AQA GCSE English Literature

## Plot ### Act 1 The play opens with three witches arranging to meet Macbeth after a battle. Duncan, the king of Scotland, hears that Macbeth, one of his generals, has fought bravely against a rebel army and against Norway, and that the traitorous Thane of Cawdor has been captured. Duncan orders Cawdor's execution and says Macbeth will be given the title. On the heath, the witches greet Macbeth as Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor and a future king, and tell Banquo that he will father a line of kings without being king himself. Messengers then arrive and announce that Macbeth has been made Thane of Cawdor, so part of the prophecy has already come true. Macbeth begins to think about murder, and writes to his wife with the news. Lady Macbeth reads the letter and decides that her husband is too kind-natured to take the crown by force, so she calls on dark spirits to strip away her womanly feelings. When Duncan arrives at the castle as a guest she persuades a wavering Macbeth to commit the murder, answering his doubts by questioning his courage and his manhood. ### Act 2 Macbeth sees a dagger in the air that points him towards Duncan's chamber. He kills the sleeping king, but brings the daggers away with him, and Lady Macbeth returns them and smears the sleeping guards with blood so that they will be blamed. Macduff and Lennox arrive at the castle in the morning, Macduff finds the body, and Macbeth kills the two guards, claiming that he did it in rage. Duncan's sons Malcolm and…