William Shakespeare
Macbeth
The full script in Final Draft, Word & PDF
Prompted by three witches and his wife, Macbeth murders the king of Scotland and is destroyed by what he does to keep the crown.
PDFs Only
$4.99
- ✓ Stageplay PDF (82 pp.)
- ✓ Screenplay PDF (82 pp.)
- ✓ Instant download
Full Package
$12.99
- ✓ Final Draft (.fdx)
- ✓ Microsoft Word + RTF
- ✓ Screenplay + Stageplay PDFs
Need more than a few plays?
All 37 plays in every format cost $99, less than 8 single Full Packages. PDFs only: $55 for all 37.
- Genre
- Tragedy
- Written
- c. 1606
- Setting
- Scotland and England
- Scenes
- 28
- Speaking roles
- 35
- Uncut running time
- ~2h 05m
What happens in Macbeth
After a victory in battle, the Scottish general Macbeth meets three witches who hail him as future king. His wife, Lady Macbeth, urges him to murder King Duncan, who is a guest in their castle. Macbeth kills him and takes the crown. Fearing the witches' prediction that Banquo's descendants will be kings, he has Banquo murdered, but Banquo's ghost appears at a feast.
Macbeth returns to the witches and is told to beware Macduff, but also that no man born of woman can harm him. He has Macduff's family killed. Lady Macbeth, tormented by guilt, walks in her sleep. Malcolm, Duncan's son, raises an English army with Macduff and advances on Macbeth's castle, where Macduff reveals he was born by caesarean section and kills Macbeth.
See the formatting
The first page of Act I, exactly as it appears in the files you download.
The biggest roles
Share of the play's spoken words, counted from the script. 35 characters speak; 16 of them have under 1% of the text — natural candidates for doubling.
| Role | Share of the text | Speeches |
|---|---|---|
| Macbeth | | 719 |
| Lady Macbeth | | 266 |
| Malcolm | | 212 |
| Macduff | | 180 |
| Ross | | 135 |
| Banquo | | 113 |
| Lennox | | 73 |
| Duncan | | 70 |
For directors
Macbeth carries about 32 percent of the words, with Lady Macbeth at 12, Malcolm at 9 and Macduff at 7, so the title role dominates and the rest of the cast is comparatively light. There are 35 speaking roles, 16 under 1 percent, and doubling is common, especially for the witches, murderers and lords. At 125 minutes uncut, this is among the shortest tragedies and needs the least trimming to fit a standard evening.
Cutting notes
- Cut the Hecate scenes, which are widely considered later additions and are often omitted.
- Shorten the Malcolm and Macduff test scene in Act IV scene iii, the longest political passage.
- Trim the Porter's topical jokes in Act II scene iii, keeping the knocking.
For teachers
Students study ambition and guilt, fate against free will, the supernatural, kingship and the corruption of nature. Frequently taught passages include the witches' opening scene, the dagger soliloquy, the murder of Duncan, the banquet scene, Lady Macbeth's sleepwalking and "Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow". It is among the most commonly set Shakespeare texts for school exams and a standard introduction to tragedy.
Questions
Is this the complete, uncut text of Macbeth?
Yes. Every file contains the full play — 28 scenes and about 16,600 spoken words. Cut it yourself in Word or Final Draft to fit your running time.
What is the difference between the stageplay and screenplay layouts?
The stageplay layout indents stage directions and sets dialogue full-width, like a theatre script. The screenplay layout follows film conventions: scene headings and action flush left, character names centred, dialogue in a narrower column. Both tiers include both layouts as PDFs; the Full Package adds editable Final Draft and Word files of each.
Can I use this Macbeth script for a production or a class?
Yes. Shakespeare's plays are in the public domain, so there are no royalties to pay for staging them. Edit, stage, film or teach with these files.
How do I receive the files?
Right after checkout you land on a private download page, and the link is also emailed to you. It keeps working, so you can re-download any time.
