Act 5 Response
"Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude." - Thomas Jefferson
Act 5 begins with a doctor and a waiting-gentlewoman observing Lady Macbeth as she is sleepwalking. In her subconscious, Lady Macbeth babbles on about the sins she has committed and the permanence of her guilt. She is now clearly traumatized and distressed over what she and her husband have done; her current mentality is the complete opposite of what she had in Act 2. In Act 2, she was the one indifferent to the murder and the one who soothed the troubled Macbeth by saying, "A little water clears us of this deed" (II.iii.85). Now, she is the coward that Macbeth was in Act 2, having nightmares about the incident and being in constant remorse. Furthermore, she says, "Out, damned spot! Out, I say!--One, two" (V.i.31) and "Here's the smell of the blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. Oh, oh, oh!" (V.i.46-48). She is referring to her hands that were covered in Duncan's blood after the murder. Back in Act 2, she believed that she could be exonerated of her sins by simply cleansing her bloody hands and removing the evidence. Now in her subconscious, she is seeing the bloody hands again, struggling to get rid of the blood and be free from her sins. Realizing that this can never happen and that her guilt will be permanent, she eventually commits suicide.
In Scene 2, the Scottish nobles, including those who abandoned Macbeth, meet in preparation for the attack on Macbeth's castle. Now, the nobles regard Macbeth with contempt, calling him a mad tyrant. They want to see Macbeth overthrown so that Scotland can return to peace and stability. One remark that Angus makes is, "Those he commands move only in command, / Nothing in love" (V.ii.22-23). He is saying that Macbeth's soldiers have already abandoned Macbeth in their hearts and now they are only mindlessly following orders.
In the beginning of Scene 3, Macbeth feels confident and secure regardless of the incoming attack and the abandonment of his thanes because of the prophecies. He knows that he is invulnerable to any harm until the Birnam Wood approach Dunsinane and that no man born of a woman can harm him. This trust, of course, comes from the fulfillment of the past prophecies, which foretold that Macbeth will become the Thane of Cawdor as well as the king.
However, it is not only arrogant confidence he feels at that moment before his death. He reflects back upon his life, realizing how much he has botched as a king. He says, "I have lived long enough. My way of life / Is fall'n into the sere, the yellow leaf, / And that which should accompany old age, / As honor, love, obedience, troops of friends, / I must not look to have, but, in their stead, / Curses, not loud but deep, mouth-honor, breath / Which the poor heart would fain deny and dare not" (V.iii.25-31). This little soliloquy seems to be a break from the action; the readers get to have a last glance at the humane, loyal side of Macbeth before his death. They pity Macbeth after what he went through, beginning from the witches first prophecies to the murders. Having observed his transformation from a loyal warrior to a treacherous tyrant, this last unfortunate soliloquy acts as a climax of the readers' emotional attachment with the character.
After, Macbeth learns that his wife has committed suicide, he says, "Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player / That struts and frets his hour upon the stage / And then is heard no more. It is a tale / Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, / Signifying nothing" (V.v.26-30). He describes the meaninglessness and shortness of life using different imagery, such as a poor actor that is never heard from again and a tale told by fools. These emphasize the point that the cynical Macbeth is trying to make.
Three of the four prophecies are fulfilled in Act 5. The first one, which warned Macbeth of Macduff, is fulfilled when Macduff kills Macbeth. The second one, which foretold that Macbeth cannot be harmed until the Birnam Wood approach Dunsinane, is fulfilled when the English army approach Dunsinane camouflaged in the branches of the Birnam Wood. The third one, which foretold that no man born of a woman can harm Macbeth, is fulfilled when Macduff, who was surgically cut out of his mother's womb, kills Macbeth.
In his final victory speech, Malcolm shares his future plans to rebuild peace and stability in Scotland. First, he says, "As calling home our exiled friends abroad / That fled the snares of watchful tyranny" (V.iix.77-78). He will recall all those who fled the country, such as Donalbain. Second, he says, "Producing forth the cruel ministers / Of this dead butcher and his fiendlike queen, / Who, as ’tis thought, by self and violent hands / Took off her life" (V.iix.79-82). He will get rid of all those who followed Macbeth in his cruel intentions, such as his wife. However, he also notes that Lady Macbeth has already killed herself.