Scene notes: the choices behind the tragedy

At the start of the play, Macbeth is praised as a brave soldier. After meeting the Weird Sisters, he hears a prophecy that he will become king. He does not immediately act: when Duncan names Malcolm heir, Macbeth recognises that his own desire may lead him towards violence. Lady Macbeth urges him to seize the crown. Macbeth murders Duncan while the king is a guest in his castle, then takes the throne. His rule becomes increasingly violent as he tries to protect his position. Lady Macbeth, once forceful and determined, is overwhelmed by guilt. By the end, Macbeth's confidence in the Sisters' words has helped lead him to ruin. Use these short quotations as evidence: • Macbeth: “I have no spur ... but only vaulting ambition.” • Macbeth: “If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me, / Without my stir.” • Lady Macbeth: “Look like th' innocent flower, / But be the serpent under't.” • Macbeth: “I am in blood / Stepp'd in so far ...” • Lady Macbeth: “Out, damned spot! out, I say!”