says: 'I have supp'd full with horrors'?
What point is Macbeth making in his 'Tomorrow, Tomorrow' speech.
Explain how this speech is the consequence of Macbeth's misplaced ambition.
Research the concept of Nihilism. Explain how the theme of nihilism is encapsulated in Macbeth's "Tomorrow, Tomorrow..." speech.

Scenes 6 and 7- The Battle Begins

These two scenes are functional in that they describe the individual fights that occur during battle. These scenes are important dramatically on the stage before the final standoff between Macduff and Macbeth. The most notable event is that Macbeth fights and kills the son of the English general Siward. From this we are reminded that Macbeth, although alone, is still a very dangerous foe. The great warrior we were introduced to in Act I still needs to be defeated.

Scene 8 - Macduff Slays Macbeth

Macduff finally gets his chance to fight Macbeth. During the fight Macbeth boasts about his prophecy that none of woman born shall harm him. Macduff retorts that he was removed from his mother's womb by a C-Section, he was not born conventionally. It is at this point that the ambiguity of the witches' prophecy is laid bare to Macbeth and he knows his fate is sealed.

MACBETH

Thou losest labour: I bear a charmed life, which must not yield, To one of woman born.

MACDUFF

Despair thy charm; And let the angel whom thou still hast served tell thee, Macduff was from his mother's womb untimely ripp'd.

At this point Macbeth realises that the witches have tricked him and his fate is sealed. Despite this he fights to the end, refusing to become a prisoner and bow to Malcom. Like the warrior he is, he fights to the death, telling Macduff that he needs to do the same.

MACBETH

I will not yield,

To kiss the ground before young Malcolm's feet,

And to be baited with the rabble's curse.

Though Birnam wood be come to Dunsinane,

And thou opposed, being of no woman born,

Yet I will try the last.

Before my body I throw my warlike shield.

Lay on, Macduff,

And damn'd be him that first cries, 'Hold, enough!'

Scene 9 - Malcolm Proclaimed King

"this dead butcher and his fiend-like queen," is how Malcolm describes the Macbeths at the end. The rule of tyranny is over and Malcolm announces simply that he will move to Scone to be crowned. The Scottish crown is restored to the rightful heir and divine justice has been served with the defeat of the evil Macbeths. We are left to consider the great tragic waste in Macbeth's choice to seize the crown by murdering Duncan.

Review Questions

What are the crucial elements of conflict within the story of Act 5?
Who are the key characters to emerge from this Act?
What key themes emerge from your study of Act 5?
Identify Shakespeare's key dramatic techniques within this Act and provide examples.