English Literature books summary

falls. Before dying, Oswald pleads with Edgar to take his purse and deliver

his letter to Edmund, "Earl of Gloucester". Edgar reads the letter which is

from Goneril, pleading with Edmund to slay Albany so Goneril can be free

and they can be together. Edgar vows to defend Albany and defeat the

lechers. Gloucester muses that he is self-centered to worry about his

plight when Lear is mad. He wishes though that he too were mad in order to

numb the pain he feels.

scene vii:

Cordelia thanks Kent for the goodness he has shown her father and the

bravery he has espoused. She asks him to discard his disguise but he knows

that he will be able to work better for Lear if he remains disguised. The

Doctor remarks that Lear has slept for a long while so that they may try

waking him. Lear is brought in, still sleeping. Hoping to resolve the

horrors committed by her sisters, Cordelia kisses Lear and reflects on the

vileness and ingratitude of her sisters, treating Lear worse than a dog by

shutting their doors on him in the storm. Lear wakes and Cordelia addresses

him. Lear feels awakened from the grave and wishes they had left him. Very

drowsy at first, Lear thinks Cordelia is a spirit and then realizes he

should know her and Kent (disguised) but has difficulty putting his memory

together. Finally he recognizes Cordelia, to her delight, but thinks he is

in France. The Doctor advises them to give Lear his space so Cordelia takes

him for a walk. The gentleman remains and asks Kent if the rumors of

Cornwall's death and Edgar's position in Germany with the Earl of Kent are

true. Kent confirms the first, but leaves the latter unanswered. The

gentleman warns that the battle to come will be bloody.

Act V Summary: scene i:

Edmund sends an officer to learn of Albany's plans since he has become

so fickle. Regan approaches Edmund, sweetly asking him if he loves her

sister and if he has ever found his way into her bed. He replies that

though he loves in "honored love" he has done nothing adulterous or to

break their vow. Warning him to stay away from Goneril, Regan threatens

that she will not put up with her sister's entreaties to him. Goneril and

Albany enter as Goneril tells the audience that her battle for Edmund is

more important to her than the battle with France. Albany informs Regan of

Cordelia and Lear's reunion. Regan wonders why he brings up the subject of

the King and his grievances. Goneril points out that they must join

together against France and ignore their personal conflicts.

As the two camps separate, Regan pleads with Goneril to accompany her

instead of the other camp where Edmund will be present. Goneril refuses at

first but then sees Regan's purpose and agrees. Edgar finds Albany alone

and asks him to read the letter to Edmund from Goneril he had intercepted.

Though he cannot stay while Albany reads it, he prays him to let the herald

cry when the time is right and he will appear again. Albany leaves to read

it when Edmund reenters to report of the oncoming enemy. In soliloquy,

Edmund wonders what he will do about pledging his love to both sisters. He

could take both of them, one, or neither. He decides to use Albany while in

battle and after winning, to allow Goneril to kill him. Moreover, he plans

to forbid any mercy Albany may show Cordelia and Lear because his rule of

the state is his highest priority.

scene ii:

The army of France, accompanied by Cordelia and Lear, crosses the stage

with their battle colors and drums and exits. Next, Edgar and Gloucester

enter. Edgar offers Gloucester rest under a nearby tree while he goes into

battle. The noises of the battle begin and end, at which time Edgar

reenters the stage to speak with Gloucester. He calls for Gloucester to

come with him as Cordelia and Lear have lost and been taken captive.

Entertaining ideas of suicide again, Gloucester tries to remain but Edgar

talks him into accompanying him, noting that men must endure the ups and

downs of life.

scene iii:

Edmund holds Cordelia and Lear prisoner. Trying to keep Lear's spirits

up, Cordelia tells him that they are not the first innocent people who have

had to endure the worst and she will be happy to endure for the King. She

asks if they will see Goneril and Regan but Lear rejects that notion. He

wants them to spend their days in prison enjoying their company, conversing

and singing and playing and debating the "mystery of things". As they are

taken away at Edmund's command, Lear encourages Cordelia to dry her tears

and enjoy their reunion as they will never again be separated. Edmund

demands the subordinate captain follow Lear and Cordelia to prison and

carry out the punishment detailed by his written instructions. Threatened

with demotion, the captain agrees.

Albany praises Edmund for his work in the battle and in obtaining his

prisoners. He then commands Edmund to turn Cordelia and Lear over into his

protection. Edmund replies that he thought it best to send Lear and

Cordelia into retention so that they did not arouse too much sympathy and

start a riot, but he assures Albany that they will be ready the next day to

appear before him. Albany warns Edmund to remember that he is only a

subordinate to which Regan replies that Edmund is in fact her husband and

thus an equal. Goneril proclaims that he is more honorable on his own merit

than as Regan's partner. Not feeling well, Regan implores Edmund to accept

all of her property and herself. Goneril asks if she means to be intimate

with him to which Albany retorts that the matter does not relate to her.

Edmund disagrees and Regan calls for him to take her title. Albany

interrupts, arresting Edmund for treason and barring any relationship

between Goneril and Edmund. He calls Edmund to duel, throwing down his

glove. Edmund throws down his glove as well and Albany alerts him that all

of his soldiers have been sent away. Feeling very ill, Regan is taken off.

The herald reads aloud Albany's notice, calling for anyone who holds

that Edmund is a traitor to come support that claim. The trumpet is sounded

three times and Edgar, still disguised, appears after the last. Asked why

he has responded, Edgar states that he is a noble adversary who desires to

fight with Edmund, a traitor to "thy gods, thy brother, and thy father".

They fight and Edmund falls. Albany calls for him to be spared while

Goneril supports Edmund for fighting an unknown man when not required,

noting that he cannot be defeated. Albany quiets her with the letter she

wrote desiring Edmund's hand but Goneril retorts that as she is the ruler,

he can bring no punishment upon her. She leaves before he can take command

over her. Dying, Edmund asks his conqueror to reveal himself. Edgar tells

of his identity and their relation, noting that Edmund has rightly fallen

to the bottom as a result of his father's adulterous act, which also cost

Gloucester his sight. Edmund agrees that he has come full circle and Albany

rejoices in Edgar's true identity, sorrowful that he had ever worked

against him or his father. Edgar describes his disguise and how he led his

blinded father, protecting him and sheltering him. He had never revealed

his identity until a half hour before, telling his father the entire story.

Gloucester was so overwhelmed by the news that his heart gave out.

Furthermore, after learning who Edgar was, Kent revealed his identity to

Edgar, embracing him and spilling all of the horrid details of Lear's state

and treatment. Edgar then learned that Kent too was dying but was forced to

rush off as he heard the trumpet call.

A gentleman runs onto the stage with a bloody knife, informing the

company that it was just pulled from Goneril's heart. She had stabbed

herself after admitting that she had poisoned Regan. Edmund notes that as

he had been contracted to both sisters, now all three would die. Albany

calls for the gentleman to produce the bodies and comments on the immediate

judgment of the heavens. Kent enters, hoping to say goodbye to Lear.

Realizing that he has forgotten about the safety of Cordelia and Lear in

the excitement, Albany demands Edmund to tell of their circumstances.

Edmund admits that he had ordered their murders but as he hopes to do some

good, he sends an officer to try to halt Cordelia's hanging. He and Goneril

had commanded it look like a suicide. Lear stumbles in, carrying the body

of Cordelia. Overcome by grief, Lear rages against the senseless killing of

Cordelia, admitting that he killed the guard who was hanging her. Lear

recognizes Kent, though he can hardly see, and Kent informs him that he has

been with him all along, disguised as his servant Caius. It is not clear if

Lear ever understands. Kent tells him that his evil daughters have brought

about their own deaths. A messenger enters to tell them that Edmund has

died. Albany tries to set things right, reinstating Lear's absolute rule

and Kent and Edgar's authority, promising to right all of the good and

punish the evil. Lear continues to mourn the loss of Cordelia and then dies

himself. Albany thus gives Kent and Edgar the rule of the kingdom to which

Kent replies that he must move on to follow his master, leaving Edgar as

the new ruler.

Macbeth

Act 1 Summary Act 1, scene 1

On a heath in Scotland, three witches, the Weird Sisters, wait to meet

Macbeth amid thunder and lightning. Their conversation is filled with

paradoxes; they say that they will meet Macbeth "when the battle's lost and

won," when "fair is foul and foul is fair."

Act 1, scene 2

As the play opens, the Scottish army is at war with the Norwegian army.

Duncan, king of Scotland, meets a soldier returning from battle. The

soldier informs them of Macbeth and Banquo's bravery in battle, and

describes Macbeth's attack on the castle of the traitorous Macdonwald, in

which Macbeth triumphed and planted the severed head of Macdonwald on the

battlements of the castle. The Thanes (lords) of Ross and Angus enter with

the news that the Thane of Cawdor has sided with Norway. Duncan decides to

strip the traitor Thane of his title and give the title of Thane of Cawdor

to Macbeth.

Act 1, scene 3

The Weird Sisters meet on the heath and wait for Macbeth. He arrives with

Banquo, confirming the witches' paradoxical prophecy by stating "So foul

and fair a day I have not seen." The witches hail him as "Thane of Glamis"

(his present title), "Thane of Cawdor" (which title Macbeth does not know

he has been granted yet), and "king hereafter." Their greeting startles and

seems to frighten Macbeth. Banquo questions the witches as to who they are,

and they greet him as "lesser than Macbeth and greater," "not so happy, yet

much happier," and a man who "shall get kings, though [he] be none." When

Macbeth questions them further, the witches vanish like bubbles into the

air. Almost as soon as they disappear, Ross and Angus appear, bearing the

news that the king has granted Macbeth the title of Thane of Cawdor.

Macbeth and Banquo step aside to discuss this news; Banquo is of the

opinion that the title of Thane of Cawdor might "enkindle" Macbeth to seek

the crown as well. Macbeth questions why good news like this causes his

"seated heart [to] knock at [his] ribs / Against the use of nature," and

his thoughts turn immediately and with terror to murdering the king in

order to fulfill the witches' second prophesy. When Ross and Angus notice

Macbeth's distraught state, Banquo dismisses it as Macbeth's unfamiliarity

with his new title.

Act 1, scene 4

Duncan demands to know if the ex-Thane of Cawdor has been executed, and his

son Malcolm assures him that he has. While Duncan muses about the fact that

he mistakenly placed his "absolute trust" in the traitor Thane, Macbeth

enters. Duncan thanks Macbeth and Banquo for their loyalty and bravery, and

announces his decision to make his son Malcolm the heir to the throne of

Scotland (something he should not have done, since his position was

elected, not inherited). Duncan then states that he plans to visit Macbeth

at his home in Inverness. Macbeth leaves to prepare his home for the royal

visit, pondering the stumbling block that the king has just placed in front

of his ambitions with the announcement of his heir. The king follows with

Banquo.

Act 1, scene 5

At Inverness, Lady Macbeth reads a letter from Macbeth telling of his

meeting with the witches. She fears that his nature is not ruthless enough,

is "too full o' th' milk of human kindness," to murder Duncan and assure

the completion of the witches' prophesy. He has ambition enough, she

claims, but lacks the gumption to act on it. She then implores him to hurry

home so that she can "pour [her] spirits in [his] ear," in other words,

goad him on to the murder he must commit. When a messenger arrives with the

news that Duncan is coming, Lady Macbeth calls on the heavenly powers to

"unsex me here" and fill her with cruelty, taking from her all natural

womanly compassion. When Macbeth arrives, she greets him as Glamis and

Cawdor and urges him to "look like th'innocent flower, / but be the serpent

under ?t," and states that she will make all the preparations for the

king's visit and subsequent murder.

Act 1, scene 6

Duncan arrives at Inverness with Banquo and exchanges pleasantries with

Lady Macbeth. He asks her where Macbeth is, and she offers to bring him to

where Macbeth waits.

Act 1, scene 7

Alone, Macbeth agonizes over whether or not to kill Duncan, stating that he

knows the king's murder is a terrible sin. He struggles not so much with

the horrifying idea of regicide as with the actual fact and process of

murdering a man ­ a relative, no less ­ who trusts and loves him. He would

like the king's murder to be over and done with already. He hates the fact

that he has "only / Vaulting ambition" without the motivation or

ruthlessness to ensure the attainment of his ambitions. Lady Macbeth

enters, and Macbeth tells her that he "will proceed no further in this

business." Taunting him for his fears and ambivalence, she tells him he

will only be a man when he commits this murder. She states that she herself

would go so far as to take her own nursing baby and dash its brains out if

she had to in order to attain her goals. She counsels him to "screw [his]

courage to the sticking place" and details the way they will murder the

king. They will wait until he is asleep, she says, then they will get his

bodyguards drunk. Then they will murder Duncan and lay the blame on the two

drunken bodyguards. Macbeth, astonished at her cruelty, warns her to "bring

forth male children only," since she is too tough and bloodthirsty to bear

girls. He resigns to follow through with her plans.

Act 2 Summary Act 2, scene 1

Banquo, who has also come to Inverness with Duncan and Fleance, wrestles

with the witches' prophesy; unlike Macbeth, he restrains the desire to act

on it that tempts him in his dreams. Macbeth enters and, when Banquo

questions him, pretends to have forgotten the witches' prophesy. When

Banquo and Fleance leave Macbeth alone, Macbeth imagines that he sees a

bloody dagger pointing toward Duncan's chamber. Frightened by this "dagger

of the mind," he prays that the earth will "hear not [his] steps" as he

completes his bloody plan. The bell rings ­ a signal from Lady Macbeth ­

and he exits into Duncan's room.

Act 2, scene 2

Lady Macbeth waits for Macbeth to return from killing Duncan. Hearing the

hoot of an owl ­ an omen of death ­ she assumes that he has done it, and

waits fitfully for him to appear. She hears a noise within and worries that

the bodyguards have awakened before Macbeth had a chance to plant the

evidence on them. Macbeth enters, still carrying the bloody daggers with

which he killed Duncan. He is shaken because as he entered Duncan's chamber

he heard the bodyguards praying and could not say "Amen" when they finished

their prayers. He takes this as a bad sign. Lady Macbeth counsels him not

to think "after these ways; so, it will make us mad." Unheeding, Macbeth

goes on to tell her that he also thought he heard a voice that said, "sleep

no more! / Macbeth does murder sleep . . . . Glamis [Macbeth] hath murdered

sleep, and therefore Cawdor [also Macbeth] / Shall sleep no more." Lady

Macbeth warns him not to think of such "brainsickly things" but to wash the

blood from his hand. Seeing the daggers he carries, she chastises him for

bringing them in and tells him to plant them on the bodyguards according to

the plan. When Macbeth, still horrified by the crime he has just committed,

will not do it, Lady Macbeth herself takes the daggers and brings them into

the guards' chamber.

While she is gone, Macbeth hears a knocking and imagines that he sees hands

plucking at his eyes. He mourns the fact that not even an entire ocean

could wash the blood from his hand. Lady Macbeth enters here and, hearing

this, states that her hands are just as stained as his, but she is not a

coward like him. She claims that "a little water clears us of this deed" ­

that washing the blood from their hands will wash the guilt from them as

well. She, too, hears knocking, and tells Macbeth to retire with her to

their chamber and put on their nightgowns; they cannot be out in the hall

and in their clothes when the others enter.

Act 2, scene 3

In a "comic relief" scene, the Porter (doorman) hears knocking at the gate

and imagines that he is the porter at the door to Hell. He imagines

admitting a farmer who has committed suicide after a bad harvest, an

"equivocator" who has committed a sin by swearing to half-truths, and an

English tailor who stole cloth to make fashionable clothes and visited

brothels. Since it is "too cold for hell" at the gate, he stops there

instead of continuing with a longer catalogue of sinners and opens the

door. Outside are Macduff and Lennox, who scold him for taking so long to

answer the door. The Porter claims that he was tired after drinking until

late, and delivers a small sermon on the ills of drink.

Macbeth enters, and Macduff asks him if the king is awake yet. On hearing

that the king is still asleep, Macduff leaves to wake him. While he is

gone, Lennox tells Macbeth that the night was full of strange events in the

weather ­ chimneys were blown down, birds screeched all night, the earth

shook, and ghostly voices were heard prophesying bad fortune. A stunned

Macduff returns with the news that the king is dead. He tells them to go

see for themselves and calls to the servants to ring the alarm bell and

wake the other guests.

Lady Macbeth and Banquo enter and Macduff informs them of the king's death.

Macbeth and Lennox return and Macbeth laments the king's death, claiming

that he witches he was dead instead of the king. Malcolm and Donalbain

appear and ask who murdered their father. Lennox tells them that the

bodyguards must have done it because they still had the king's blood on

their faces and hands and the daggers on their pillows. Macbeth tells them

that he has already killed the bodyguards in a grief-stricken rage. When

Malcolm and Donalbain question this act, Lady Macbeth pretends to faint in

order to distract them. Aside, Malcolm and Donalbain confer and decide that

their lives are threatened and they should flee. As Lady Macbeth is being

helped to leave, Banquo counsels the others to get together to analyze what

just happened and figure out what to do next. Leaving Malcolm and Donalbain

alone, they leave to meet in the hall. Malcolm decides that he will flee to

England, and Donalbain says that he will go to Ireland.

Act 2, scene 4

Ross and an old man discuss the unnatural events that have taken place

recently: days are as dark as nights, owls hunt falcons, and Duncan's

horses have gone mad and eaten each other. Macduff enters, and Ross asks

him who killed the king. Macduff tells him that the bodyguards did it, but

that Malcolm and Donalbain's hasty flight from Inverness has cast suspicion

on them as well. Ross comments that Macbeth will surely be named the next

king, and Macduff says that he has already been named and has gone to Scone

to be crowned. Ross leaves for Scone to see the coronation, and Macduff

heads home to Fife.

Act 3 Summary Act 3, scene 1

At Macbeth's court, Banquo voices his suspicions that Macbeth has killed

Duncan in order to fulfill the witches' prophesies. He muses that perhaps

this means that the witches' vision for his future will come true as well,

then pushes this thought from his mind. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth enter to

the sound trumpets, along with Lennox and Ross. Macbeth announces that he

will hold a banquet that evening, and that Banquo will be the chief guest.

Banquo states that he must ride this afternoon, but he will be back in time

for supper. Macbeth tells him that Malcolm and Donalbain will not confess

to killing their father, and asks if Fleance will accompany Banquo on his

trip (he will), then wishes Banquo a safe ride.

Left alone, Macbeth summons the two murderers he has hired. While he waits

for them, he gives voice to his greatest worry of the moment ­ that the

witches' prophesy for Banquo will come true, and that Banquo's children

will inherit the throne instead of his own. He will put an end to that

thought by killing Banquo and Fleance. The murderers enter. These men are

not "murderers" by trade but poor men who are willing to do anything to

make some money. Macbeth has evidently sent them letters stating that

although they think Macbeth is the cause of their present poverty, the real

cause is Banquo, and that he will reward them richly if they would kill

Banquo for him. The Murderers respond that they are so "weary with

disasters [and] tugged with fortune" that they are "reckless what / [they]

do to spite the world." Macbeth tells them that Banquo is his own enemy as

well as theirs, but that loyal friends of Banquo's prevent him from killing

him himself. Macbeth tells them the particulars of the murder: they must

attack him as he is coming back from his ride, at a distance from the

palace in order to avert suspicion. They must also kill Fleance, and

perform these murders at exactly the right time.

Act 3, scene 2

Alone, Lady Macbeth expresses her unhappiness: there seems to be no end to

her desire for power, and she feels unsafe and doubtful. Macbeth enters,

looking upset, and she again counsels him not to spend his time alone

worrying about what they have done. Macbeth states that their job is not

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