You cannot analyse a play you cannot follow, so get the Macbeth plot solid first. This summary walks through all five acts in plain English, pointing out the moments that matter most and the quotes worth knowing. Read it once to fix the story in your head, then use the deeper pages for the analysis.
Act 1: the prophecy and the plan
Three witches meet on a heath and plan to greet Macbeth. Meanwhile King Duncan hears that Macbeth has fought bravely to crush a rebellion, and rewards him by making him Thane of Cawdor, though Macbeth does not know this yet. On their way home, Macbeth and his friend Banquo meet the witches, who hail Macbeth as future king and tell Banquo his descendants will be kings. When the new title of Cawdor is confirmed moments later, Macbeth starts to believe the rest could come true.
He writes to his wife, Lady Macbeth, who is even more ambitious than he is and immediately decides Duncan must die. Duncan announces that his son Malcolm will be his heir, an obstacle in Macbeth's path, then comes to stay at Macbeth's castle. Macbeth hesitates, deciding "We will proceed no further in this business", but Lady Macbeth attacks his courage and manhood until he agrees to murder the king that night.
Act 2: the murder of Duncan
Tormented, Macbeth hallucinates a dagger leading him to Duncan's room, and kills the sleeping king. He is so shaken he brings the bloody daggers back with him, and Lady Macbeth has to return them and smear the guards with blood. A drunken porter answers knocking at the gate, and Macduff arrives to wake the king, only to discover the murder. Macbeth kills the guards, claiming he did it in fury. Fearing for their lives, Duncan's sons Malcolm and Donalbain flee the country, which makes them look guilty. Macbeth is crowned king.
Act 3: Banquo's murder and the ghost
Now king, Macbeth cannot rest, because the witches said Banquo's sons would rule. He hires murderers to kill Banquo and his son Fleance, but although Banquo dies, Fleance escapes, so the threat lives on. At a royal banquet, Banquo's ghost, visible only to Macbeth, appears and Macbeth breaks down in front of his guests, nearly giving himself away. Lady Macbeth covers for him. Suspicion is growing, and we learn that Macduff has gone to England to join Malcolm.
Act 4: the apparitions and more killing
Macbeth returns to the witches, who show him apparitions: beware Macduff; no man 'of woman born' can harm him; and he will not be defeated until Birnam Wood moves to Dunsinane Hill. He feels invincible. Enraged that Macduff has fled, Macbeth has Macduff's wife and children slaughtered, an act of pure cruelty. In England, Malcolm tests Macduff's loyalty before trusting him, and news arrives of the murder of Macduff's family. Macduff vows revenge.
Act 5: the fall of Macbeth
Lady Macbeth, consumed by guilt, sleepwalks and tries to wash imaginary blood from her hands, then dies, her death implied to be suicide. Told of it, Macbeth responds with the bleak "Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow" speech. The English army advances, cutting branches from Birnam Wood as camouflage, so the wood appears to move. In the battle Macbeth fights on, trusting the prophecy, until Macduff reveals he was "from his mother's womb / Untimely ripped", born by caesarean and so not 'of woman born'. Macduff kills Macbeth, and Malcolm is hailed as the rightful King of Scotland, restoring order.
With the story clear, go deeper on the characters, learn the lines on the key quotes page, and understand the world of the play on the Macbeth context page.