The Story So Far: Macbeth and his wife murdered King Duncan in the middle of the night, but now it's morning and Macduff has noticed that King Duncan isn't looking as healthy as he did yesterday, what with all the stab wounds and blood pouring out of him.
Something to watch for in this scene: everyone is speaking very plainly in the aftermath of Duncan's murder... except for Macbeth. He's gone into full-on flowery speech mode, which makes sense, as he's essentially acting his little black heart out. Only he's definitely trying too hard.
There's always a question about whether or not Lady Macbeth really faints here, or if she's doing it specifically to distract unwanted attention away from Macbeth. Most productions seem to go with her pretending to faint, and that's personally my favorite interpretation. It's something she would absolutely do.
In case you've forgotten who these guys are, they're Duncan's sons, Malcolm and Donalbain, who rather reasonably suspect that they might be next in line... not to the throne, but to getting their throats cut.
Macbeth
Dramatis Personae | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30
If you haven't seen it yet, be sure to check out our Crispin's Day speech spectacular, with over 80 people chipping in to celebrate the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Agincourt.