Original: I have almost forgot the taste of fears;
Modern: I’ve almost forgotten what it feels like to be afraid;

Original: The time has been, my senses would have cool’d
Modern: There was a time when I would have gone cold

Original: To hear a night-shriek; and my fell of hair
Modern: Just hearing a scream in the night; and my hair

Original: Would at a dismal treatise rouse and stir
Modern: Would stand up and move around at any scary story

Original: As life were in’t: I have supp’d full with horrors;
Modern: As if it were alive: I’ve had my fill of horrors;

Original: Direness, familiar to my slaughterous thoughts
Modern: Terror, now so familiar to my murderous mind

Original: Cannot once start me.
Modern: Can’t even make me jump anymore.

Original: Wherefore was that cry?
Modern: What was that scream about?

Original: She should have died hereafter;
Modern: She should have died later;

Original: There would have been a time for such a word.
Modern: There would have been a better time for this news.

Original: To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Modern: Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,

Original: Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
Modern: Crawls along at this pathetic speed from day to day

Original: To the last syllable of recorded time,
Modern: Until the very end of time itself,

Original: And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
Modern: And all our past days have only lit the way for fools

Original: The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Modern: On their path to death and dust. Go out, go out, you brief candle!

Original: Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
Modern: Life is nothing but a moving shadow, a bad actor

Original: That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
Modern: Who shows off and worries during his time on stage

Original: And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Modern: And then disappears forever: life is just a story

Original: Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Modern: Told by a fool, full of noise and anger,

Original: Signifying nothing.
Modern: That means absolutely nothing.

In Act V, Scene 5 of Macbeth, the scene opens within Dunsinane Castle where Macbeth receives reports about the approaching enemy forces. A woman’s cry is heard from within the castle, and Seyton informs Macbeth that the Queen is dead. Upon hearing this news, Macbeth delivers his famous soliloquy beginning “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,” reflecting on the meaningless passage of time and life’s futility. He describes life as “a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”

Following this moment of despair, a messenger arrives to report an impossible sight: Birnam Wood appears to be moving toward Dunsinane Castle. The messenger explains that he saw the forest itself advancing, which alarms Macbeth as this fulfills part of the witches’ prophecy that seemed impossible. Macbeth realizes that the prophecies are beginning to turn against him, and he becomes increasingly agitated. Despite his growing fear and the apparent impossibility of his situation, Macbeth declares he will die fighting rather than surrender, calling for his armor and preparing for battle as the scene concludes.

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.