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This video is a line-by-line walkthrough guide for William Shakespeare’s Macbeth: Act 5, Scene 6-7-8.

I provide a close reading of the entire scene, including:
— Detailed explication
— Commentary
— Literary analysis

All commentary is supplemented by in-text, line-by-line study notes designed to help students:
— Prepare for GCSE, A-Level, IB, and AP evaluation
— Prepare for general high school and college quizzes, exams, and essays
— Generate ideas for analysis essays
— Participate knowledgeably in class discussions
Click here to download the annotated text of Macbeth: https://sites.google.com/view/shakespeare-walkthrough/home

Video 25 discusses:

PLOT Scene 6:
— Malcolm, Siward and MacDuff + armies arrive at Macbeth’s castle
PLOT Scene 7:
— Macbeth encounters and kills Young Siward; exits
— MacDuff enters, looking for Macbeth and revenge
— Malcolm and Siward enter
— Siward announces that most of Macbeth’s troops have abandoned him, so his defeat is assured
PLOT Scene 8:
— Macbeth encounters MacDuff; Macbeth is afraid because of the witches’ prophecy (beware MacDuff) and guilty/ashamed because Macbeth murdered his family
— Macbeth confidently boasts that MacDuff cannot harm “one of woman born”
— MacDuff replies that he was born by caesarean section, “untimely ripped” from his mother’s womb
— Macbeth says he will not fight Macduff
— MacDuff calls Macbeth a coward
— Macbeth and MacDuff fight, exit
— Malcolm, Ross, Siward, arrive and mutedly celebrate victory while lamenting their losses
— They extoll the virtues of Young Siward’s noble sacrifice
— MacDuff enters with Macbeth’s head
— Malcolm is pronounced king
— Malcolm thanks his supporters and announces restoration of order (Great Chain of Being)

CHARACTER:
— Macbeth: reduced to animal; dehumanization; desperately clinging to prophesy
— Macbeth: genuine remorse for death of MacDuff’s family; also cowardice, remembering the “beware MacDuff” prophecy
— Macbeth: Hubris summons Nemesis; MacDuff is final Nemesis
— Macbeth: return to pure physical courage; ends as he began, minus the love, honor, he had earned at the beginning
— Young Siward: brave; potential worthy hero
— MacDuff: man of action; foil; immediately gives kingship to Malcolm = true man: selflessness, dutiful, honourable, purposeful, meaningful actor
— Malcolm: first thought after victory is pity for the lost; worthy hero restores order (Great Chain of Being), cures the wasteland

THEME:
— Manhood definition: MacDuff + Malcolm = ideal man; brute force put to good use + thoughtful compassion for the common good
— Hubris summons Nemesis
— Equivocation: prophecies all comes true; Macbeth understood meaning A, witches intended meaning B
— Manhood; insecure men ea