Macbeth Act V Scene 6 Summary

Plot Summary / Story-line

Outside Dunsinane Castle, the battle commences. Malcolm orders his troops to discard their camouflaging tree branches and draw their swords for direct combat. The soldiers throw down their leafy boughs and engage Macbeth's forces in open warfare.​

Commentary on Act V, Scene vi

This brief scene is primarily functional: it marks the transition from preparation to active combat and fulfills the literal requirement of the Birnam Wood prophecy. The moment when soldiers discard the branches and engage in direct combat represents the transition from stratagem to straightforward military engagement. The visibility of the discarded branches—now literally making Birnam Wood visible moving toward Dunsinane—fulfills the witches' prophecy in a way that is simultaneously literal and ironic. Macbeth, observing this, realizes his doom is upon him.