Book Review: Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Introduction
“By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes…”
Few lines capture evil and ambition like that one.
Written around 1606, William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a dark psychological tragedy exploring power, guilt, and the corrupting nature of unchecked ambition.
Set in medieval Scotland, the play follows Macbeth, a loyal warrior whose desire for kingship leads him down a path of murder, paranoia, and ruin. Guided (and haunted) by his wife and a trio of witches, he kills his king, seizes the throne, and loses his soul.
It’s a story of prophecy, temptation, and moral decay — a timeless warning about how ambition without conscience destroys everything it touches.
Plot Summary
Act I: The Prophecy
On a stormy Scottish plain, three witches (the “Weird Sisters”) meet Macbeth and Banquo, two victorious generals. They prophesy that Macbeth will become Thane of Cawdor and eventually King of Scotland, while Banquo’s descendants will be kings.
Moments later, Macbeth is named Thane of Cawdor — the first prophecy fulfilled. The possibility of kingship plants a seed of ambition that will soon consume him.
When Macbeth writes to his wife, Lady Macbeth, she urges him to act on fate. When King Duncan announces he will stay the night at Macbeth’s castle, Lady Macbeth convinces her husband to murder Duncan in his sleep.
Act II: The Murder
Haunted by visions, Macbeth hesitates — but Lady Macbeth’s taunts push him forward. He kills Duncan and frames the guards. Horrified by his own act, Macbeth becomes paranoid, while Lady Macbeth takes charge of covering it up.
When Duncan’s sons flee the country, Macbeth is crowned king. But peace does not follow.
Act III: The Paranoia
Macbeth’s guilt and fear deepen. He remembers the witches’ prophecy about Banquo’s heirs becoming kings. To secure his power, he hires assassins to murder Banquo and his son, Fleance.
Banquo is killed, but Fleance escapes — leaving the prophecy still alive.
At a banquet that night, Macbeth is tormented by Banquo’s ghost, visible only to him. His descent into madness begins.
Act IV: The Witchcraft
Macbeth visits the witches again. They give him three cryptic warnings:
- Beware Macduff.
- None born of a woman shall harm Macbeth.
- He will be safe until Birnam Wood moves to Dunsinane Hill.
Feeling invincible, Macbeth orders Macduff’s family murdered.
Meanwhile, Macduff joins Malcolm (Duncan’s son) in England to raise an army against Macbeth.
Act V: The Fall
Lady Macbeth, consumed by guilt, begins sleepwalking and obsessively washing imaginary blood from her hands — “Out, damned spot!”
Macbeth prepares for battle, clinging to the witches’ riddles for comfort.
When Malcolm’s army approaches Dunsinane disguised with branches cut from Birnam Wood, the prophecy begins to unfold.
In the final battle, Macbeth fights bravely but meets Macduff, who reveals he was “from his mother’s womb untimely ripped” — born by Caesarean section, and therefore not technically born of a woman.
Realizing the witches deceived him, Macbeth fights to the end but is slain. Malcolm becomes king, and order is restored.
Major Themes
1. Ambition and Corruption
Macbeth’s ambition is his fatal flaw. The witches only spark what already exists within him. His desire for power transforms him from a noble warrior into a paranoid tyrant.
Shakespeare suggests that ambition, when unrestrained by morality, leads to self-destruction.
2. Fate vs. Free Will
The play blurs the line between destiny and choice. Do the witches predict Macbeth’s rise, or do they cause it? Macbeth chooses to act, yet believes he’s fulfilling fate — a paradox at the heart of tragedy.
3. Guilt and Madness
Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are consumed by guilt. For her, it manifests as sleepwalking; for him, as hallucinations and paranoia. Guilt becomes the true punishment of their crimes.
4. The Supernatural
The witches embody chaos and temptation — external forces that manipulate but never fully control Macbeth. Their prophecies feed his inner darkness rather than create it.
5. Masculinity and Power
Lady Macbeth famously questions her husband’s manhood — “When you durst do it, then you were a man.”
Shakespeare challenges traditional gender roles: Lady Macbeth adopts ruthless ambition, while Macbeth’s “manhood” becomes his moral undoing.
Character Analysis
Macbeth
A tragic hero torn between conscience and ambition. His moral struggle and psychological decay make him one of Shakespeare’s most complex characters. He begins as honorable but allows temptation to warp him into a murderer.
Lady Macbeth
One of Shakespeare’s most fascinating figures. She is the driving force behind Duncan’s murder but later succumbs to guilt and madness. Her arc reflects the self-destructive nature of unchecked ambition.
Banquo
Macbeth’s foil — noble, loyal, and cautious. His ghost represents Macbeth’s guilty conscience and moral failure.
The Witches
Ambiguous and symbolic. They represent temptation, fate, and the dark subconscious desires within humanity.
Macduff
The embodiment of justice and retribution. His vengeance restores moral order to Scotland.
Symbolism
- Blood: Represents guilt and violence. The recurring image (“Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?”) shows how crime stains the soul.
- The Dagger: Symbol of temptation and hallucination — Macbeth’s moral hesitation made visible.
- Sleep: Represents innocence and peace, both destroyed by murder.
- Darkness: Symbolizes evil and ignorance; most of the key scenes occur at night.
- The Weather: Thunder and lightning mirror chaos in the human soul.
Style and Tone
Shakespeare’s language in Macbeth is sharp, rhythmic, and symbolic. He uses imagery of blood, darkness, and disease to reflect the moral corruption of the kingdom.
The tone shifts from heroic to claustrophobic — as the play moves from open battlefields to confined chambers of guilt and paranoia.
Each soliloquy (“Is this a dagger which I see before me?”, “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow…”) offers direct access to Macbeth’s collapsing mind — making this play a study of psychological realism centuries ahead of its time.
Why Macbeth Still Matters
More than four centuries later, Macbeth remains one of the most performed and studied plays in the world.
Its themes — power, guilt, ambition — are universal.
Every generation sees its own reflection in Macbeth’s rise and fall: politicians, corporations, even ordinary people tempted by control or recognition.
In a world obsessed with success, Macbeth asks the ultimate question:
What does it profit a man to gain power, but lose his soul?
Homework Questions & Answers
Q1: Is Macbeth a victim of fate or his own choices?
A1: Macbeth acts of his own free will. The witches reveal possibilities, but his ambition and insecurity drive him to murder. Fate tempts — but Macbeth chooses.
Q2: How does Lady Macbeth influence her husband?
A2: She manipulates him by questioning his courage and masculinity. Yet, her strength crumbles under guilt, proving ambition corrupts them both.
Q3: What role do the witches play?
A3: They symbolize temptation and chaos. They never tell Macbeth what to do — they merely awaken his darkest desires.
Q4: What is the tragic flaw (hamartia) of Macbeth?
A4: His unbridled ambition. It blinds him to morality and reason, leading to tyranny and death.
Q5: What does the play suggest about power?
A5: Power without conscience destroys. True leadership requires integrity — something Macbeth abandons in pursuit of control.
Conclusion
Macbeth is a masterpiece of psychological and moral tragedy — a story of how ambition turns virtue into vice, and how guilt devours the soul.
Shakespeare crafts not a simple villain, but a man who loses himself in the pursuit of greatness.
Through Macbeth’s fall, the play warns that evil begins not in fate or witchcraft, but in the human heart.
As Lady Macbeth’s blood-stained hands and Macbeth’s haunted mind remind us:
Power gained through sin cannot be kept without torment.
