[Summary of the Plot]



At the beginning of the play, we look upon Macbeth as a shining hero. On behalf of his king, Duncan, he has just defeated the traitor Macdonwald, quelling high treason and subversion, safeguarding the rule of the king, so Scotland can look forward to a new era of peace. On their way from the battlefield the commanders Macbeth and Banquo meet three witches, who foretell the warriors promising prophecies: To Macbeth they predict the Thanehood of Glamis and of Cawdor - and eventually even the crown of Scotland, to Banquo, oil the other hand, that he would be father of a line of Kings.

Macbeth is already the Thane of Glamis, and out of gratitude the king soon bestows the Thanehood of Cawdor upon him. So the fulfilment of the last prediction seems to be close at hand. Only King Duncan himself stands in the way of Macbcth's aroused ambitions. It seems like a stroke of fate when the grateful king arrives as a guest at the castle of the Thane of Glamis and Cawdor to express his profound gratitude to this outstanding warrior. Unlike Macbeth, who feels covetous but hesitant, his wife is prepared to act. She spurs on her husband, encouraging him to seize this supposed opportunity of fate like a man. Macbeth stabs the defenceless king in his sleep, and with the help of his wife he succeeds in casting suspicion upon the king's guards. Rut while the majority of the Scottish noblemen do not dare to question his story, Malcolm, the king's son, escapes to England with a number of faithful followers. Among them is Macduff, next to Macbeth one of Scotland's most influential Thanes.

Macbeth, the king's murderer, is crowned King of Scotland soon afterwards but the fruits from his deed taste sour. Macbeth can neither enjoy his status nor his power as the ruling king for even a single moment. Worry and anxiety are casting dark shadows on his life. .After all, as the witches have predicted, Banquo would be the forefathers of a new line of kings - for the childless Macbeth a source of constant threat and fear. Before long, he hires assassins to kill Banquo, the supposed father of kings and only other person who knows about the witches' prophecies. But the admonishing ghost of the murdered Banquo appears in front of Macbeth's eyes at a banquet. From this point on, it becomes apparent to what extent Macbeth has already succumbed to madness and is being pursued by the ghosts of his murdered victims.

Again Macbeth seeks out the witches to ask them about his future. They assure him that no man of woman born would ever be a threat for him, yet Macbeth should beware of Macduff, whom he can only conquer through violence.

Macbeth feels encouraged by the witches' predictions and sets about "clearing up" among his supposed enemies. In his growing madness, he turns from a murderer into a tyrant, and the whole country moans and suffers under the strokes of his raging terror. Macduff, the Than

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