Original: The raven himself is hoarse
Modern: Even the raven’s voice is scratchy and rough

Original: That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan
Modern: As it announces Duncan’s deadly arrival

Original: Under my battlements. Come, you spirits
Modern: Into my castle. Come here, evil spirits

Original: That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,
Modern: That encourage murderous ideas, strip away my feminine nature,

Original: And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full
Modern: And fill me completely from head to toe

Original: Of direst cruelty! make thick my blood;
Modern: With the worst kind of cruelty! Make my blood thick and cold;

Original: Stop up the access and passage to remorse,
Modern: Block any path that guilt or regret might take,

Original: That no compunctious visitings of nature
Modern: So that no natural feelings of conscience

Original: Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between
Modern: Can weaken my deadly plan, or create conflict between

Original: The effect and it! Come to my woman’s breasts,
Modern: My intention and carrying it out! Come to my female body,

Original: And take my milk for gall, you murdering ministers,
Modern: And replace my nurturing milk with bitter poison, you agents of murder,

Original: Wherever in your sightless substances
Modern: Wherever you exist in your invisible forms

Original: You wait on nature’s mischief! Come, thick night,
Modern: You serve evil and destruction! Come, heavy darkness,

Original: And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell,
Modern: And cover yourself in the darkest, grimiest smoke from hell,

Original: That my keen knife see not the wound it makes,
Modern: So that my sharp knife cannot see the wound it creates,

Original: Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark,
Modern: And heaven cannot peek through the covering of darkness,

Original: To cry ‘Hold, hold!’
Modern: To shout “Stop! Stop!”

In Act I, Scene 5 of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth enters alone reading a letter from her husband that recounts his encounter with the witches and their prophecies that he will become Thane of Cawdor and King of Scotland. She learns that the first prophecy has already been fulfilled, as Macbeth has been named Thane of Cawdor. Upon finishing the letter, Lady Macbeth immediately recognizes the opportunity before them but fears that her husband’s nature is “too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness” to seize the crown through violent means. She resolves that she must persuade him to take the necessary action to fulfill the witches’ prophecy.

A messenger arrives to inform Lady Macbeth that King Duncan will arrive at their castle that very night, and Macbeth is traveling with him. After the messenger departs, Lady Macbeth calls upon dark spirits to “unsex” her and fill her with cruelty, asking them to remove any feminine compassion that might prevent her from carrying out the murder she is already planning. When Macbeth arrives, she greets him with terms that acknowledge his future kingship and immediately begins to outline their opportunity. She tells him that Duncan’s visit presents the perfect chance to kill the king, and she takes charge of planning the deed, instructing Macbeth to appear welcoming to Duncan while concealing their deadly intentions.

Macbeth: Plot Summary

Macbeth, a Scottish general and Thane of Glamis, encounters three witches on a heath following a victorious battle against rebels and Norwegian invaders. The witches prophesy that Macbeth will become Thane of Cawdor and eventually King of Scotland, and that his companion Banquo’s descendants will inherit the throne. When King Duncan almost immediately grants Macbeth the title of Thane of Cawdor, Macbeth begins to contemplate the possibility of fulfilling the rest of the prophecy. Urged on by his wife, Lady Macbeth, he murders King Duncan in his sleep while the king is a guest at their castle. Macbeth frames Duncan’s chamberlains for the murder, and Duncan’s sons, Malcolm and Donalbain, flee the country out of fear for their own lives, which causes them to fall under suspicion for their father’s death. Macbeth is crowned King of Scotland.

As king, Macbeth grows increasingly paranoid and ruthless. Troubled by the witches’ prophecy that Banquo’s descendants will be kings, he arranges for Banquo and his son Fleance to be murdered. Banquo is killed, but Fleance escapes. At a royal banquet, Macbeth is visited by Banquo’s ghost, causing him to behave erratically in front of his assembled nobles. Lady Macbeth attempts to cover for her husband, but the dinner dissolves in confusion. Macbeth returns to the witches, who present him with new prophecies warning him to beware of Macduff, the Thane of Fife, but assuring him that no man born of woman can harm him, and that he will not be defeated until Birnam Wood marches to Dunsinane Hill. Taking comfort in what seem to be impossible conditions, Macbeth orders the massacre of Macduff’s castle, killing his wife and children.

Macduff has traveled to England to join Malcolm, Duncan’s son, and together they raise an army against Macbeth. Meanwhile, Lady Macbeth, tormented by guilt, descends into madness and ultimately dies, reportedly by her own hand. Malcolm’s army cuts down branches from Birnam Wood to use as camouflage as they march on Macbeth’s castle at Dunsinane, fulfilling one of the witches’ prophecies. In the ensuing battle, Macbeth encounters Macduff, who reveals that he was delivered by caesarean section and was therefore not, in the traditional sense, born of woman. Macduff kills Macbeth in combat. Malcolm is proclaimed the rightful King of Scotland and order is restored to the kingdom.