Act 5 of Macbeth sees the downfall and deaths of Lady Macbeth and Macbeth. Lady Macbeth's guilt over their crimes drives her to insomnia and eventually suicide. Bereft of his wife's counsel and support, Macbeth's kingdom continues to crumble as Malcolm's rebellion grows stronger. Macduff confronts and kills Macbeth, fulfilling the witches' prophecy. The play ends with Malcolm assuming the throne as the rightful king is restored.

1. Act 5 of Macbeth:
The Final Act.

2. Summary
• Act five opens with Lady Macbeths sleepwalking
scene, the start of her insanity. Macbeth’s
kingdom is slowly unraveling, his followers are
leaving; Malcolm and Macduff are leading the
rebellion closer to Macbeth. Lady Macbeth, in
her insane guilt, kills herself. Macbeth now has
no one who is close to him. The rebellion reaches
the castle and in the struggle Macduff kills
Macbeth, by beheading him. The act, and play,
ends with Malcolm becoming King.

3. MOTIFS!!!
Yeah motifs get excited!
Sickness and Equivocation and all that fun
stuff!

4. Sickness
• Sickness of Lady Macbeth
– Not a literal sickness but a mental sickness. This is
also in Macbeth.
• “Not so sick, my lord, As she is troubled with thick-
coming fancies That keep her from her rest”
• “Therein the patient must minister to himself” (pg.255)
• In Scene two the country is mentioned as sick and it
can only be cured by Macbeth’s death, as he is the one
who has brought sickness to the country.

5. Equivocation
• Scene one
– Sleepwalking, her eyes are open but she isn’t
really seeing.
• “To doubt th’ equivocation of the fiend that
lies the truth.” (pg. 267)
– This Macbeth referring to the witches prophecy,
he is realizing that the witches have been
speaking the truth, just in riddles and that he does
need to be worried when before this epiphany he
didn’t believe he needed to.

6. Nature
• The sleepwalking in scene one is considered un-natural
– “A great perturbation in nature, to receive at once the benefit of sleep
and do the effects of watching.” (pg. 239)
• Marching to Birnam Wood
– “To dew the sovereign flower and drown the weeds. Make we our
march towards Birnam” (pg. 249)
– This also is referring to Macbeth as a weed and the sovereign flower is
the rightful leader, Malcolm.
• “Till Birnam Wood remove to Dunsaine” (pg. 251)
– This is referring to the prophecy that the witches told him of, the
woods appear to be moving when Malcolms army marches.
• “My way of life has fallen into the sere, the yellow leaf” (pg. 253)
– This is referring to Autumn leaves. They are dying, and so Macbeth is
saying that his way of life is slowly dying.

7. “Out, damned spot; out, I say. . . . Yet who
would have thought the old man to have had so
much blood in him?”
Symbols in the Last Act of Macbeth

8. Light
• Light is used throughout the play but is
noticeable in the last scene because of the
candle Lady Macbeth holds. The light
represents Lady Macbeths guard of the
darkness and insanity that’s enveloping her.
• “She has light by her continually; ‘Tis her
command.”(pg. 241)

9. Blood
• Blood is also used in Lady Macbeths scene.
The blood is a stain that forever terrorizes
Lady Macbeth. The stain represents this guilt
that can not be lessened through attempting
to wash her hands, or any physical actions.
“Yet who would have thought the
old man to have had so much blood
in him.” (pg. 241)

10. “This is her very guise, and
upon my life, fast asleep.
Observe her; stand close.” (Pg.
Sleep
240)
• Sleep comes into play in the last act with Lady
Macbeth Sleepwalking. Sleep symbolizes
peace of mind and innocence. Having Lady
Macbeth sleep walk represents her inability to
be innocent, freed from her crime, and the
fact that she can not find peace of mind.

11. Character Changes Throughout Act 5
Deaths and Sorrow and Triumph, oh my!

12. Lady Macbeth
• Lady Macbeth is probably the biggest character
change that we see in this act.
• Her transformation starts right away, Scene 1, in
her sleepwalking scene. As mentioned before
sleep is a symbol.
• We see her filled with guilt, when before she was
fine with this murder.
- “Here’s the smell of the blood still. All the
perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little
hand” (pg. 243)

13. •Readers can see Macbeth’s powerful
reign falling apart, Lady has been a solid
pillar always there to be calm and
collected, now that we, the readers, see
her falling apart it becomes clear that
Macbeth will soon follow.
•Her suicide comes as a shock to first time
readers, she is no longer there to support
Macbeth and from there it goes downhill.
•Don’t forget why she committed suicide – guilt.
Her guilt is the pivotal aspect that lead to her
entire character change.
“The queen, my lord, is dead” (pg. 263)

14. Macbeth
• Act 5, Scene 3 – The first scene we see Macbeth in, He is being
informed of Lady Macbeth’s health. His characterization in this
scene is the same as it was before.
• The scene when we next see him is scene 5 when Lady Macbeth’s
suicide happens and he learns of it.
– “She should have died hereafter, There would have been a time for
such a word.” (pg. 265)
• This triggers a reaction from him and the readers see a Macbeth
without a purpose and he is also grieving.
– “…signifying nothing” (pg. 265)
• The last and final scene we see him in is scene 7. This is the scene
where Macbeth is slain.
– During this scene he is almost a shell of his old self, he uses brave
words but ultimately knows he will die because Macduff is not born by
woman.

15. Macduff
• The readers also notice a change in Macduff.
• In this act, due to the death of his family,
Macduff is hardened and ready to kill
Macbeth. He accomplishes his task and
returns to Malcolm with Macbeth’s head.
– We can see this change when he is fighting
Macbeth.
“Then yield thee, coward” (pg.279)

16. Themes Emphasized in Act 5
• Guilt is Not Easily Removed – this idea is
shown through out the play, whether it is
someone assuming that guilt can be washed
off or someone feeling guilt, it is emphasized
in Act five through Lady Macbeth. Her
sleepwalking is proof of her terrible guilt as
well as her suicide is.
• “Out damned spot! Out, I say!” (pg.241)

17. Themes Emphasized in Act 5
• Unnatural Deeds have Unnatural
Consequences – Unnatural doesn’t necessarily
have to mean supernatural, even though it
sometimes does, in this case it means murder.
Macbeth’s murders have lead to ‘unnatural
consequences’ such as woods moving and
sleepwalking and ultimately his own death,
which was done by Macduff who was born
unnaturally.

18. Themes Emphasized in Act 5
• Equivocation is Dangerous – The motif of
equivocation appears everywhere in this play.
It can be deadly as seen in this act. The
witches have been telling Macbeth these half
truths which cause him not to worry and then
leads to his downfall. This serves as a warning
to the readers that half truths can be just as
dangerous as lies.

19. “So, thanks to all at once and to each one,
whom we invite to see us crowned at Scone”
(pg. 285)
The last sentence of Macbeth.