ShmoopTube
Where Monty Python meets your 10th grade teacher.
Search Thousands of Shmoop Videos
Playlist The Ultimate Shakespeare 19 videos
This video summarizes the Shakespearean play Macbeth. Two major forces are at play in the story: witches’ prophecies and Macbeth’s demanding wi...
Imagine yourself going to see a show. The cushy red seats. The talented orchestra. The body odor and animal abuse. Not what you pictured? Be thankf...
Macbeth Summary 89860 Views
Share It!
Description:
Prepare for total tragedy.
Transcript
- 00:01
Macbeth, a la Shmoop Have you heard the one about the witches in
- 00:11
the forest?
- 00:12
One witch says, "What's for dinner?" The second one says,
- 00:15
"Eye of newt and toe of frog, Wool of bat and tongue of dog,
- 00:20
Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting, Lizard's leg and owlet's wing.”
Full Transcript
- 00:25
The third one waits a second, and goes, "Yeah, but is it organic?"
- 00:31
Okay, fine, don't laugh. It's not like I get any respect in this play anyway. Macbeth,
- 00:36
Lady Macbeth, MacDuff... if you don't have a Mac in your name, it's like you don't exist.
- 00:41
Sure, I'm just the ghost, don't pay any attention to me. …Banquo's <Bank-whoa’s> an awesome
- 00:45
name, too, you know. Despite my hilarious joke, the Weird Sisters
- 00:49
weren't very funny. Besides using babies as ingredients…
- 00:52
…they started all the trouble by telling Macbeth he was going to get a promotion, and
- 00:56
even become king.
- 00:57
And what did I get? My kids will become kings. Which would be great, if I wasn't dead.
- 01:05
Anyway, Macbeth did get bumped to upper management, and then he and his wife got to thinking how
- 01:10
great they would look with crowns.
- 01:12
So Lady Macbeth invited King Duncan over for a sleepover...and murder!
- 01:21
Macbeth was going to wimp out, but Lady Macbeth gave him a quick pep talk, and even framed
- 01:25
the king's bodyguards for the dastardly deed. …
- 01:29
…Seriously, you do not want to get on her bad side. Anyway, their evil plan totally
- 01:37
worked...King Duncan’s sons vamoosed to Ireland, leaving only Macbeth to assume the
- 01:41
throne. I was onto them the whole time, of course.
- 01:44
I was a pretty smart guy, in my breathing days. And honest, too. So honest that I told
- 01:49
Macbeth exactly where I was going that evening, which made it super-easy for him to ambush
- 01:54
me and my son, Fleance. <Flee-ants> …
- 01:57
…Okay, so in hindsight, not such a good idea. But Fleance escaped, and I was able
- 02:03
to use my magical ghost powers to show up at Macbeth's dinner party. You should have
- 02:07
seen his face!
- 02:09
Lady Macbeth tried to calm him down…
- 02:10
…but I was pretty much the death of the party. Ghost power!
- 02:14
By now, the good folks of Scotland were starting to notice the string of highly convenient
- 02:20
deaths surrounding their new king.
- 02:23
MacDuff was suspicious enough to go find Duncan's son, Malcolm, and ask the King of England
- 02:27
for an army or two to straighten things out. Macbeth, naturally a little tense, went to
- 02:33
see the Weird Sisters again…weren't they a band in Harry Potter?...
- 02:38
…and those charming ladies told him three things. First, watch out for MacDuff.
- 02:43
Second, the only man who can kill you didn't come out of his mom like that video you saw
- 02:48
in health class.
- 02:53
And third, you're cool until the trees start coming to get you.
- 02:56
Man, he should have asked for his money back on that little fortune. But the last part
- 03:01
is my fave...guess whose kids are gonna rule? Mine! Team Banquo! Nice try, MacLoser!
- 03:08
Still think Macbeth's an okay guy? Tell that to MacDuff's family, cuz MacBeth had them
- 03:13
all killed. I bet he even killed their gerbils.
- 03:14
MacDuff got all vengeful, and “Operation Destroy Macbeth" went into full swing.
- 03:18
At this point, both MacDuff and Macbeth had thrown their brains out the window in favor
- 03:19
of killing stuff, so I was glad I was already dead. I had a front-row seat to watch the
- 03:19
English army mop the floor with my enemy, and all without risk of blood spatter!
- 03:19
Things really started to go south for Macbeth. First, his wife went off her rocker and killed
- 03:25
herself, and then he got the news that that big army of trees had arrived. Actually it
- 03:32
was an army of dudes carrying tree branches, but close enough.
- 03:37
Then MacDuff had a showdown with Macbeth, who still thought he was invincible because
- 03:41
of that "no man born of woman can kill you" safety clause. Plot twist...MacDuff was a
- 03:47
C-section baby!
- 03:48
So obviously, he won the fight, and got a cool souvenir...Macbeth's head! Hope he doesn't
- 03:54
start a collection… So Malcolm's king, MacDuff's a hero, and everyone
- 03:59
gets to live happily ever after. Except me, because I'm dead. But it's cool; I've got
- 04:04
a second career as a celebrity ghost impersonator.
- 04:08
What? Come on, that one was funny!
Related Videos
They say that honesty is the best policy, but Jack lies about his identity and still gets the girl. Does that mean we should all lie to get what we...
Ever wish you could remember everything that you ever studied? How about everything that everyone has ever studied? Yeah, pretty sure our brains ju...
Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man is an American classic. Hope you're not expecting any exciting shower scenes though. It's not that kind of book.
Do not go gentle into that good night. In fact, if it's past your curfew, don't go at all into that good night. You just stay in your good bed and...