![]() They fight, and it should be an exciting and suspenseful fight. Macduff is not impressed and says that he will let his sword do his talking. Could it be that he really feels remorse? Or is he just making an excuse for backing out of a fight with Macduff? In short, Macbeth is saying that those murders are on his conscience, so he doesn't want to shed Macduff's blood. He is giving Macduff a chance to back away without doing battle, but why? He says that his "soul is too much charged / With blood of thine." "Charged" means full, overburdened, and the "blood" to which Macbeth refers is the blood that was shed in the slaughter of Macduff's wife and children. Macbeth answers, "Of all men else I have avoided thee: / But get thee back my soul is too much charged / With blood of thine" (5.8.5-7). Now Macduff catches up with Macbeth and challenges him, calling out, "Turn, hell-hound, turn!" (5.8.3). ![]() In other words, he just likes to see the blood flow. He says, "Whiles I see lives, the gashes / Do better upon them" (5.8.2-3). Macbeth is in an impossible situation, but he is determined to do as much damage as possible before he dies. The Romans that Macbeth refers to considered suicide to be an honorable way out of an impossible situation. He has been thinking of the possibility of committing suicide, but he quickly rejects that, saying, "Why should I play the Roman fool, and die / On mine own sword?" (5.8.1-2). What we need to remember, then, as Macbeth comes into view, is that he knows he is being hunted down. ![]() Then Macduff entered and followed a noise that he thought indicated that Macbeth was in the midst of another fight. The last time we saw Macbeth, he was leaving the scene after killing Young Siward. Malcolm is hailed king of Scotland, whereupon he rewards his followers and invites all to see him crowned. Siward receives the news of his son's heroic death. Enter, with drum and colours, Malcolm, Siward, Ross, the other Thanes, and Soldiers. Macbeth boasts that he cannot be harmed by "one of woman born," but Macduff replies that he was "from his mother's womb / Untimely ripp'd." They fight on and Macduff kills Macbeth. The Macbeth script is very long, so we have separated the play into it’s original Acts and Scenes.Detailed Summary of Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 8: Some stage directions can be a little confusing, so have a read of our understanding Shakespeare’s stage directions article. Stage directions are instructions and direction to the actors, and not spoken lines. Our article on Shakespeare & early modern English, or our Shakespeare dictionary, will help you to understand the language as you read through the original textĪnother thing to bear in mind as you read the Macbeth script are Shakespeare’s stage directions, which are italicised. The language used in Shakespeare’s day is slightly different to today’s modern English, which is reflected in the Macbeth text. This page contains links to the free original Macbeth script by Shakespeare. Each Shakespeare’s play name links to a range of resources about each play: Character summaries, plot outlines, example essays and famous quotes, soliloquies and monologues: All’s Well That Ends Well Antony and Cleopatra As You Like It The Comedy of Errors Coriolanus Cymbeline Hamlet Henry IV Part 1 Henry IV Part 2 Henry VIII Henry VI Part 1 Henry VI Part 2 Henry VI Part 3 Henry V Julius Caesar King John King Lear Loves Labour’s Lost Macbeth Measure for Measure The Merchant of Venice The Merry Wives of Windsor A Midsummer Night’s Dream Much Ado About Nothing Othello Pericles Richard II Richard III Romeo & Juliet The Taming of the Shrew The Tempest Timon of Athens Titus Andronicus Troilus & Cressida Twelfth Night The Two Gentlemen of Verona The Winter’s Tale This list of Shakespeare plays brings together all 38 plays in alphabetical order.
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