Macbeth

Macbeth

By William Shakespeare.

Table of Contents

1. Titlepage
2. Imprint
3. Dramatis Personae
4. Macbeth
   1. Act I
      1. Scene I
      2. Scene II
      3. Scene III
      4. Scene IV
      5. Scene V
      6. Scene VI
      7. Scene VII
   2. Act II
      1. Scene I
      2. Scene II
      3. Scene III
      4. Scene IV
   3. Act III
      1. Scene I
      2. Scene II
      3. Scene III
      4. Scene IV
      5. Scene V
      6. Scene VI
   4. Act IV
      1. Scene I
      2. Scene II
      3. Scene III
   5. Act V
      1. Scene I
      2. Scene II
      3. Scene III
      4. Scene IV
      5. Scene V
      6. Scene VI
      7. Scene VII
      8. Scene VIII
5. Colophon
6. Uncopyright

Imprint

This ebook is the product of many hours of hard work by volunteers for Standard Ebooks, and builds on the hard work of other literature lovers made possible by the public domain.

This particular ebook is based on a transcription produced for Massachusetts Institute of Technology and on digital scans available at the HathiTrust Digital Library.

The writing and artwork within are believed to be in the U.S. public domain, and Standard Ebooks releases this ebook edition under the terms in the CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. For full license information, see the Uncopyright at the end of this ebook.

Standard Ebooks is a volunteer-driven project that produces ebook editions of public domain literature using modern typography, technology, and editorial standards, and distributes them free of cost. You can download this and other ebooks carefully produced for true book lovers at standardebooks.org.

Dramatis Personae

• Duncan, king of Scotland

• Malcolm, his son

• Donalbain, his son

• Macbeth, general of the king’s army

• Banquo, general of the king’s army

• Macduff, nobleman of Scotland

• Lennox, nobleman of Scotland

• Ross, nobleman of Scotland

• Menteith, nobleman of Scotland

• Angus, nobleman of Scotland

• Caithness, nobleman of Scotland

• Fleance, son to Banquo

• Siward, Earl of Northumberland, general of the English forces

• Young Siward, his son

• Seyton, an officer attending on Macbeth

• Boy, son to Macduff

• An English doctor

• A Scotch doctor

• A soldier

• A porter

• An old man

• Lady Macbeth

• Lady Macduff

• Gentlewoman attending on Lady Macbeth

• Hecate

• Three Witches

• Apparitions

• Lords, gentlemen, officers, soldiers, murderers, attendants, and messengers

Scene: Scotland; England.

Macbeth

Act I

Scene I

A desert place.

	Thunder and lightning. Enter three Witches.
First Witch	When shall we three meet again In thunder, lightning, or in rain?
Second Witch	When the hurlyburly’s done, When the battle’s lost and won.
Third Witch	That will be ere the set of sun.
First Witch	Where the place?
Second Witch	Upon the heath.
Third Witch	There to meet with Macbeth.
First Witch	I come, Graymalkin!
Second Witch	Paddock calls.
Third Witch	Anon.
All	Fair is foul, and foul is fair: Hover through the fog and filthy air. Exeunt.

Scene II

A camp near Forres.

	Alarum within. Enter Duncan, Malcolm, Donalbain, Lennox, with Attendants, meeting a bleeding Sergeant.
Duncan	What bloody man is that? He can report, As seemeth by his plight, of the revolt The newest state.
Malcolm	This is the sergeant Who like a good and hardy soldier fought ’Gainst my captivity. Hail, brave friend! Say to the king the knowledge of the broil As thou didst leave it.
Sergeant	Doubtful it stood; As two spent swimmers, that do cling together And choke their art. The merciless Macdonwald⁠— Worthy to be a rebel, for to that The multiplying villanies of nature Do swarm upon him⁠—from the western isles Of kerns and gallowglasses is supplied; And fortune, on his damned quarrel smiling, Show’d like a rebel’s whore: but all’s too weak: For brave Macbeth⁠—well he deserves that name⁠— Disdaining fortune, with his brandish’d steel, Which smoked with bloody execution, Like valour’s minion carved out his passage Till he faced the slave; Which ne’er shook hands, nor bade farewell to him, Till he unseam’d him from the nave to the chaps, And fix’d his head upon our battlements.
Duncan	O valiant cousin! worthy gentleman!
Sergeant	As whence the sun ’gins his reflection Shipwrecking storms and direful thunders break, So from that spring whence comfort seem’d to come Discomfort swells. Mark, king of Scotland, mark: No sooner justice had with valour arm’d Compell’d these skipping kerns to trust their heels, But the Norweyan lord surveying vantage, With furbish’d arms and new supplies of men Began a fresh assault.
Duncan	Dismay’d not this Our captains, Macbeth and Banquo?
Sergeant	Yes; As sparrows eagles, or the hare the lion. If I say sooth, I must report they were As cannons overcharged with double cracks, so they Doubly redoubled strokes upon the foe: Except they meant to bathe in reeking wounds, Or memorize another Golgotha, I cannot tell. But I am faint, my gashes cry for help.
Duncan	So well thy words become thee as thy wounds; They smack of honour both. Go get him surgeons. Exit Sergeant, attended. Who comes here?
	Enter Ross.
Malcolm	The worthy thane of Ross.
Lennox	What a haste looks through his eyes! So should he look That seems to speak things strange.
Ross	God save the king!
Duncan	Whence camest thou, worthy thane?
Ross	From Fife, great king; Where the Norweyan banners flout the sky And fan our people cold. Norway himself, With terrible numbers, Assisted by that most disloyal traitor The thane of Cawdor, began a dismal conflict; Till that Bellona’s bridegroom, lapp’d in proof, Confronted him with self-comparisons, Point against point rebellious, arm ’gainst arm, Curbing his lavish spirit: and, to conclude, The victory fell on us.
Duncan	Great happiness!
Ross	That now Sweno, the Norways’ king, craves composition; Nor would we deign him burial of his men Till he disbursed at Saint Colme’s inch Ten thousand dollars to our general use.
Duncan	No more that thane of Cawdor shall deceive Our bosom interest: go pronounce his present death, And with his former title greet Macbeth.
Ross	I’ll see it done.
Duncan	What he hath lost noble Macbeth hath won. Exeunt.

Scene III

A heath near Forres.

	Thunder. Enter the three Witches.
First Witch	Where hast thou been, sister?
Second Witch	Killing swine.
Third Witch	Sister, where thou?
First Witch	A sailor’s wife had chestnuts in her lap, And munch’d, and munch’d, and munch’d:⁠—“Give me,” quoth I: “Aroint thee, witch!” the rump-fed ronyon cries. Her husband’s to Aleppo gone, master o’ the Tiger: But in a sieve I’ll