in Macbeth — Shakespeare, William; Middleton, Thomas, rev.
Metadata
Play
Macbeth
Author
Shakespeare, William; Middleton, Thomas, rev.
Year (catalogued)
1623
First performance
1606
Decade
1620s
Genre
Tragedy
Play type
Adult Professional
Company
King's Men
Speech prefix(es)
2. | 2
Words
173
Characters
939
Typicality
0.31 (cosine to cluster centroid)
TCP id
A11954.31
BritDrama no.
1496
Cluster
Cluster 0 — Clowns, beggars & street sellers
Important excerpts
No keyword-matching excerpt could be extracted (the cluster label doesn't share vocabulary with this character's speech).
Full speech
When the Hurley-burley's done, When the Battle's lost, and won. Upon the Heath. Killing Swine. I'll give thee a Wind. Show me, show me. All hail Macbeth, hail to thee Thane of Cawdor. Hail. Not so happy, yet much happier. He needs not our mistrust, since he delivers Our Offices, and what we have to do, To the direction joust. Then it's he: The rest, that are within the note of expectation, Already are in the Court. A Light, a Light. We have lost Best half of our Affair. Thrice, and once the Hedge-Pigge whined. Fillet of a Fenny Snake, In the Cauldron boil and bake: Eye of Newt, and Toe of Frog, Wool of Bat, and Tongue of Dog Adders Fork, and Blinde-wormes Sting, Lizards leg, and Howlets wing: For a Charm of powerful trouble, Like a Hell-broth, boil and bubble. Cool it with a Baboons blood, Then the Charm is firm and good. By the pricking of my Thumbs, Something wicked this way comes: Open Locks, who ever knocks. Demand. Show.
Plot summary
Plot — Macbeth
With the aid of some treacherous noblemen, the Norwegians have attacked Scotland. In the ensuing battle, Macbeth is instrumental in expelling the invaders, and is created Thane of Cawdor. Before he learns of this honour, he is greeted with the title by three witches who tell him he is to be King; they also tell Banquo that, though he will not be King himself, his descendants will. King Duncan names his son Malcolm the heir apparent, and invites himself to Macbeth’s castle, where Macbeth murders him, abetted by his wife. The night is troubled by unnatural, portentous events. When the assassination is discovered, Malcolm and Donalbain flee the country; suspicion falls on them, and the succession on Macbeth. Macbeth is troubled by the witches’ prophecy about Banquo. He has Banquo murdered, but Fleance escapes; Banquo’s ghost then appears when Macbeth wishes him present at a feast. Hecate rebukes the witches for failing to involve her in their dealings with Macbeth. Disgraced after his failure to attend Macbeth’s feast, Macduff goes to England to rally military support against Macbeth, who has become an egregious tyrant. The witches show Macbeth three apparitions which warn him to beware of Macduff, but also assure him that he cannot be harmed by anybody born of a woman, and that he shall never be defeated until Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane; he is also shown a vision confirming that Banquo’s heirs will rule Scotland. Learning of Macduff's defection, Macbeth has his wife and family killed; grief steels Macduff's resolve. Lady Macbeth begins sleepwalking, disintegrates psychologically, and dies, possibly by suicide. When the English army enters Scotland with Malcolm at its head, the thanes join it, but Macbeth puts his trust in the witches’ prophecies. They prove to have been misleading: the English army disguise their numbers by carrying branches from Birnam Wood as they advance on Dunsinane, and Macduff proves not to have been born of woman but prematurely ripped from his mother’s womb. Macduff kills Macbeth, and Malcolm is established as King of Scotland; he awards his thanes the new style of earls.