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Macbeth
Act IV
Scene 1
Imagery

The state of the
kingdom under
Macbeth’s rule reflects
images of
dismemberment in the
witches brew


There is dissention
among the Lords due to
Macbeth’s evil deeds
He has “dismembered”
Scotland with his evil
deeds
Something Wicked This Way Comes

“By the pricking of my
thumbs/Something
wicked this way
comes.”


Indicates Macbeth’s
degeneration
He is dehumanized

He is as evil as the
witches
Catastrophic Events

Winds destroyed
churches



Sea swallows ships
Crops destroyed


Break with God
Break with nature
Castles and pyramids
crumble

Break with ruling order
Upsetting the Social Order


To fulfill his ambition,
Macbeth has upset the
social order by killing
Duncan
He is unable to control the
supernatural elements



Couldn’t eliminate Banquo’s
ghost
Couldn’t make the witches
elaborated on prophecies
Was unable to kill Fleance
Symbolism

“Pour in sow’s blood,
that hath eaten/Her
nine farrow; grease
that’s sweeten/From
the murderer’s gibbet
throw into the flame.”


Sow symbolizes Macbeth
He has killed his own kin


Duncan
Banquo
Demanding the Future



The three witches
concoct a foul brew and
chant over their
cauldron
Macbeth demands to
know the future
They show him four
apparitions
First Apparition

The first apparition
is a helmeted head

The first apparition
tells Macbeth to
beware Macduff,
the Thane of Fife
Second Apparition


The second apparition
is a blood child
He tells Macbeth to “Be
bloody, bold and
resolute! Laugh to
scorn/The pow’r of
man, for none of
woman born/Shall harm
Macbeth”
Third Apparition


The third apparition is a
child crowned with a
tree in his hand
He tells Macbeth that
“Macbeth shall never
vanquished be until/
Great Birnam Wood to
high Dunsinane
Hill/Shall come against
him.”
Fourth Apparition



The fourth apparition
is a show of eight
kings and Banquo
The last king holds a
mirror in his hand
This suggest an
infinite number of
descendents
Planning More Murders



The witches vanish
when Lennox appears
Lennox reveals that
Macduff has fled to
England
After Lennox leaves,
Macbeth resolves to kill
Lady Macduff and her
children
Why Kill Macduff ?

Why will Macbeth kill
Macduff despite the
prophecy that no man
“born of woman” can
harm him?



He wants to ensure
fate will not trick him
He does not trust the
prophecies completely
In trusting the witches,
he damns himself
Scene 2
Meanwhile at Fife




Macduff’s Castle
Ross tells Lady Macduff her
husband has gone to
England
She cannot understand why
her husband left with out
explanation
Accuses him of betraying
his marriage vows
A Comparison


Lady Macduff and son
exchange tender words
Comparison of son to a
bird



Innocent trapped
Defenseless
Messenger arrives and
tells them to flee
Fair is Foul and Foul is Fair

Lady Macduff says,
“Wither should I fly?/I
have done no harm. But I
remember now/I am in
this earthly world, where
to do harm/Is often
laudable, to do good
sometime/Accounted
dangerous folly.”

No escape in a world where
evil acts are rewarded and
good acts are overlooked
Flee for Your Life



Murderers arrive and
kill Lady Macduff and
her son
All Macduff’s children
are killed
All Macduff’s servants
are killed
Scene 3
In England




Macduff goes to England to
secure Malcolm’s aid in
fighting Macbeth
Malcom is wary because
Macduff was a friend of
Macbeth
Malcom believes Macduff
may have been sent to
England to trick him
Macduff sees that Malcolm
does not trust him

He prepares to leave
Testing Loyalty


Malcolm first tests
Macduff’s loyalty to
Scotland
Malcolm makes a
comparison between
himself and Macbeth

States his sins are so
great that Macbeth’s sins
would seem innocent in
comparison
An Alliance is Formed




Macduff disagrees
States that there is no one
more evil than Macbeth
He would rather be allied
with Malcolm and all his
imperfections than be loyal
to Macbeth
Malcolm reveals it has all
been a test and that he is
chaste, honest, faithful, etc.
Imagery


Scotland is portrayed
as a stabbed woman
sinking “beneath the
yoke,” weeping and
bleeding and suffering
a new wound every
day.
Image recalls the
murder of Lady Macduff
Difference Between Father and Son


Duncan
 Too trusting
 Deceived by two
traitors
Malcolm
 Tests Macduff for
for his loyalty
Good News

Malcolm states an army
is ready to attack
Macbeth’s forces


Siward with 10,000 men
Large enough to conquer
Macbeth’s army
Synecdoche



Ross arrives with news
from Fife
Breaks the news with
sensitivity
“Let not your ears
despise my tongue
forever,/Which shall
possess them with the
heaviest sound/That
ever yet they heard.”

Don’t hate me for what I
am about to tell you
Bearer of Bad News



Ross reveals that Lady
Macduff, the children
and all the servants
have been murdered
Macduff turns his shock
and grief into anger
Prays to meet Macbeth
in battle
A Definition of Manhood

Lady Macbeth


Malcolm


Man takes advantage of
opportunity no matter
what cost
Man must be strong and
not give into grief
Macduff

Man must strong, but be
able to express the pain
of grief
Aphorism


A concise statement
expressing a principle
or truth
“The night is long that
never finds the day”
(line 240)


Literal: Just as night
must give way to day
Metaphoric: The
darkness of Macbeth’s
reign will end and
peace will be restored