Summary: Act 5, scene 1
Out, damned spot; out, I say. . . . Yet
who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in
him?
(See Important Quotations Explained)
At night, in the king’s palace at Dunsinane, a doctor
and a gentlewoman discuss Lady Macbeth’s strange habit of sleepwalking.
Suddenly, Lady Macbeth enters in a trance with a candle in her hand. Bemoaning
the murders of Lady Macduff and Banquo, she seems to see blood on
her hands and claims that nothing will ever wash it off. She leaves,
and the doctor and gentlewoman marvel at her descent into madness.
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Act 5, scene 1 →
Summary: Act 5, scene 2
Outside the castle, a group of Scottish lords discusses
the military situation: the English army approaches, led by Malcolm,
and the Scottish army will meet them near Birnam Wood, apparently
to join forces with them. The “tyrant,” as Lennox and the other
lords call Macbeth, has fortified Dunsinane Castle and is making
his military preparations in a mad rage.
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Act 5, scene 2 →
Summary: Act 5, scene 3
Macbeth 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”
can harm him (4.1.96) and since he will
rule securely “[t]ill Birnam Wood remove to Dunsinane” (5.3.2).
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,”
and Macbeth orders him to cure her of her delusions (5.3.40).
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Act 5, scene 3 →
Summary: Act 5, scene 4
In the country near Birnam Wood, Malcolm talks with the
English lord Siward and his officers about 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, thereby disguising their numbers.
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Act 5, scene 4 →
Summary: Act 5, scene 5
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.
(See Important Quotations Explained)
Within the castle, Macbeth blusteringly orders that banners
be hung and boasts that his castle will repel the enemy. A woman’s
cry is heard, and Seyton appears to tell Macbeth that the queen
is dead. Shocked, 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” (5.5.25–27).
A messenger enters with astonishing news: the trees of Birnam Wood
are advancing toward Dunsinane. Enraged and terrified, Macbeth recalls
the prophecy that said he could not die till Birnam Wood moved to
Dunsinane. Resignedly, he declares that he is tired of the sun and
that at least he will die fighting.
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Act 5, scene 5 →
Summary: Act 5, scene 6
Outside the castle, the battle commences. Malcolm orders
the English soldiers to throw down their boughs and draw their swords.
