Act 4
What is Macbeth asking the witches when he says, "I conjure you by that which you profess / (Howe’er you come to know it), answer me" and what is different about how the witches' answer in Act 4 compared to Act 1?
*Macbeth is asking for more information about the original prophecy or for more prophetic information relating to his reign.
*In Act 4, the witches actually answer him when he asks for more information, in the form of another prophecy. In Act 1, they just walked away when he asked for more information.
(1) What is peculiar or odd about Lady Macbeth’s behavior in Act 5, Scene 1? (2) What does she see or do in this scene that is so odd?
(1) She is sleepwalking and (2) She is hallucinating that there is blood on her hands that cannot be washed off no matter how hard she tries to do so.
*This behavior illustrates her repressed remorse over the deaths that she helped to plot with Macbeth.
Who said this quote, and what does it mean or foreshadow in the play?
“Something wicked this way comes.”
*The Witches or Werid [Wyrd] Sisters
*Something bad is coming, or something bad is going to happen. It's ironic that Macbeth walks in just as this is being spoken.
(1) What is the First Apparition from Act 4, Scene 1, and (2) What is its warning for Macbeth?
(1) An Armed Head or Head Wearing Armor (ie: a Helmet)
(2) "Beware Macduff! Beware the Thane of Fife!"
(1) What does it mean to be "untimely ripped" in the play?
(2) Who was "untimely ripped" and therefore not naturally "of woman born?" This person was able to overthrow Macbeth in the play.
(1) Born by what we would call a C-section or caesarean today. It is the surgical delivery of a baby through a cut (incision) made in the mother's abdomen and uterus.
(2) Macduff
(1) Who said this, and (2) What does it mean? How was it forward-thinking for the time period it was written in?
Quote: "Cure [her] of that. / Canst thou not minister to a mind diseased, / Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow, / Raze out the written troubles of the brain, / And with some sweet oblivious antidote / Cleanse the stuffed bosom of that perilous stuff / Which weighs upon the heart?"
(1) Macbeth
(2) He is talking about the mental illness that him and his wife have been experiencing, and asking a doctor if they can be cured of it. This was progressive for the time period it had been written in because there was little to no knowledge of mental illness at that time.
(1) What is the Second Apparition from Act 4, Scene 1, and (2) What is its warning for Macbeth?
(3) How does Macbeth react to the information it gives him?
(1) A Bloody Child
(2) "Be bloody, bold, and resolute. Laugh to scorn / The power of man, for none of woman born / Shall harm Macbeth."
(3) Macbeth says, "Macduff; what need I fear of thee?" This means he isn't sure why he should fear Macduff if "none of woman born" could harm him.
Throughout Act 5, there are several tiny scenes that show how "Birnam Wood" is coming to "Dunsinane Hill." How is this part of the Apparition's prophecy coming true or actually happening in the play?
Malcolm and Macduff are leading an army from "Birnam Wood" to "Dunsinane Hill" in order to attack and possibly overthrow Macbeth. They chopped down branches from the trees and are carrying them as they march forward in order to help camouflage the soldiers as they advance.
(1) Who said this quote? (2) What does it mean or refer to? (3) Also, who died based on what this character said?
Quote: "Out, damned spot, out, I say! / Hell is murky. / Who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him? / The Thane of Fife had a wife. Where is she now? / What, will these hands ne’er be clean? . . . What’s done cannot be undone."
(1) Lady Macbeth
(2) Lady Macbeth is hallucinating that she cannot wash the blood from her hands.
(3) She reveals that the Thane of Fife's wife had now died too when she says, "The Thane of Fife had a wife. Where is she now?"
(1) What is the Third Apparition, and (2) What is its warning for Macbeth?
(1) A Child Crowned with a Tree in his Hand
(2) "Macbeth shall never vanquished be until / Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill / Shall come against him."
*Macbeth is assumes that this part of the prophecy means he cannot be vanquished until the trees from Birnam Wood seemingly walk to Dunsinane Hill, which he deems improbable . . .
Define (1) Hubris and (2) Hamartia.
(3) How does Macbeth exhibit both Hubris and possibly Hamartia in the play after hearing the Apparitions' prophecy in Act 4?
(1) Hubris: Arrogance or "pride before the gods"
(2) Hamartia: Fatal or tragic flaw/downfall
(3) After hearing parts of the Apparitions' prophecy that suggested that "none of woman born" could harm Macbeth or that Birnam Wood would have to move to Dunsinane for Macbeth to be vanquished, he assumed that nobody could harm him (without considering the wording or the idea of "untimely ripped" people) and that the trees cannot move entirely on their own across the territories. The fact that he didn't think deeper into the wording of this prophecy and automatically assumed it was favorable led to his downfall.
(1) Who said this quote, (2) What is this character planning to do based on the quote, and (3) why?
Quote: "The castle of Macduff I will surprise, / Seize upon Fife, give to th’ edge o’ th’ sword / His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls / That trace him in his line. No boasting like a fool; /This deed I’ll do before this purpose cool."
*(1) Macbeth
*(2) He is plotting a "surprise" attack on the Thane of Fife, Macduff
*(3) The first part of the witches' prophecy in the form of the Apparitions from Act 4, Scene 1, said, "Beware Macduff! Beware the Thane of Fife!" so he wants to vanquish this enemy before Macduff has the chance to overthrow Macbeth.
List the 4 Apparitions from Act 4, Scene 1 in order.
1. Armed Head
2. Bloody Child
3. Child Crowned with a Tree in his Hand
4. A mirror image inside of an image showing Banquo's descendants as kings. Banquo is at the end of the image. Also described as, "A show of eight kings. [the eighth king] with a glass in his hand, and Banquo last."
What were Macbeth's motives for ending the lives of (1) King Duncan, (2) the chamberlains, (3) Banquo, (4) Lady Macduff’s son and Lady Macduff?
*(1) King Duncan: to make the third part of the witches' original prophecy from Act 1 come true so that he could be king.
*(2) The Chamberlains: to frame them for King Duncan's murder .
(3) Banquo: so that he could not produce more heirs to the throne or to try to prevent him from "fathering a line of kings" as the fourth part of the original prophecy predicted.
(4) Lady Macduff and her son: to attack or weaken Macduff since the first part of the Apparition's prophecy states to beware him. He wanted to attack Macduff himself at that point too, but he was not present since he was with Malcolm's army in England at that time.
(1) Who said this quote? (2) What is life being compared to in this quote?
Quote: "All our yesterdays have lighted fools / The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! / Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player / That struts and frets his hour upon the stage /And then is heard no more. It is a tale / Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, / Signifying nothing."
(1) Macbeth
(2) Answers can include: a candle, shadow, or performance on a stage.
*The end of the quote suggests that Macbeth feels life is meaningless or "signifies nothing" which shows that he devalues human life.