Shakespeare in Plain English
Macbeth · Tragedy · c. 1606

Macbeth in Plain English

An ambitious couple takes career advice from three witches. It goes very badly for Scotland. Every scene below has the original text and a clear modern translation, side by side, line by line.

Act 1 7 scenes

Scene 1 A desert place. Thunder and lightning. Three witches meet in a storm and agree to reconvene after the battle — to find Macbeth. Eleven lines that set the tone for the wh… Scene 2 A camp near Forres. A bleeding sergeant tells King Duncan how Macbeth carved through the rebel army, then Ross reports Macbeth also beat the King of N… Scene 3 A heath near Forres. The witches ambush Macbeth and Banquo with three greetings: Thane of Glamis (true), Thane of Cawdor (news to him), and 'king herea… Scene 4 Forres. The palace. Cawdor dies well, Duncan learns nothing from it, and — in front of everyone — names his son Malcolm heir to the throne. Macbeth re… Scene 5 Inverness. Macbeth's castle. Lady Macbeth reads her husband's letter, decides he's too nice to seize the crown, and delivers one of the most chilling speeches … Scene 6 Before Macbeth's castle. Duncan arrives at the castle where he'll be murdered and compliments the fresh air. Banquo agrees the place is lovely. Shakespeare… Scene 7 Macbeth's castle. While Duncan eats dinner, Macbeth talks himself out of the murder — listing every excellent reason not to do it. Then Lady Macbeth…

Act 2 4 scenes

Scene 1 Court of Macbeth's castle. Night. Banquo can't sleep — the witches keep visiting his dreams. Macbeth claims he never thinks about them (sure), then, alone, hallucin… Scene 2 The same. Moments later. The murder happens offstage — Shakespeare gives us the aftermath instead. Macbeth returns shattered, hearing voices cry 'Sleep no … Scene 3 The same. Dawn. A spectacularly hungover porter pretends to be the doorman of hell — Shakespeare's darkest comedy routine, played while a dead kin… Scene 4 Outside Macbeth's castle. Ross and an old man compare notes on how nature itself has gone haywire: darkness at noon, an owl killing a falcon, Duncan's horse…

Act 3 6 scenes

Scene 1 Forres. The palace. Alone, Banquo does the math: the witches were right about Macbeth, so maybe they're right about his own sons becoming kings. Macbe… Scene 2 The palace. The couple that murdered together now suffers separately. Lady Macbeth admits (alone) that winning brought no peace; Macbeth envie… Scene 3 A park near the palace. Dusk. The shortest scene in the act and the hinge of the whole play. A third murderer shows up unannounced — nobody in four hundred year… Scene 4 Hall in the palace. The banquet. The most famous dinner party in literature. Macbeth gets the murder report mid-toast, then finds Banquo's ghost sitting in his cha… Scene 5 A heath. Thunder. Hecate, boss of all witches, chews out the three sisters for freelancing with Macbeth and announces the plan for his destruction: … Scene 6 Forres. The palace. Lennox delivers one of the most sarcastic speeches Shakespeare ever wrote — praising Macbeth's 'nobility' in a tone that says exac…

Act 4 3 scenes

Scene 1 A cavern. In the middle, a boiling cauldron. The witches brew their most famous spell — 'Double, double toil and trouble' — and Macbeth demands answers. Three apparitions give… Scene 2 Fife. Macduff's castle. The hardest scene in the play. Lady Macduff, abandoned and furious, trades sharp banter with her small son about traitors — one of… Scene 3 England. Before the King's palace. The longest scene in the play. Malcolm tests Macduff's loyalty by pretending to be a monster even worse than Macbeth — and only tr…

Act 5 8 scenes

Scene 1 Dunsinane. Ante-room in the castle. Night. The sleepwalking scene. A doctor and a gentlewoman watch Lady Macbeth walk, rub her hands, and confess everything in her sleep — t… Scene 2 The country near Dunsinane. The Scottish lords march to join Malcolm's English army at Birnam Wood. Their intelligence report on Macbeth is devastating: his s… Scene 3 Dunsinane. A room in the castle. Macbeth swings wildly between prophecy-fueled bravado and total despair — screaming at a terrified servant one minute, admitting h… Scene 4 Country near Birnam Wood. Malcolm gives the order that breaks the prophecy: every soldier cuts a branch and carries it as camouflage. From Dunsinane's walls… Scene 5 Dunsinane. Within the castle. A scream inside the castle. The queen is dead — and Macbeth's response is the bleakest, most magnificent twelve lines Shakespeare … Scene 6 Dunsinane. Before the castle. Seven lines, one image: the army drops its branches, and Birnam Wood turns back into ten thousand soldiers standing at Macbeth's g… Scene 7 The battlefield. Macbeth, cornered but clinging to the last prophecy, fights like a baited bear. Young Siward challenges him and dies — proof, Macb… Scene 8 The battlefield. Then before the castle. The final duel — and the prophecy's trapdoor opens: Macduff was 'from his mother's womb untimely ripp'd,' delivered by caesarean, …