Macbeth the whole play in modern English, scene by scene
A victorious general hears a prophecy that he will be king — and with his wife's help makes it come true, one murder at a time. Shakespeare's shortest, darkest tragedy. Every scene below shows Shakespeare's original text and a plain modern English translation side by side — free, printable, no account, no paywall.
Confused by a different line? Paste any Shakespeare — any play, any edition — and get it in modern English.
Act 1
Act 2
Act 3
Act 4
Act 5
- Act 5, Scene 1Dunsinane. A Room in the Castle
- Act 5, Scene 2The Country near Dunsinane
- Act 5, Scene 3Dunsinane. A Room in the Castle
- Act 5, Scene 4Country near Dunsinane: a Wood in view
- Act 5, Scene 5Dunsinane. Within the castle
- Act 5, Scene 6The same. A Plain before the Castle
- Act 5, Scene 7The same. Another part of the Plain
- Act 5, Scene 8The same. Another part of the field
Famous lines
- “Fair is foul, and foul is fair” — Act 1, Scene 1
- “What he hath lost, noble Macbeth hath won.” — Act 1, Scene 2
- “So foul and fair a day I have not seen.” — Act 1, Scene 3
- “All hail, Macbeth! that shalt be king hereafter!” — Act 1, Scene 3
- “Nothing in his life / Became him like the leaving it” — Act 1, Scene 4
- “There's no art / To find the mind's construction in the face” — Act 1, Scene 4
- “It is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness” — Act 1, Scene 5
- “Come, you spirits / That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here” — Act 1, Scene 5
- “This castle hath a pleasant seat.” — Act 1, Scene 6
- “If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well / It were done quickly.” — Act 1, Scene 7
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