Scenes in this act
- Scene I The Witches Set the Meeting
In thunder and lightning, The Witches arrange their next meeting: after the end of the battle, before sunset, on the marsh, where they will come upon Macbeth.
- Scene II The Report of the Battle
At the camp near Forres, Duncan and his son Malcolm hear from a wounded Captain that Macbeth killed the rebel Macdonwald and that he and Banquo resisted the attack of the Norwegians.
- Scene III The Prophecy on the Heath
On the heath, The Witches talk of petty revenges: one says she has been killing pigs, and another, to whom a sailor’s wife refused chestnuts, promises to torment her husband with storms and sleeplessness.
- Scene IV Duncan Names the Heir
At the palace in Forres, Malcolm tells, from the account of someone who saw him die, that the former Thane of Cawdor confessed the treason, asked the king’s pardon, and died repentant.
- Scene V The Letter and the Invocation
In Inverness, Lady Macbeth reads the letter in which her husband tells of the meeting with the witches.
- Scene VI Duncan Arrives at the Castle
Before the castle, Duncan praises the pleasant air of the place, and Banquo notices the swallows nesting there, a sign of delicate air.
- Scene VII The Couple’s Decision
While servants cross the stage serving the king’s supper, Macbeth, alone in a room of the castle, weighs the murder.
Reading of the Act
Analysis
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