A man in Shakespeare’s play Macbeth. Three witches tell him he will be king. He believes them and murders King Duncan, who is a guest in his castle. He feels the guilt, but he kills more people to keep the crown, until Macduff kills him. Lady Macbeth, his wife, pushes him and then breaks under the same crime. The play is about power, blood, and a couple talking each other into worse and worse acts. Though actually, there was a real Scottish king called Macbeth, but Shakespeare’s story is not a careful history lesson. In the theatre, many English-speaking actors will not say the name Macbeth inside the building — they think it brings bad luck — and they call the play “the Scottish Play” instead. That is a backstage habit, not a rule for the classroom.