Macbeth by William Shakespeare (top ten books of all time .TXT) 📕

Macbeth

By William Shakespeare.

Table of Contents Titlepage Imprint Dramatis Personae Macbeth Act I Scene I Scene II Scene III Scene IV Scene V Scene VI Scene VII Act II Scene I Scene II Scene III Scene IV Act III Scene I Scene II Scene III Scene IV Scene V Scene VI Act IV Scene I Scene II Scene III Act V Scene I Scene II Scene III Scene IV Scene V Scene VI Scene VII Scene VIII Colophon Uncopyright Imprint

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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