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1!!As the play is OlderThanSteam and most twists in Shakespeare's plots are now [[ItWasHisSled widely known]], all spoilers on this page are [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff unmarked]].
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3[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lady_macbeth.jpg]]
4[[caption-width-right:300: Fill me from the crown to the toe top full\
5Of direst cruelty!]]
6
7->''"By the pricking of my thumbs,\
8Something wicked this way comes..."''
9-->-- '''The Weird Sisters'''
10
11''The Tragedy of Macbeth'' is a 1606 play written by Creator/WilliamShakespeare. It was written at the express request of King James I/VI of England and UsefulNotes/{{Scotland}}, who asked Shakespeare to present a new play to honor his visitor, the King of Denmark.
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13The play takes place in the Scottish Highlands. Fresh from putting down a rebellion against King Duncan, Lord Macbeth meets three witches who hail him as the future king. [[LadyMacbeth His scheming and ambitious wife]] convinces him to make the prophecy come true by killing Duncan. They succeed, but the two of them spend the rest of the play [[MurderMakesYouCrazy slowly going insane from guilt]]; Lady Macbeth begins sleepwalking, [[ScrubbingOffTheTrauma scrubbing at imaginary bloodstains and hallucinating]], and [[DrivenToSuicide ultimately kills herself]]. Macbeth himself enters into [[TheParanoiac a paranoid frenzy]], [[HeKnowsTooMuch killing every potential rival]] in order to consolidate his power. The witches predict that "[[NoManOfWomanBorn none of woman born]]" shall slay him, which gives him some reassurance... until he meets Macduff, whose family he murdered, and who was "from his mother's womb untimely ripped"--in other words, delivered via crude caesarean section from his mother's dead or dying body, [[ProphecyTwist not "born" as Elizabethans defined it]]. [[DidntSeeThatComing D'oh.]]
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15Many of the inconsistencies in ''Macbeth'' come from the fact that Macbeth was a real person who was featured in ''Holinshed's Chronicles'', a best-selling popular history of Shakespeare's time. Holinshed played fast and loose with the facts in many cases, though -- for instance, he includes legendary or wholly fictional characters such as Fleance, who was supposedly an ancestor of the Scottish royal family. (In the play as produced now, Fleance disappears in Act Three: in the original 1606 presentation, he was brought back on stage after the play in a "dumb show" that explained he was the ancestor of the [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfStuart Stuarts]].) Holinshed also refers to Lady Macbeth as "burning with an unquenchable desire to bear the name of a queen". In reality, he had no historical justification for this -- the only thing that's actually known about Lady Macbeth is that she existed (and that her first name was Gruoch, and that Macbeth was her second husband) -- but Shakespeare turned that one sentence into one of his best-known female characters.
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17Shakespeare also takes liberties with the facts, although in his case his changes are {{justifi|edTrope}}able as they [[PragmaticAdaptation improve the dramatic tension and the flow of the action]]; after all, he was writing a play, not a history. For instance, he makes Duncan a wise, old, good king ([[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation at least superficially]]) instead of a young wastrel, he has Macbeth [[DickDastardlyStopsToCheat kill him while sleeping instead of in a fair fight]], and he compresses the action into two seasons when the real Macbeth ruled for 17 years (and successfully). He also leaves aside the fact that the real Macbeth actually did have a legitimate claim to the throne[[labelnote:*]]For centuries, the succession rule in Scotland was called Tanistry, by which the throne alternated between different branches of descent from the first King, [=Kenneth MacAlpin=]. Duncan's grandfather, Malcolm II, had been the first to attempt to abandon it in favour of his eldest grandson. By Tanistry, it would have been Macbeth's branch's turn[[/labelnote]].
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19Another source of the inconsistencies is that Shakespeare wanted to get in all kinds of things that he thought King James would like -- witches, ghosts, the legitimacy of the Stuart line, the divine right of kings (something James was for, to put it mildly), and the portrayal of his Scottish ancestors as [[ProudWarriorRace noble and warrior-like]]. The fact that Shakespeare snuck in the trope that "power corrupts, but absolute power corrupts absolutely" -- possibly a criticism of James's desire for absolute power -- was not noticed until after Shakespeare had died, and may not even be noticed these days by readers [[JustHereForGodzilla looking for the blood and guts]]. And yet, even considering all this, the play still endures to this day.
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21Superstitious actors refer to this as "[[TheScottishTrope The Scottish Play]]" (or, occasionally, "The Tartans"), due to the belief that speaking the main character's name brings bad luck. The head role is "The King" or "The Thane" or "Mackers" anywhere outside the play itself. And though the script calls for it, sometimes things still happen, though they are usually less injurious. Some of the wackier ones talk about [[UsefulNotes/McDonalds The Scottish Restaurant]].
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23----
24!!Notable adaptations:
25* An Italian {{Opera}} by Music/GiuseppeVerdi. It was the first of Verdi's three Shakespeare operas, along with ''[[Theatre/{{Othello}} Otello]]'' and ''[[Theatre/TheMerryWivesOfWindsor Falstaff]]'', (the former of which was used to entice him out of retirement).
26* The 1936 "voodoo" stage production by the Negro People's Theatre (an all-black unit of the Federal Theatre Project), directed by Creator/OrsonWelles and set in Haiti, was considered one of the best stage productions in history. (A snippet of this production was filmed for the WPA newsreel [[https://archive.org/details/we_work_again_1937 "We Work Again."]])
27* Welles also made a film version in 1948, where he played the title role. Bombed due to several changes that critics didn't like, such as transposing scenes and dialogue, dropping the redundant characters of Donalbain and the Third Murderer, inventing a new character (a Christian minister), and actually having the cast speak in Scottish accents.
28* Creator/RomanPolanski's 1971 [[Film/Macbeth1971 film version]], memorable for its explicit violence (allegedly influenced by the murder of Polanski's wife and unborn child by the UsefulNotes/MansonFamily) and for Lady Macbeth's nude sleepwalking scene (non-explicit). This is notable for being produced by [[Magazine/{{Playboy}} Playboy Productions]], as part of a short-lived attempt to create a mainstream film arm as well as a personal attempt by Polanski's friends to pull him out of depression.
29* ''Film/ThroneOfBlood'', Creator/AkiraKurosawa's take on the story, set in [[{{Jidaigeki}} feudal Japan]]. Considered by many to be the best film adaptation of the material.
30* ''uMabatha'', a South African adaption, turning Macbeth and King Duncan into Zulu chiefs. Made Peter Ustinov claim that he after having seen it finally truly understood Macbeth.
31* ''From a Jack to a King'': Bob Carlton musical, with a lot of Sixties songs.
32* It's one of the four adapted-to-modern-times stories from the 2006 BBC mini-series ''Series/ShakespeareReTold''. They changed the setting to a plush Glaswegian restaurant. Duncan is the owner, who carries the laurels off the actual chef, Macbeth (played by Creator/JamesMcAvoy). [=McAvoy=] would later portray the titular character on stage in a 2013 production directed by Jamie Lloyd, and the actor was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award.
33* ''Film/ScotlandPA'', a [[BlackComedy dark comedy]] also set in a restaurant, this one in 1970s Pennsylvania.
34* A condensed 75-minute, five cast ensemble 1977 version in Prague (then part of a unified, Soviet-controlled Czechoslovakia) by Pavel Kohout.
35* ''Mac Homer'', Rick Miller's one-man show, which casts ''[[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Simpsons]]'' characters in the roles. While largely following the play's basic story, many liberties, [[BreakingTheFourthWall fourth wall breaks]] and {{lampshade|Hanging}}s unsurprisingly occur for comedic effect.
36* Gregory Doran's 1999 RSC production, starring Antony Sher and Harriet Walter (and with a young Creator/RichardArmitage in a minor role.) Notable for its claustrophobic intensity, the chemistry between the two leads and its dark humour; often regarded as one of the finest contemporary productions. Filmed without an audience using hand-held cameras and commercially released in 2001.
37* 2003's ''Maqbool'', a Bollywood adaptation directed by Vishal Bhardawaj in the Hindi and Urdu languages, set in the Mumbai underworld.
38* A 2006 Australian film starring Sam Worthington, with a SettingUpdate to the [[Series/{{Underbelly}} Melbourne ganglands]]. It sticks to the play fairly well, but adds a few silent scenes, and suggests that Lady Macbeth acted out of grief for a dead child. And she's also a cocaine addict.
39* British immersive theatre company Punchdrunk created ''Theatre/{{Sleep No More}}'', a loose adaptation of ''Macbeth'' mixed with elements of Creator/AlfredHitchcock, Creator/StanleyKubrick, and other suspense/noir styles, set in the late 1930s. Audience members are masked and silent as they wander on their own through the massive 100,000-square-foot [=McKittrick=] Hotel and the play and actors move around them. Characters are lifted from The Scottish Play and mingle with new, more Hitch-like characters. One of the more popular theatrical adaptations, with consistently sold-out shows extending the run well past its initial six weeks. It's now been running for ''eight years''.
40* A 2007 West End stage production with a SettingUpdate to a vaguely Communist - Romania [[NoCommunitiesWereHarmed esque]] or AlternateHistory setting, starring Creator/PatrickStewart as Macbeth as a Ceausescu . Transferred to Broadway in 2008, and adapted into a television production in 2010. Free to watch on [[http://video.pbs.org/video/1604122998/ PBS.com]].
41* An audio novelization by A.J. Hartley and David Hewson, narrated by Alan Cumming. It features deep analysis of several characters, portraying both Macbeth and his wife as tragic figures.
42* A 2013 stage production for the Manchester International Festival (and later moved to New York) co-directed by and starring Creator/KennethBranagh, with [[Series/DoctorWho Alex Kingston]] as Lady Macbeth and Richard Coyle as Macduff. It was praised for its visceral, immersive atmosphere that placed the audience right in the middle of the action. Creator/MartinScorsese will soon [[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/film/macbeth-stage/martin-scorsese-kenneth-branagh/ direct a documentary]] about the production, which will be restaged at the Second World War Leavesden Aerodrome in Hertfordshire.
43* A [[Film/Macbeth2015 2015 film adaptation]] directed by Justin Kurzel and starring Creator/MichaelFassbender and Creator/MarionCotillard. Filmed on location in the Scottish Highlands, performed with Scottish accents, and uses carefully-researched 11th-century costumes and settings.
44* ''Film/TheTragedyOfMacbeth'' is a 2021 feature film directed by Joel (but not Ethan) Coen, with Creator/DenzelWashington in the title role, Creator/CoenBrothers regular Creator/FrancesMcDormand as Lady Macbeth, and Corey Hawkins as Macduff.
45----
46!!The play itself provides examples of the following tropes:
47%%
48%% Zero Context Examples have been commented out. Please write up an actual example before uncommenting.
49%%
50* AerithAndBob: ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'' costars such colorful characters as Macduff, Banquo, Fleance, Lancelet, and...Duncan and Malcolm. DownplayedTrope as some of the former examples are common names in Scotland, so this depends on who the audience is.
51* AgeLift: Duncan, who is portrayed as elderly, reigned for six years (1034-1040) before he was killed in battle at the age of 39 after an ill-fated expedition against the men of Moray led by Macbeth near Elgin.
52* AllWitchesHaveCats: One of the witches has a {{familiar}} named [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grimalkin Greymalkin]], a name associated with witches' cats.
53* AmbiguousGender: Banquo is unsure what gender the three witches are. Remember that the play was written in a time where only men were allowed to be actors, so his line that they have beards was a bit of LeaningOnTheFourthWall, as Shakespeare often alluded to the ban on actresses for humorous effect. In the Orson Welles version, one of them was played by a man.
54* AmbiguouslyEvil: While the Witches certainly appear sinister, and viewing them as the masterminds behind the whole plot is certainly a valid interpretation, there's nothing explicitly indicating them as anything other than sources of dangerous wisdom.
55* AmbiguouslyHuman: The Witches, which seem to have attributes that a normal human would never have.
56* AmbitionIsEvil: At least if you have to murder your king for it. What's especially sad is that Macbeth had already gained enormous prestige and rewards for his heroism in putting down the rebellion and invasion from Norway, and the high esteem he was held in by Duncan would have given him tremendous influence even if the king had stayed alive and passed the throne on to Malcolm. At that period in Scottish history the kingship was more adoptive than hereditary, and Macbeth, as a successful general and a lord in his own right, had every reason to suppose that he might be tapped as next in line to the throne. (This is the back-story to the part about "if chance will have me king, then chance may crown me" and the reason he is so shocked when Duncan names his son Malcolm as Prince of Cumberland, i.e. heir to the throne.) In real life, Macbeth drew his support from the more conservative element in the Scots ruling class, who were horrified at the thought that supreme power might become a monopoly of one family. In that sense, he might be seen as the DarkerAndEdgier version of Brutus in Shakespeare's ''Julius Caesar.''
57* AnachronismStew: A clock is mentioned centuries before they would have been found in Europe. The same error is found in Theatre/JuliusCaesar.
58* AndYourLittleDogToo: Macbeth goes after the families of his numerous enemies. Banquo's son, Fleance, manages to escape, leaving Macbeth in mortal fear of some future revenge on his part... [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse which is never carried out.]]
59* AntiVillain: The Macbeths. Before the Witches put the idea of kingship in his head, Macbeth was a very loyal general, and even after his ambition drives him to murder, he feels incredibly guilty about it. For all Lady Macbeth's tough talk about abandoning human kindness in order to commit the murder, she ultimately can't go through with it and her involvement in the deed drives her insane with guilt, leading to the famous sleepwalking scene and eventually her offscreen death.
60* ArbitrarySkepticism: Witches can predict the future and cast spells, dead men can come back as ghosts, apparitions can rise from cauldrons... but trees can't ''move.'' That would just be silly.
61* ArcNumber: 3. Three witches, three murderers, twenty-seven (three cubed) scenes, et cetera.
62* AssassinationAttempt: The play revolves around Macbeth's cold murder of King Duncan and the downward spiral Macbeth falls into trying to ensure his continued rule by killing anyone else of political significance.
63* AudienceParticipation: Macbeth's vision of Banquo's ghost and eight kings (his descendants), one carrying a mirror ("glass") in which he sees many more, some of which carry two balls and three scepters. This is undoubtedly a reference to King James who was king over England, Ireland, and Scotland (three [[StaffOfAuthority royal scepters]]), was crowned twice, in Scotland and then England (two [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globus_cruciger royal orbs]]), and was supposed to be descended from Banquo himself. Since the play was probably first performed in court, the actor with the mirror would have held it up to James's face.
64* AwesomeMomentOfCrowning: "Hail, king of Scotland!" The last scene ends with everyone hailing Malcolm as king. Many productions will have Macduff give him the crown.
65* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Early on, Macbeth fantasises about him being king of Scotland and how he'd be much better than the current King Duncan. He's later crowned king but regrets this since he killed Duncan.
66* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: Inverted. Macbeth refuses to "play the Roman fool and die on [his] own sword", instead choosing to die in single combat with Macduff.
67* BigBad: [[VillainProtagonist Macbeth himself]]. The play is about his murdering his way to the top, culminating in his death. In an unusual twist, he's also the main character. Macduff acts like this in the sense of being the main antagonist, but he's a HeroAntagonist.
68* BigBadSlippage: Macbeth starts the story as a good and loyal soldier before the influence of the three witches and his wife starts him on a downward spiral toward becoming the BigBad.
69* BitchInSheepsClothing: Lady Macbeth encourages Macbeth to be one: "Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under it."
70* BittersweetEnding: Despite being named a Tragedy (as it details a man being corrupted and descending into evil and ruin), the ending is far more positive than most of Shakespeare's Tragedies, but still quite dark.
71* BloodyHallucinationsOfGuilt: Lady Macbeth convinces her husband Lord Macbeth to kill the current king because of a prophecy that says he's to be the next king of Scotland. The ensuing murders the two have to commit to maintain their position slowly drives Lady Macbeth mad with guilt, which includes her imagining bloodstains and [[ScrubbingOffTheTrauma furiously attempting to scrub them away]] to no avail, culminating in her infamous line "Out damned spot!"
72* BondOneLiner: "Thou wast born of woman."
73* {{Bookends}}: Towards the beginning, Macbeth displays the severed head of the traitor Macdonwald. In the end, his own treasonous head is on display.
74* BringIt: This line:
75--> '''Macbeth:''' Lay on, Macduff -- and [[DuelToTheDeath damn'd be he who first cries "Hold, enough!"]]
76** Unlike most examples, it does not reflect the confidence of victory but rather the desire to go down fighting rather than be taken prisoner.
77* TheCaligula: Macbeth, supposedly. We never actually ''see'' any evidence of vices from him save for, y'know, all the murder. More clearly, Malcolm describes himself this way to Macduff at first, but then admits that he is nothing of the sort, and he was merely testing Macduff. (Macduff is ''not'' amused.)
78* CallBack: Right after Macbeth kills Duncan, Lady Macbeth, having grasped his bloodstained hands with her own, says "A little water clears us of this deed. How easy is it then?" This sets up a powerful CallBack in the late going when an insane Lady Macbeth hallucinates that she can't wash the blood off her hands in the "Out, out damned spot!" scene.
79* CallForward: In the scene where the witches show Macbeth the line of kings descended from Banquo, Macbeth notes "some I see/That two-fold balls and treble scepters carry." That is a reference to King James I/James VI of England/Scotland unified the monarchies of England and Scotland when he succeeded to the throne of England in 1603. The regnal ornaments of Scotland consisted of one ball and one staff, while the ornaments of England were one ball and two staffs. This entire passage is an exercise in flattery towards King James, who claimed descent from the possibly legendary Banquo.
80* CardCarryingVillain: Lady Macbeth, to the point that she prays for demons to come and [[GenderBender turn her into a man]] out of the belief that it will allow her to be even eviler than she already is.
81* ComeToGawk: Invoked, and why Macbeth's willing to fight to the death.
82* CreepyChild: The second and third apparitions take this form.
83* TheDarkSideWillMakeYouForget: Specifically, Lady Macbeth ''wants'' to become evil so that she will be able to carry out the murder without remorse. It doesn't work, however -- the guilt drives her insane and eventually [[DrivenToSuicide to suicide]].
84* DeathOfAChild: Macduff's entire family is murdered, including his wife and son.
85* DecapitationPresentation: Macbeth decapitated Macdonwald (after disemboweling him), then affixes the rebel's head to a Scottish battlement. In [[BookEnds the last scene]], Macduff greets Malcolm with Macbeth's severed head.
86* DeceasedFallGuyGambit: Macbeth pins Duncan's murder on a pair of guards, then kills them, supposedly out of grief from just seeing Duncan's body.
87* DespairEventHorizon: Macbeth reaches it when he learns of his wife's death, which prompts his DespairSpeech.
88* DespairSpeech: The "tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow" monologue. It's basically Macbeth saying, [[CessationOfExistence "There is no afterlife,]] [[StrawNihilist so life is meaningless."]]
89* DisproportionateRetribution: Mentioned by the first Witch in one of the Witches' first scenes. Supposedly, she once tracked down a sailor at sea and drove him insane by cursing him with permanent insomnia, all because the guy's wife [[EvilIsPetty refused to share some chestnuts with her]].
90* DrivenToSuicide: Lady Macbeth is implied to have gone out this way (adaptations usually have her jumping off the battlements). Macbeth, however, rejects suicide and decides to [[DuelToTheDeath fight to the death]].
91* DyingForSymbolism: Banquo is more conscientious than Macbeth, and tends to point out what Macbeth ''ought'' to be doing. After Macbeth [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope Jumps off the Slippery Slope]], he has Banquo killed; this represents the loss of Macbeth's moral conscience.
92* ElectiveMonarchy: In the play, the Scottish kings are elected, which explains why the title character is chosen after Duncan, rather than his son. Reading between the lines, it may be that Duncan incurred some ire from the nobles for making his son heir-apparent while he was living.
93* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: GenderInverted. Lady Macbeth mentions that the only reason she doesn't kill Duncan herself is that he looks too much like her dad.
94* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are typically depicted as HappilyMarried and very loving towards one other. Macbeth also crosses into a DespairEventHorizon after hearing news of his wife's death.
95* EvenEvilHasStandards:
96** As Macbeth sinks further into underhanded deeds and cruelty, even the ''witches'' start to regard him as evil. "By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes."
97** Lady Macbeth's SanitySlippage truly kicks in after Lady Macduff and her children are massacred on Macbeth's orders. Some adaptations - notably the 1948 and 2015 films - have her witnessing the deaths and having a HeelRealization as they happen.
98* ExactWords:
99** Macduff's family is well at peace. Resting in peace, that is.
100** Macbeth is perfectly safe so long as the woods of Dunsinane don't come to his castle. Of course, nobody said that those same woods ''still had to be planted in the ground'', as opposed to being used as camouflage by an attacking army.
101** And Macbeth's supposed invulnerability, given that he can be defeated by no man of woman born. A pity then that Macduff was delivered via caesarian section.
102* EyeOfNewt: The witches' song features a long list of the ingredients they're boiling in their cauldron to power their spells.
103-->'''Second Witch:''' Fillet of a fenny snake/ In the cauldron boil and bake/ Eye of newt and toe of frog/ Wool of bat and tongue of dog/ Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting/ Lizard's leg and owlet's wing/ For a charm of powerful trouble/ Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
104* FaceHeelTurn: Macbeth begins the story as a straight-up hero of the Scottish people, despite seemingly [[{{Foreshadowing}} being a bit bloodthirsty]], and is well-regarded by his peers, feared by his enemies, and highly respected by King Duncan. But his ambition and his subsequent guilt over all the murders he's ordered done to keep his crown [[MurderMakesYouCrazy cause him to go straight-up insane]] towards the end. The play seems to hint that Macbeth knows what he is doing is wrong and wants to stop, but once he's murdered the king, there is simply no way but forward since he is going to burn in hell anyways.
105* FakeFaint: Lady Macbeth fakes a faint when Duncan's murder is discovered, to distract from Macbeth almost SayingTooMuch regarding his murder of the king's guards.
106* FallenHero: Macbeth goes from a war hero to a bloodthirsty tyrant.
107* FalseReassurance
108** Macduff asks if Macbeth has been bothering his family, and Ross says "they were well at peace when I did leave 'em." Macduff notes Ross's oddly tight-lipped manner, and a few lines later Ross gathers his nerve and delivers the bad news: Macbeth has massacred Macduff's entire family.
109** Just about every 'good' omen Macbeth receives is false reassurance in hindsight, since they lead him to believe he is safe when he is actually doomed.
110* FamilyExtermination: Macbeth orders the whole Macduff family to be exterminated after being told to "beware Macduff". Unfortunately, Macduff himself isn't at home when the slaughter is carried out.
111* FauxAffablyEvil: Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are often portrayed as having a loving relationship and are great ones for entertaining their guests. Unfortunately, Lady M urges her husband to "look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under it", and accuses her husband of wimping out under the pretence of false courage when he sent his first report and convinces him to let the guards take the rap for Duncan's murder.
112* FirstNameBasis: Macbeth has OnlyOneName in the play. The historical Macbeth's real name was Mac Bethad mac Findlaích. ([=MacBheatha MacFhionnlaigh=] in modern Scots Gaelic, anglicised as Macbeth [=MacFinlay=]. His father's name was [=Findláech/"Finlay"=], Thane of Angus and king[[note]]Technically, mormaer, a title sometimes translated as "small king" or earl[[/note]] of Moray. Despite looking like a patronymic, "Macbeth" is a first name, which is why it doesn't get CamelCase in English.)
113* {{Foreshadowing}}: Duncan mentions that the treacherous Thane of Cawdor who had just been executed for treason in Act I, Scene 4 "was a gentleman on whom I built an absolute trust." Duncan also trusts the new Thane of Cawdor -- Macbeth -- implicitly, and Macbeth, just like the old Thane, betrays him and ends up dying in battle with loyalist forces.
114* FreeSamplePlotCoupon: The witches hail Macbeth as Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor, and he that shall be king thereafter. Since Macbeth is only Thane of Glamis, he dismisses it: moments later, he gets word that the sitting Thane of Cawdor has been executed for treason and Macbeth has been given his title. This makes him and his wife give serious thought to how they might get the crown.
115* FreudianExcuse: The killers that Macbeth hires both allude to having had troubled pasts.
116* GirlsWithMoustaches: The Weird Sisters are bearded, according to Banquo.
117* TheGoodKing: There's no indication that Duncan was a bad king.
118* GreaterScopeVillain: The witches are this to Macbeth, as their SelfFulfillingProphecy leads to Macbeth's FaceHeelTurn. Hecate is also this to the witches, being their superior that makes them deliver their second round of prophecies.
119* GuttedLikeAFish: "Till he unseamed him from the nave to th' chops" is how a character in an early scene describes how Macbeth killed a rebel. In other words, Macbeth stuck a sword in the guy's belly and sliced it up to his chin.
120* HappilyMarried
121** We never see Macduff and his wife in a scene together, but they seem to be this, despite her complaints about his leaving her behind. He's certainly devastated when she's killed, along with their children.
122** Despite their horrific deeds, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are very much in love with each other. Critic Harold Bloom points out that it's the ''only'' happy marriage in Shakespeare among protagonists.
123* HauntingTheGuilty: After Macbeth had Banquo assassinated, he ends up seeing his former friend's ghost at the banquet. Only Macbeth can see the ghost, however, and [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane it's left to interpretation if it was really a ghost or a hallucination created by his guilty conscience]].
124* HealingHands: King Edward is said to be able to cure diseases.
125* HenpeckedHusband: Macbeth. His wife loses her hold on him, however, after Duncan's murder.
126* HeroAntagonist: Macduff and Malcolm, fighting the good fight against VillainProtagonist Macbeth.
127* HeroicSelfDeprecation: Malcolm fears that he would become lustful, greedy for his subjects' land and money and that he would make a poor king because he appears to lack the necessary royal virtues. After Macduff reminds him of the virtuous character of Duncan and his mother, he reveals that this was a SecretTestOfCharacter to Macduff, who had felt guilty about leaving his wife and son behind to be slaughtered.
128* HeWillNotCrySoICryForHim: Malcolm attempts this to Siward. Siward stops him.
129* HistoricalHeroUpgrade:
130** In reality, Malcolm did not become king after slaying Macbeth, rather, Macbeth's stepson Lulach was crowned, only for [[TheUsurper Malcolm to murder and usurp him]], ironically the exact crime that the play (falsely, see below) portrays Macbeth committing.
131** Duncan is portrayed as a good king who ends up dishonorably slain by someone he trusted while in bed. While he was killed by Macbeth in real life, it was in combat in which he was the aggressor.
132* HistoricalVillainUpgrade:
133** The actual historical figure Macbeth killed Duncan fairly on the field of battle (after Duncan invaded his lands), then proceeded to rule with little resistance for 17 years and was generally celebrated as a generous and decent king. Shakespeare's portrayal of Macbeth as a murderer and usurper is usually credited to him trying to please King James I, who was descended from the guy who overthrew Macbeth.
134** Macbeth's wife, whose name was Gruoch, is obscure so little is really known of her life. There's no indication of her murdering anyone, inciting Macbeth to, or killing herself in guilt over the previous.
135* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Duncan, who holds Macbeth in high esteem, makes him Thane of Cawdor, and goes to stay in his castle. Bad move.
136* HourglassPlot: Twofold:
137** At the start of the play, the original Thane of Cawdor, who has turned traitor, is put to death for treason, and is redeemed by his bravery in death. At the end of the play, Macbeth, who had become the new Thane of Cawdor, has the same fate.
138** Initially, Macbeth shows more scruples/hesitancy about killing Duncan than does his wife, and she pushes him into doing it. Afterward, however, Lady Macbeth suppresses any feelings of guilt, and constantly tells Macbeth to stop fretting, whereas Macbeth is haunted by his feelings of guilt--''until'' her repressed guilt comes back in her sleep and drives her to suicide, while he becomes more and villainous and slowly loses all his remaining scruples about killing. Her death takes away the only other person he cared about, and by the end of the play he's a shell of himself.
139* HumanResources: The potion in Act IV includes some.
140* IgnoredEpiphany: Macbeth [[HeelRealization realizes]] several times, the wrongness of what he's done and that he has a chance to turn back, most notably when he has scrupulous thoughts about being ungrateful to Duncan whom he murders at his wife's urging to prove his love for her, and after the feast. He doesn't, and when recalling the witches' prophecy of Banquo's descendants and Macduff, he further silences his conscience by ordering the murder of Banquo, in addition to Macduff's wife and son.
141* TheInsomniac: "Glamis hath murdered sleep, and there Cawdor/Shall sleep no more, Macbeth shall sleep no more!"
142* {{Irony}}: Lady Macbeth assures her husband that "a little water clears us of this deed", with regards to cleaning the bloodstains off after Duncan is murdered. She later hallucinates that there is a spot of blood she cannot wash off her hands.
143* ItGetsEasier: Macbeth feels a lot more guilty about murdering Duncan than about any of his later crimes.
144* ItsPersonal: Macduff resolves to kill Macbeth after learning that his wife, kids, and servants were all murdered on Macbeth's orders.
145* ItWasHereISwear: Banquo's ghost. It doesn't help his case that Macbeth's the only one who can see the ghost.
146* IveComeTooFar: Macbeth states: "I am in blood / Stepped in so far that, should I wade no more, / Returning were as tedious as go o'er".
147* IWillFightSomeMoreForever: As befitting an ex-soldier. This is Macbeth's last line to Macduff, even though he's re-interpreted the prophecy and already knows he's screwed.
148* KarmaHoudini: The Murderers who do in Banquo and Macduff's family subsequently [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse disappear from the story]] without receiving any comeuppance.
149* KickTheDog: The witches have a lengthy discussion of all the petty, cruel things they've been doing in their free time.
150* KillTheCutie: The naive Lady Macduff, who erroneously dismisses her husband's actions as cowardly and treacherous, is slain with her son by the murderers after ignoring a warning from a messenger who unsuccessfully urges her to take refuge.
151* KlingonPromotion: How Macbeth becomes Thane of Cawdor, and later king.
152* LadyMacbeth: Macbeth is keen on becoming king from the beginning, but it is his wife who persuades him to murder Duncan. TropeNamer.
153* LastNameBasis: Lady Macbeth's first name is never stated. This may be because the historical Lady Macbeth had what most non-Scots would consider to be an EmbarrassingFirstName -- Gruoch.
154* LastVillainStand: Macbeth has an extremely famous one.
155* LeaveNoWitnesses: Banquo, who was unlucky enough to be present at the witches' citation.
156* LighterAndSofter: If the Witches' song is ever found in a book of children's poetry (and it often is) you can bet it won't include the lines, "Liver of blaspheming Jew", or "Finger of birth-strangled babe".
157* LiteralMinded: The witches tell Macbeth that his crown will be safe until "Birnam Wood walks to Dunsinane". He thinks that he's 100% safe since trees don't walk. The soldiers attacking his castle use big branches cut from Birnam Wood, which makes it looks like it's walking to Dunsinane.
158* TheLoinsSleepTonight: The Porter's scene is chock-full of this stuff. (Hey, this ''was'' written by Shakespeare, master of the DoubleEntendre.)
159* LonelyAtTheTop: Once the Macbeths rule Scotland, there's no one beside them (since Macbeth murdered his friend Banquo to avert a prophecy that Banquo's descendants would be kings) and their underlings are suspicious of them.
160* TheLowMiddleAges: Technically set in this era. [[note]]By a very slim margin: the historical Macbeth ruled during the 1050s.[[/note]]
161* By [[MagpiesAsPortents Maggotpies]] and [[CrowsAndRavens Choughs and Rooks]]: Act 3, scene 4, line 150. After hallucinating Banquo, Macbeth rants about how magpies and crows and ravens bring forth "The secret'st man of blood."
162* MagicCauldron: The three witches use a cauldron for their magic. Quite a few subsequent depictions of witches' cauldrons likely stem from this.
163* TheManBehindTheMan: Macbeth wouldn't have gone so far without the encouragement of his wife. This is taken up to eleven as Macbeth was spurred on by the witches, who in turn work for Hecate.
164%%* ManipulativeBastard: Macbeth. Also, Lady Macbeth is the Manipulative Bitch.
165* ManlyTears: Macduff, after learning of the death of his children, reprimands Malcolm for suggesting that real men don't cry.
166-->'''Malcolm:''' Dispute it like a man.\
167'''Macduff:''' I shall do so; / but I must also feel it as a man: / I cannot but remember such things were, / that were most precious to me.
168** The text suggests that Duncan does this after he expresses his thanks to Macbeth and Banquo for the victory, and they answer that they owe it all to him. Duncan says "My plenteous joys / Wanton in fulness, seek to hide themselves / In drops of sorrow."
169* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: It's up to the director to decide whether to actually show Banquo's ghost or the blood on Lady Macbeth's hands.
170* MedicalMonarch: In England, while Malcolm is taking refuge there, King Edward is touching for the King's Evil off-stage -- thus providing a {{Foil}} to Macbeth's less humane and efficacious kingship.
171* MobileShrubbery: "Birnam Wood to Dunsinane." The soldiers attacking Macbeth's castle disguise themselves as trees.
172* MoodWhiplash: Between the scene in which Duncan is murdered and the scene where his body is found, we're treated to an interlude involving a drunk doorman complaining about [[TheLoinsSleepTonight how he can't get an erection]] when liquored up.
173** In his famous essay "On the Knocking at the Gate in ''Macbeth''", Thomas De Quincey argues that MoodWhiplash is the ''entire point'' of this interlude, commencing of course with the loud knocking from offstage; its effect is to increase the horror of what the Macbeths have done by abruptly throwing us back ''out'' of the horror and into more mundane concerns.
174* MurderIsTheBestSolution: A ham-fisted murder coverup quickly turns into a bloodbath as Macbeth targets his potential rivals. He's got a big field to go after, too.
175* MushroomSamba: Macbeth initially tries to explain away their encounter with the witches as this, before concluding it must indeed have been real.
176* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Lady Macbeth in the sleepwalking scene.
177* NamedByTheAdaptation: Inverted - the historical Lady Macbeth had a first name, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gruoch Gruoch]] - but it is never used in the play.
178* NeverOneMurder: Explored from Macbeth's perspective as the body count rises.
179* NiceJobBreakingItHerod: The murderers successfully kill Banquo, but Fleance escapes, which makes the Witches' prophecy to Banquo that "he shall get kings, though thou be none" more ominous when Macbeth asks if Banquo's descendants will ever reign, followed by a train of ghosts whose appearances resemble Banquo's future descendants.
180* NietzscheWannabe: Macbeth becomes this when he realizes that Birnam Wood has indeed come to Dunsinane, concluding that life is "a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."
181* NoManOfWomanBorn: The TropeNamer. The witches tell Macbeth that no man of woman born can kill him. Macbeth drops this knowledge on Macduff before their fight, only for Macduff to drop the bomb:
182--> And let the angel whom thou still hast served\
183Tell thee, Macduff was from his mother's womb\
184Untimely ripped.[[note]]In layman's terms, it means he was born via Cesarean.[[/note]]
185* NotHisBlood: Macbeth is not happy when the First Murderer shows up at his front door spattered with blood, after killing Banquo, while a bunch of lords and nobles are sitting down to eat inside the castle.
186-->'''Macbeth''': There's blood on thy face.\
187'''First Murderer''': 'Tis Banquo's then.
188* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: Macbeth's death. He and Macduff leave the stage fighting, and then later Macduff returns holding his severed head.
189* OhCrap: Macbeth says as much upon [[NoManOfWomanBorn Macduff's rebuttal]] to his "no man of woman born" boast.
190--> '''Macbeth:''' Accursed be that tongue that tells me so,\
191For it hath cow'd my better part of man!
192* OminousFog: "[[BadIsGoodAndGoodIsBad Fair is foul, and foul is fair]]/Hover through the fog and filthy air." The play opens on the creepy, fog-bound moors of Scotland, where Macbeth and Banquo meet the witches after defeating the Thane of Cawdor's rebellion.
193* OminousOwl: The shriek of an owl makes Lady Macbeth think of a bellman who makes announcements about death:
194--> '''Lady Macbeth''': It was the owl that shrieked, the fatal bellman, Which gives the stern'st good-night.
195* OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness: The Three Witches. They observe everything in the play, but "only" interact by delivering prophecies.
196* OnlyInItForTheMoney: One of the assassins hired by Macbeth notes that they shouldn't doubt the orders they're given as long as they get paid.
197* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: Macduff really does not want anyone else to kill Macbeth.
198--> '''Macduff''': Tyrant, show thy face! If thou be'st slain and with no stroke of mine, my wife and children's ghosts will haunt me still.
199* OutlivingOnesOffspring: Macduff's entire household was slaughtered. We see the death of his eldest son on stage.
200* PapaWolf: A variation; Macduff is unable to protect his family (because he was elsewhere when they were murdered), so avenging their slaughter becomes his motivation against Macbeth.
201* PetRat: The murderers Macbeth hires to kill Banquo.
202* PetTheDog: Lady Macbeth's kind treatment of an exhausted servant who serves as an envoy contrasts with the following scene of her wishing her best nature destroyed so she can properly vie ruthlessly for Macbeth's rise to the throne.
203* {{Pride}}: Like a lot of Shakespeare's tragedy protagonists, Macbeth has this as a major failing.
204* ProperlyParanoid: The survivors flee to England to marshal forces against Macbeth, just as he feared.
205* ProphecyArmor: Macbeth believes he has this near the end, thanks to the witches' prophecy that "none of woman born shall harm Macbeth". In the final battle, even though the odds seem to stand greatly against him, Macbeth takes courage from the fact that he still cannot be defeated by anyone "born of woman", and warns his opponents to attack him because (he thinks) he is unkillable. This assumption proves to be wrong with Macduff, [[NoManOfWomanBorn who was delivered by Caesarean section]].
206-->''Let fall thy blade on vulnerable crests:\
207I bear a charmed life, which must not yield\
208To one of woman born.''
209* ProphecyTwist: The witches have nasty surprises for Macbeth. No man of woman born can kill him -- but Macduff wasn't 'born' in the literal sense of the word. He can't be defeated until Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane -- but when soldiers approach the castle at night, under cover of branches chopped in Birnam Wood...
210* ProtagonistJourneyToVillain: Macbeth's journey from war hero to psychopathic tyrant king is one of the most famous examples of this trope ever.
211* ProtagonistTitle: As is standard for a Shakespeare tragedy.
212* ThePurge: Averted in that Macbeth fails to prevent Duncan's sons, Malcolm and Donalbain, from getting away, which comes back to bite him; however, as he slips into madness and paranoia, he starts ordering that more of his enemies and their families (including children) be murdered -- which also comes back to bite him, as it sets Macduff off on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge. Damned if you do, damned if you don't -- and Macbeth is certainly damned.
213* PyrrhicVictory: The [=MacBeths=] killed King Duncan, forever destroying the mental peace of LadyMacbeth and turning Macbeth into a FallenHero who cannot help to order ever more unjust killing, all for a temporary victory. In the long term, what they accomplished was to make Banquo's descendants kings.
214* ARealManIsAKiller: Lady Macbeth makes this point to convince her husband to murder the king, but the rest of the play can be seen as a massive deconstruction of this trope. Also played straight in Act I Scene ii, where a minor character recites Macbeth's bloodthirsty feats of arms to universal applause. "Unseamed him from the nave to the chaps and fixed his head upon our battlements" comes pretty close to LudicrousGibs.
215* RememberTheNewGuy: The Third Murderer, who appears out of nowhere -- Macbeth charges two Murderers with killing Banquo and Fleance, but when the time comes, a third shows up. Even the other Murderers are surprised, asking, "But who did bid thee join with us?" Given that the Third Murderer is of no obvious importance, people have debated for decades what significance he has. Many productions take the opportunity to cast pre-established characters as the Third Murderer. Usually he is revealed to be either Seyton, the Thane of Ross, or even Macbeth himself, come to ensure the deed is done properly. Writer Creator/JamesThurber even wrote a humorous short story in which he is revealed to be ''Macduff'', playing both sides for his own benefit.
216* RhymingWizardry: The three witches recite a poem as they brew a potion for Macbeth to drink. They notably use rhyming couplets rather than the iambic pentameter Shakespeare was known to employ, emphasizing their otherworldly nature.
217-->''Double, double toil and trouble;''
218-->''Fire burn, and cauldron bubble''
219* RightfulKingReturns: Malcolm back from England to take the throne.
220* RippedFromTheHeadlines: The ''Tiger'', wracked at sea "Sennights nine times nine", was based on the story of a ship called the ''Tiger's Whelp''. This ship had disappeared at sea and been presumed lost in 1604, but returned to port five hundred sixty-seven days later.
221* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Suffice it to say that Macduff does not take the [[RelativeButton murder of his family well.]]
222* RuleOfThree: The witches total three, chant in threes, and spin around in circles ('winding up' their spells, so to speak, like a clock) three times.
223* SacredHospitality: Macbeth worries about killing Duncan while he is a guest in Macbeth's castle.
224-->He's here in double trust:\
225First, as I am his kinsman and his subject,\
226Strong both against the deed; then, as his host,\
227Who should against his murderer shut the door,\
228Not bear the knife myself.
229* SanitySlippage: An archetypal example, as gnawing guilt drives the Macbeths crazier and crazier as the story progresses. Lady Macbeth also suffers this, as she starts to have visual and aural hallucinations and eventually kills herself.
230* ScrubbingOffTheTrauma: The famous sleepwalking scene, where Lady Macbeth, guilt-ridden over Duncan's death, dreams that she has a bloodstain on her hand that she cannot get out by any means.
231* SecretTestOfCharacter: When Macduff finds Malcolm, Malcolm claims to be a lustful, greedy son of a bitch completely unfit to rule and then asks if Macduff will still restore him to the throne. Horrified, Macduff refuses, and then Malcolm explains it was a test and he's actually PurityPersonified, and knowing Macduff has scruples means he can join the righteous cause of toppling Macbeth.
232* {{Seers}}: The Witches appear to have powers like this, as they predict various things set to happen to Macbeth.
233* SelfFulfillingProphecy: The witches do this a lot, to the point where critics are not sure whether they actually predict the future or are just [[ManipulativeBastard Manipulative Bitches]] using a BatmanGambit by telling people what they need to hear for these futures to come about.
234** The prophecy that Macbeth would become king put the idea of kingship into Macbeth's head -- enough so that when he is told that the heir will be someone else (Malcolm), he decides to take matters into his own hands by assassinating Duncan, which makes him king.
235** Macbeth is told to "beware Macduff". If he hadn't heard that, he wouldn't have thought Macduff was a threat, decided to kill Macduff's whole family, pissed Macduff enough to join a rebellion against him, and found out that Macduff, being born by C-section, was an exception to the prophecy that 'none of woman born' would kill Macbeth.
236* ShoutOut: Macbeth disdains the idea of acting like a "Roman fool" who "dies on my own sword," as Brutus does in Shakespeare's own Theatre/JuliusCaesar.
237* ShutUpHannibal: Macduff delivers one to Macbeth during their climactic fight.
238* SlainInTheirSleep: The assassination of Duncan.
239* TheStarscream: An UnbuiltTrope variant. After Macbeth successfully usurps King Duncan and claims the throne, he descends into paranoia and [[HeKnowsTooMuch kills off anyone else that remotely seems to be a threat to him]]. He himself is overthrown by Macduff, [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge whose family was murdered by Macbeth]].
240* StartOfDarkness: The beginning of Act II, when Macbeth murders King Duncan.
241* StuffedInTheFridge: Lady Macduff is murdered along with her son, which is what properly motivates Macduff to go after Macbeth.
242* SuccessionCrisis: Shakespeare's intent was to show why you should ''always'' follow proper succession laws, otherwise look what happened in Scotland! A guy who wasn't related to the king was appointed an heir and ended up murdering everybody to get ahead. Obviously, this subtext was particularly relevant to Shakespeare's patron, King James I. That said, some scholars[[labelnote: *]]''cf. the intro to the Bedford Shakespeare series''[[/labelnote]] speculate it was the other way around: Shakespeare was subtly attacking the idea of divine succession and sowing the seeds for the English Commonwealth in peoples' minds. Since the guy's been dead for four hundred years, the "true" answer isn't likely to be forthcoming.
243* SuicideByCop: Macbeth's death has been played like this, as he deliberately launches into single combat with someone he knows can kill him, at a point where he's passed the DespairEventHorizon and has nothing left to live for.
244* SymbolicBlood: ''Macbeth'' is drenched in symbolic blood, like the blood on the floating dagger and the blood on Lady Macbeth's hands.
245* TemptingFate: Siward observes that the victory was "cheaply bought", only to hear immediately after that his son was killed.
246* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: Banquo gets his [[SlashedThroat throat slashed]] and receives "twenty trenched gashes on his head" before being thrown in a ditch to rot. To say that he was murdered is an understatement.
247* ThisCannotBe: How Macbeth usually reacts to the Prophecy Twists.
248* UnbuiltTrope:
249** This is the TropeNamer and Codifier for LadyMacbeth. Rather than being [[BehindEveryGreatMan the woman behind the man]] or being more evil than her husband, she's on an equal level with him. She's only the one who influences him to commit the first murder (of Duncan), and it's Macbeth himself who goes down the StartOfDarkness. Lady Macbeth herself feels massive amounts of remorse and suffers SanitySlippage over what they've done, eventually committing suicide in guilt.
250** One of the earliest known examples of the WickedWitch with regards to the three weird sisters. But rather than being ObviouslyEvil they're merely a source of dangerous wisdom, and the text doesn't state whether they actually are evil. It's telling that many modern productions - inspired by the trope - expand them into being chessmasters who orchestrated the whole thing.
251* UnexpectedlyRealMagic: One of the reasons this is known as [[TheScottishTrope The Scottish Play]] is because it used "real" witchcraft chants (which King James, a notable believer in witchcraft[[note]]Shakespeare added the element to the play to appeal to him.[[/note]], decreed should only be spoken during a performance, [[DefiedTrope just in case]]).
252* UngratefulBastard: Macbeth, as Duncan rewards him for his heroism by giving him the lands and titles of Macdonwald, the rebellious thane who tried to help King Sweno of Norway conquer Scotland. He'd have probably been more than happy with this if the witches hadn't inflamed Macbeth and his wife's ambitions.
253* UnholyMatrimony: Macbeth and his lady manage to be both this and HappilyMarried.
254* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: Shakespeare changed lots of historical details in order to please the newly crowned King James, who believed himself to be a descendant of Banquo, a friend of and probable co-conspirator with Macbeth that Macbeth eventually killed. [[HistoricalVillainUpgrade The character of Macbeth himself was also changed dramatically]]. In reality, Donnchad (Duncan) failed badly at invading part of England, and so decided to pillage Mac Bethad's (Macbeth's) territory. Mac Bethad defeated him in battle, Donnchad dying, and Mac Bethad became king. He proceeded to rule for the best part of two decades and evidently felt pretty secure in his position since it's documented that he took several months off to go to Rome and get personally blessed by the Pope. The time frame of Shakespeare's play isn't entirely clear but seems to be quite a bit shorter than the seventeen years of Mac Bethad's historical reign.
255* VillainProtagonist: Macbeth himself. He murders his way to the top and becomes a tyrant ruling with an iron fist over Scotland, killing anyone who could possibly get in his way, suffering SanitySlippage all the while. He is also without a doubt the protagonist of the play.
256* VillainousBreakdown:
257** Macbeth has one when he hears Lady Macbeth has died. "Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow creeps in this petty pace from day to day..."
258** Lady Macbeth has her own breakdown out of guilt for her actions, resulting in her becoming so unhinged that she starts sleepwalking and sleeptalking, bemoaning her crimes and trying to get an imaginary spot of blood off her hands.
259* VillainousBSOD: Well, sort of. Macbeth's brain sort of breaks for a while after he kills Duncan.
260* VillainousValour: Macbeth, at the end. Having spent the latter half of the play convinced nobody can kill him, all the omens of his doom are before him, and he loses his courage. Then, realizing he'll be captured and humiliated, he resolves to go down fighting and does.
261--> "At least we'll die with harness on our back!"
262* TheWeirdSisters:
263** Macbeth's descent into villainy is triggered by his encounter with three old and freakishly ugly witches who predict that he is destined to be king of Scotland, which prompts Macbeth to murder King Duncan. In Act IV, Macbeth seeks out the witches again and receives three more prophecies which lull him into a false sense of security. While the witches manipulate Macbeth, their prophecies are truthful, just worded in ways apt to be misinterpreted by Macbeth, and they do not interfere with fate directly.
264** There are also three more witches who form the company of Heccat (Hecate), and who do not have any speaking lines.
265* WhamLine:
266-->'''Macduff''': Despair thy charm,\
267And let the angel whom thou still hast served\
268Tell thee, Macduff was from his mother's womb\
269Untimely ripped.
270* WhatHappenedToTheMouse:
271** So Donalbain just stayed in Ireland, then? (The last mention of Donalbain in the text has Caithness asking if Donalbain is with his brother's army, and Lennox answering that he is not, but not saying where Donalbain actually is.) The 1971 film adds an epilogue scene for him.
272** The murderers who killed Banquo are never heard from again after reporting his death to Macbeth. Though some productions and possibly the original text depending on which version you're reading have them also kill Macduffs family , but even then they disappear afterwards usually.
273* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Macbeth mentions that he could face a tiger without fear, but seeing Banquo's ghost is too much for him.
274* WorthyOpponent: Banquo is killed not only because of what he knows but because Macbeth ''respects him so highly''; in fact, he is the one man Macbeth is intimidated by. So of course, Banquo has to go.
275* WouldHurtAChild: Lady Macbeth claims she would kill her baby child if she had sworn to. Later, Macbeth has no qualms about sending his murderers to kill Macduff's children.
276* WrittenByTheWinners: Or written to appeal to a descendant of the winners, to be more precise; Duncan was an ancestor of King James, and portraying him in a historically accurate way might have upset King James; he was in fact an ineffective ruler who died in an unsuccessful attack on Macbeth.
277* YouKillItYouBoughtIt: Macbeth does this a few times:
278** The most obvious one is his murdering Duncan to seize Duncan's throne.
279** A more honorable example is the title of Thane of Cawdor, which originally belonged to the treacherous Macdonwald. Duncan gives Macbeth the title as a reward both for leading Scotland's victory over the Norwegian invasion and for killing Macdonwald in the process.
280
281----
282!!Particular productions and adaptations provide examples of:
283
284* AdaptationExpansion:
285** The 1948 adds more scenes for the witches to increase their significance. Notably they appear at the very end of the film to watch the carnage.
286** The 2006 and 2015 versions suggests that Lady Macbeth lost a child and is partly motivated by that.
287* AdaptationalAttractiveness: Traditionally, the Witches are repulsive old hags, whose status as women (or even ''humans'') is questioned at least once. The 2006 Australian version chucks that out the window and turns them into sexy young Wiccan girls who gladly make out and even have a squicky ''four way'' with Macbeth. They're still really creepy, though.
288* AdaptationalVillainy:
289** Hecate, in Welles's "Voodoo Macbeth", was given a much-expanded role. [[GenderFlip He]] was given dialogue and scenes from several minor characters, transforming him into an Iago-esque villain, manipulating the other characters to his own sinister ends.
290** The Porter in the Patrick Stewart version. A mere comic relief character in the original play, here, he's just as creepy as the witches, and even helps Macbeth murder Macduff's family.
291* AdaptedOut: Donalbain is cut from the 1948.
292* AgeLift:
293** The Witches in the 1999 RSC version were three semi-feral young women in grubby clothes (Noma Dumezweni, Polly Kemp and Diane Beck), resembling homeless junkies, who scurried around like animals. Gregory Doran gave them secret rehearsals on their own so that when they first showed up in rehearsal, they creeped the hell out of everyone.
294** The Witches in the 2006 version. Instead of old hags, they're depicted as a trio of sexy young ladies. It somehow manages to be more creepy than titillating, considering the fact that they're ''still'' AmbiguouslyHuman.
295** When Patrick Stewart played the role in 2007, the portrayal of the character was changed into that of an aging general with a young trophy wife, rather than the vigorous thirty-something (sometimes forty-something) warrior he is portrayed as in most film and stage productions of the last century.
296* {{Bowdlerization}}: The 1948 film had to censor the double entendres in the Porter's speech at the behest of the Hays Code.
297* BreakingTheFourthWall: In the film of the 1999 version, the soliloquies are mostly done as voice-over, or else as the characters speaking to themselves. But when Macbeth is told that Lady Macbeth is dead, he says the first half of his speech aloud to himself (''She should have died hereafter''), and then briefly breaks down before pulling himself together and delivering the last part directly to the camera (''Life's but a walking shadow'', etc.) After sneering the final line (''Signifying '''nothing'''!''), he walks past the camera and off the set, and the camera follows him up a flight of stairs and to an exit door from the venue they were shooting in, which he goes through, literally leaving the building.
298* CombatPragmatist:
299** The 1990s adaptation ''Macbeth On The Estate'' turns Macduff into this. He goads Macbeth into charging him, then pulls out a gun. Given the setting, a gun would be hard to obtain, but when taking revenge for your murdered family...
300** The 2006 version from Australia turns the final fight between Macduff and Macbeth into this. After their guns run out, they go at it with knives, fists, wine bottles, broken glass, and more.
301** The 2007 production starring Creator/PatrickStewart takes a page from the ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'' book in Macbeth's fight with Young Seward:
302--->'''Young Seward:''' With my blade, I'll prove the lie thou speakest!\
303''(Macbeth pulls out a pistol and shoots him dead)''
304** The 2010 movie gave Macduff's army camouflage suits, in comparison to the {{Badass Longcoat}}s of Macbeth's men. Though, they do not travel through any forest despite the lines about trees moving.
305* CompositeCharacter:
306** In some productions, the mysterious third murderer is another previously established character in service to Macbeth, charged with being a ''spy'' on the first two. The idea adds more depth to the idea that Macbeth is pretty paranoid at this point. Sometimes it's even Macbeth himself.
307** In the 1948 film, Macduff appears to have just one child. Granted only one appears on stage anyway, but other adaptations tend to show the rest.
308* CreepyChild: The 2011 Royal Shakespeare Company production changed the Weird Sisters into three eerie children -- two boys and one girl. This made the Act IV prophecy scene especially creepy; the three played with dolls as they gave their predictions.
309* CrossCastRole: In the 1948 film, one of the witches is played by Brainerd Duffield, a man, and Orson Welles's daughter played Macduff's son.
310* DeathByAdaptation:
311** In the 2006 version, the murderers of Banquo and Macduff's family; there's a silent scene where Macduff and Malcolm kill them before attacking Macbeth.
312** The 2007 version has Seyton killed by Malcolm's forces in the final battle
313** In the 2010 film, the witches kill the Sergeant.
314** In the 2013 Globe version, the Third Murderer kills the first two after they've mortally wounded Banquo, and then finishes Banquo off.
315* DecompositeCharacter: In the 2015 film, the Doctor and Gentlewoman who attend Lady Macbeth are present for the scene in which her death is announced but are absent for the ScrubbingOffTheTrauma scene. She instead gives this speech to an apparition of her dead son.
316* DemotedToExtra: Most of Duncan's scenes are cut from the 1948 film.
317* DownerEnding: The 2006 Australian version has Fleance, who Banquo tried to keep out of the gang warfare, sneaking into the attack on Macbeth's home, even killing a maid in a StartOfDarkness.
318* DraggedOffToHell: The 2007 version has a scene after the credits showing Macbeth and his wife in a descending elevator symbolizing their souls going to hell
319* DramaticThunder: The Welles adaptation leans on this trope pretty hard for the scene in which Macbeth murders Duncan.
320* FanSequel: Author Noah Lukeman's play ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tragedy_of_Macbeth_Part_II The Tragedy of Macbeth Part II: Seed of Banquo]]'' continues the story about ten years after the original's conclusion, following Malcolm's reign as king, his marriage to Macbeth's daughter, and his eventual downfall at the hands of a vengeful Fleance.
321* GetItOverWith: In the 2007 version, Macbeth almost kills Macduff, but he sees a vision of the witches; seeming to realize what he's been a pawn to, he simply repeats the word "Enough." -- and lets Macduff stab him instead.
322* HereWeGoAgain:
323** The 1971 version adds an epilogue showing Donalbain, who disappears after Duncan's murder and is never mentioned again (see WhatHappenedToTheMouse above) returning to Scotland after Malcolm retakes the Scottish throne. Donalbain comes across the witches in a cave, implying that they're going to repeat their evil scheme by manipulating him to try and overthrow Malcolm.
324** Noah Lukeman's FanSequel [[spoiler:shows the witches manipulating Malcolm into causing his own downfall the way they did to Macbeth.]]
325* HitlerCam: One of Orson Welles's favorite tropes, which he used in the 1948 film to film the scene where Macbeth is raging after the murderers tell him that Fleance got away.
326* IdenticalStranger:
327** Orson Welles's film had the witches appearing as other characters -- The First Murderer, Gentlewoman, and Lady Macduff respectively.
328** A couple of productions have had Hecate played by the same actress as Lady Macbeth, adding a new layer of subtext.
329* LightFeminineAndDarkFeminine: In the 1948 film Lady Macduff is clad in white with blonde hair (light feminine) while Lady Macbeth is dark-haired and wearing darker colours (dark feminine).
330* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane:
331** The 1983 BBC production made for television did not show Banquo's ghost, but an empty chair. Likewise, for the apparitions all that is shown is Macbeth's reaction, making it all seem like Macbeth going insane. However, the prophecy involving Birnam Wood, no man of woman born, and all that still comes true as the text dictates it must.
332*** The 2007 production, when filmed for television, cut back and forth between shots with Banquo's ghost and shots without him, again making the scene ambiguous.
333** The 1978 filmed staged production featuring Creator/IanMcKellen in the title role did much of the same. The witches are portrayed as charlatans taking advantage of a man's superstitious belief in something as dated as fate and have an OhCrap moment when Macbeth asks them to show him if Banquo's issue will ever reign in Scotland because he's asked them to do the impossible and they know they can't fake that.
334* MoreDeadlyThanTheMale: The 1948 film implies that Lady Macbeth already fatally stabbed Duncan before Macbeth attacked him.
335* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: In the 1948 version, Macduff's son speaks with an American accent when the others do Scottish.
336* OffWithHisHead: 1948's Macbeth dies this way, instead of first getting stabbed and having his corpse beheaded.
337* RuleOfSymbolism: Orson Welles inserted a Holy Man character into his film to illustrate a struggle between new religion and old religion (represented by the witches, who are portrayed like Celtic druids).
338* SettingUpdate: Very popular for this particular play, with the kingdom usually replaced with either a business or an organised crime syndicate. The fun part is seeing what the Witches are changed to (practitioners of Wicca, Gothic schoolgirls, Japanese forest spirit, black garbage collectors, nurses/organ poachers...).
339* SinisterSilhouettes: Orson Welles's film depicts the witches this way. Their faces are never seen, kept only in shadow with their long grey hair visible.
340* SinsOfOurFathers: Noah Lukeman's FanSequel subverts this with Macbeth's daughter. [[spoiler:Macduff plans to kill her when he learns her identity, but stays his hand when he overhears her prayers and shame for her parents' crimes.]]
341* ThoseTwoGuys: Many productions put Ross and Lennox together as this. Some productions in which Ross is given more presence play Lennox and Angus as this.
342* VoodooDoll: The 1948 film has the witches creating one of Macbeth at the start.

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