Macbeth Act 1 Summary

In this part of the play, Macduff tells Ross, who is another thane, that Macbeth had traveled to Scone to become king. Macduff included that the guards outside of Duncan’s room were the assumed murders and were possibly paid by someone else to do it. At the end of the conversation, Macduff goes back to Fife and Ross begins his trip to Scone for Macbeth’s new crowning. As the scene plays on, it shows the other characters are suspicious of Macbeth. Both Macduff and Banquo feel suspicious of Macbeth’s agreement that Duncan’s murder’s were the guards. Later at the palace of Forres, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth invite Banquo to join them for the feast that night. Banquo accepts and Macbeth says they should talk about Malcolm and Donalbain, who Macbeth

Macbeth then hires two men to murder Banquo and his son Fleance. In the next scene, Lady Macbeth fetches her husband in preparation for the feast. However, Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth that he feels unhappy because just killing Duncan doesn’t eliminate other threats to his throne. Macbeth then tells his wife about his plan for Banquo and Fleance, but reminds her to be kind to Banquo so he doesn’t know his fate. The two men who Macbeth hired then kills Banquo but Fleance escapes. When they return to the castle, Macbeth gets angry at the men for not murdering Fleance, questioning their manliness, similarly to his wife previously, to make them want to prove themselves again. Returning to the party, Macbeth goes to sit at the royal seat but Banquo’s ghost appears. Macbeth starts speaking to the ghost which the other guests can’t see. Lady Macbeth tries assuring the guests that Macbeth sometimes has visions and that they should ignore him for now. She tries to snap him out of his hallucination as the ghost vanishes. Macbeth tries making a toast but Banquo’s ghost reappears. Lady Macbeth sends the guests out of the room as the ghosts