A lot happens in Act 4. Macbeth sees lots of strange, specific ghosts; Macbeth orders Macduff's family to be killed (killing a child and a young mother? A new low for Macbeth); and Malcolm and Macduff engage in clever wordplay in an effort to understand the real motivations of the other (Read 4.3 especially closely. Both men have good intentions, but they aren't sure they can trust each other, so this scene is the test of loyalty and morality).
We have been practicing analysis over and over again. You know that to analyze, you must say something new and revealing. Your job is to help another reader discover deeper meaning.
For this blog post, I would like you to demonstrate your sharpened analytical skills.
Analyze anything/anyone in this scene--it's your choice. Draw some conclusions. Think critically. Discover a deeper way we can think about this text--and then teach it to us.
A few tips to keep in mind:
1. You must support your argument with direct evidence (including correct MLA citations!) from the text. You can explicate a passage or analyze a character or moment in this act--it's up to you. But you must ground your argument in the close reading of the text.
2. Read previous posts before you post! Don't repeat what someone else already said! That said, you are welcome to allude to a previous post as long as you build upon it.
3. Write clearly, concisely. Do not use the words "very" or "interesting" (they were WAY overused in the previous two blog posts). Revise your post before you submit it. Put commas in the correct places.
Posts are due by the start of class on Monday! Have a great weekend!
MALCOM
ReplyDelete“Be comforted
Let’s make us med’cines of our great revenge
To cure this deadly grief.
MACDUFF
He has no children” (4.3.252-255).
Macbeth falls to a despairing point in this act. He takes from Macduff what he cannot have himself, his children. The prospect of having Macduff’s children savagely killed does not seem to faze Macbeth, whereas killing Duncan drove him mad. He concludes in scene one that he will follow through with his actions the moment the idea is formed. But what drives Macbeth to the point of ordering the death of children? He is ultimately motivated by jealousy and the knowledge that he does not have the children he desires. Macbeth orders the death of Macduff’s wife and children because he wants to take away the privilege he cannot have himself. The lack of children disturbs him to imagine evil schemes and arrange cruel murders. In his desperation to attain and maintain the kingship, Macbeth has lost any concept of reality. He realizes that without an heir, his hope of keeping the throne is unrealistic. Therefore, he decides to resolve this problem by eliminating the people most threatening to him. But with his orders to kill Macduff’s family, his method of operation took a turn for the worst. This is clear evidence that Macbeth is taking the lives of the people who have what he desires and continues to kill when it is not pertinent to his original mission. In the beginning, Macbeth was in distress over the thought of murdering Duncan, but he is now at the point where ordering the death of a man’s wife and children is not a big deal. Ultimately, Macbeth has what he first set out to attain; but yet he remains unsatisfied and continues, in increasingly cruel conspiracies, to try and satisfy his greed.
MACBETH
ReplyDeleteI conjure you by that which you profess
(Howe’ver you come to know it), answer me. (4.1.51-52)
I will be satisfied. Deny me this,
And an eternal curse fall on you! Let me know! (4.1.120)
In this act Macbeth is much braver when dealing the witches than he has been in previous acts. He conjures them instead of them merely appearing before him. He has gained some control over the witches, however it is now the fear of men that could get in his way of ruling that has him on edge, instead of the promise of a great future. While he is able to have the witches answer his questions, he is told that the apparitions “will not be commanded” (4.1.86). Macbeth’s enemies are no longer the witches themselves but his fear, brought to him in images that mock him with what could keep him from being king forever. Macbeth is not capable of being satisfied with his situation and is being mocked by what he feels are restrictions to him keeping the throne. Even though Macbeth is told that “none of woman born shall harm Macbeth,” he does not listen, controlled by the fear of losing the throne (4.1.91-92). Macbeth is past being reasoned with by outside forces, the fear within himself keeping him from listening to the witches’ prophecies, which he knows have been true before.
Ross
ReplyDeleteBut cruel are the times when we are traitors
And do not know ourselves(4.4.22-23)
In Macbeth's case he thinks that the people he is killing are traitors. The reason why Macbeth thinks they are traitors is because they were preventing him from becoming king. If Duncan and Banquo were still alive then Macbeth wouldn't have been king and therefore the witches prophecy wouldn't have came true. Macbeth would have had to wait until Duncan and his kids died until he would have had a chance to become king. Macbeth has betrayed his country and his friends. He has convinced everyone that Malcolm, Donaldbain, and Fleance killed their own father, and that Banquo was a traitor. What Macbeth doesn't realize is that he is the traitor. Macbeth has lied to the people in the play in order to become king.
Malcom
ReplyDeleteAngels are bright still, though the brightest fell. though all things foul would bear the brows of grace, yet grace must still look so. (4.3. 23-26)
Here, Malcolm mentions Lucifer and his fall from grace. He subtly compares Macbeth to Lucifer and that is HUGE because Macbeth is their KING. To call their king the devil is unheard of. Malcolm is predicting that Macbeth will fall from grace and everything will work out. While he looks good now, it's about to go down! The bad stuff tries to look good,and it does for a while, but the good stuff has to look good too, and eventually good will conquer evil. We just need to sit back and wait for Macbeth to get caught up in his web of lies. Malcolm is calmly and carefully plotting his revenge. He knows that he can't do anything crazy or he will be killed and that won't do anyone any good.
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ReplyDeleteMacbeth
ReplyDeleteAnd even now, to crown my thoughts with acts, be it thought and done (4.1.168-170)
Macbeth is saying that every thought he had of becoming king has now happened. His thoughts have become actions. Once Macbeth has his mind set on a goal he will make sure that he does everything in his power to achieve it. Because Macbeth has killed so many people already, he no longer thinks about what he has done and the consequences, he only thinks about what he has gained. Sooner or later killing will be natural to Macbeth. He will no longer have to think out his plans, he will just do them.
Second Apparition
ReplyDelete"Be bloody, bold, and resolute. Laugh to scorn
The power of man, for none of woman born
Shall harm Macbeth." (4.1.90-92).
Macbeth is confident after meeting the Second Apparition. Macbeth is no longer worried about Macduff being alive or not. He feels invincible after hearing that no one born from a woman can harm him. Macbeth can now do anything he wants without fear of anyone stopping him. These words can't possible be true though. Macbeth's death is inevitable, but who will kill him? Macbeth doesn't see that the Second Apparition is foreshadowing that someone, who was apparently not born from a woman, will harm him.
In Act 4 of Macbeth, Macbeth is being compared to Hades. One example is that the opening scene of Act 4, he is found discussing his future with the three witches, who can easily be referenced to as the mythological fates. Like the fates under Hades, the Weird sisters report to and take orders from Macbeth. For example, in Act 4 Scene 1, Macbeth explains to the witches that he has a question to which they reply, "Speak/ Demand/ We'll answer" (4.1.65-67). Also, in Act 4, Macbeth sends out his servants to take the souls of the Macduffs- figuratively of course. Nonetheless, he sends out his "murderers" to claim the lives of his victims instead of doing it himself.
ReplyDeleteIn the first part of scene three, Malcolm tests Macduff’s loyalty to Scotland. In this test, Malcolm convinces Maduff that Malcolm, the rightful heir to the throne, is unfit to be king. Malcolm has major lust and greed issues. However, Macduff, because of his desperate desire to remove Macbeth from the throne, justifies Malcolm’s vices. When Malcolm speaks of his immeasurable lustful desires, Macduff tells him to “Convey your pleasures in a spacious plenty and yet seem cold- the time you may so hookwink” (4.3.85-86). When Malcolm admits his unending greed, Macduff assures him that “Scotland hath foisons to fill up your will of your mere own” (4.3.104-105). In these two cases Macduff completely ignores the major character flaws of Malcolm. To Macduff, any king would be better than Macbeth. Macduff is completely consumed with ridding Scotland of the tyrant, so he ignores the fact that Macbeth could be replaced by someone who is far more vicious. This reveals that Maduff will go to any lengths to get rid of Macbeth.
ReplyDeleteIn act 4.1 twelve ghosts appear to Macbeth while he is talking to the witches. The first ghost is of a man with a helmet, the second is a bloody child, the third is a crowned child with a tree in his hand, then there are eight kings, and the last is the ghost of Banquo. The ghosts symbolize the people he has killed or is going to kill.
ReplyDeleteThere is a theme of doubling throughout Act 4 in Macbeth. The first is seen in the witches' chant, "Double, double toil and trouble," which signifies more trouble and chaos for not only Macbeth but also the citizens of Scotland in the days to come (4.1.10). A second is seen in the words of Lady Macduff when she answers her son's question of "What is a traitor?" with "Why, one that swears and lies" (4.2.53-54). She is talking of swearing and lying as one who swears to an oath and then breaks it, making the oath a lie, but her son takes it to mean one who uses profanity and does not tell the truth. This has a double meaning and also brings up a contrasting pair - an innocent mind versus a corrupt mind. Macduff's son has the innocent mind of a child because he knows no better, so he does not see the corruption in government and in the people who must make important oaths as part of their job. Lady Macduff, however, has lived to see corruption in the government of Scotland, including Macbeth, and knows that there are evil and dishonest people who want to do nothing but harm others. This becomes ironic because later in the chapter both Lady Macduff and her son are killed by Macbeth's forces, a purely evil act on Macbeth's part. A third double is seen in the killing of Macduff's wife and son - the fact that they were both innocent. Before being killed Lady Macduff states, "I have done no harm," and her son hasn't either (4.2.82). Both are not expecting to be killed because they have no reason to be, which again shows the contrasting pair of innocent versus corrupt minds between the mind of the common people and Macbeth respectively. One of the last doubles is seen when Malcom says, "Black Macbeth/Will seem as pure as snow, and the poor state/Esteem him as a lamb" (4.3.63-65). There is a contrasting pair in this statement by Malcolm because first he describes Macbeth as "black," representing evil and corruption. In the next line, he is said to be "as pure as snow," making him white and free of sin, and in the next he is said to be "esteem[ed] as a lamb" (4.3.63-65). A lamb was often used as a sacrifice in Biblical times because it was a holy animal, and Jesus is often referred to as the Lamb of God because he was a holy sacrifice for the sins of the people. There are many doubles that signify the difference between corrupt and innocent in Act 4, which also represent the change in character of Macbeth throughout the play.
ReplyDelete"Infected by the air whereon they ride, And damned all those that trust them"(4.1.157-158)!
ReplyDeleteMacbeth is cursing the people that trust the Weird sisters so that he doesn't look suspicious around Lennox. Macbeth trust the Weird sisters even though they have lead him in the wrong direction. Macbeth is two faced and doesn't realize that he is cursing himself. By Macbeth trusting the Weird sisters he is leading himself into damnation.
First Witch
ReplyDelete"Thrice the brinded cat hath mewed" (4.1.1).
In this passage, the first witch is referring to Macbeth. Brinded means striped which is the designated clothing prisoners wear. This passage proves Macbeth is trapped or jailed. The "matrons" that keep him imprisoned are his conscience, his wife, and the collapse of his sanity. All three of these qualities have helped Macbeth complete murders in order to maintain the throne. When the witch says, "thrice," it means Macbeth has already murdered three times. He's killed his king, his friend, and his soul. Later in act four, as Katy Beth stated, Malcolm refers to Macbeth as, "the brightest fell," which is an allusion to Lucifer (4.3.27). Lucifer, or Satan, is similar to Macbeth because they held respected names but both destroyed their souls in order to achieve power and in return, obtained the wrong throne. Satan rebelled again God and was banished from Heaven and rules Hell and Macbeth now rules his own Hell because in his kingdom, souls are destroyed. Just as Lucifer was tempted by his lust to be worshipped, Macbeth acted upon the lust of a prophecy given by the sisters. Because of his ultimate sin, he cannot stop at just thrice killings, but must continue in order to reach his desire of impossible satisfaction.
Like Chandler said, in act 4 scene 1 Macbeth sees twelve ghosts. These ghosts not only represent he people that he has/will kill, but they also are prime examples of how Macbeth has completely lost his mind. First, when Macbeth is visited by these ghosts he wonders what they want from him or what they have to say. He doesn't question why he is seeing them. The idea that ghosts have appeared isn't his concern. Also, just the fact that he is seeing ghosts is a huge indicator that something is not right in his mind. The last thing that points out how Macbeth's mind has changed is that those twelve ghosts are twelve lives. He is willing to kill twelve people to get what he wants. He has completely lost it if he thinks that murdering will lead him to success and happiness.
ReplyDeleteMacDuff
ReplyDelete"Not in the legions
Of horrid hell can come a devil more damned
In evils to top Macbeth" (4.3.67-69).
MacDuff is comparing Macbeth to the worst of the worst here. He refers to Macbeth as someone that is worse than the devil. The devil is the supernatural form of evil. The witches are also supernatural forces that meet up and discover new ways to ruin peoples' lives. MacDuff is unknowingly comparing Macbeth to the creators of this madness. Macbeth thinks that he is following his fate and he thinks he is simply doing what it takes to be king. What he doesn't know is that even if he becomes king, no one will like him because he killed all those people. He trusts what the witches had told him when they predicted his future. His destiny seemed to have everything he could ever dream of, but now that he is king, and the major part of his fate has come true, he is being compared to the devil. All he wanted was to be king, but now he is so much more than that, in a bad way. Many of the Scottish nobles not only think he is greedy, unjust, barbaric, and ruthless, but they also talk about the devil in reference towards him. Do you have everything you wanted, Macbeth?
Malcolm
ReplyDeleteIt is myself I mean, in whom I know
All the particulars of vice so grafted
That, when they shall be opened, black Macbeth
Will seem as pure as snow. (4.3.61-64)
Malcolm has evil inside of him. He knows that he is angry enough to get revenge that will cause him to look more evil than Macbeth. The evil inside of him is a result of grief because of his fathers murder. He has many emotions stirring inside of him. There is grief for his father, anger towards Macbeth, and jealousy that Macbeth is king. He knows all of these emotions will create a monster inside of him and will get revenge on Macbeth.
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ReplyDeleteFIRST WITCH
ReplyDelete“Round about the cauldron go;
In the poisoned entrails throw.
Toad, that under coldstone
Days and nights has thirty-one
Sweltered venom sleeping got,
Boil thou first i’ th’ charmed pot. (4.1.4-9)”
MACBETH
“Thanks for that.
There the grown serpent lies. The worm that’s fled
Hath nature that in time will venom breed,
No teeth for th’ present. Get thee gone. Tomorrow
We’ll hear ourselves again. (3.4.31-35)
Macbeth referenced the serpent with “no teeth” saying that his downfall will be Fleance (3.4.34). The first witch is adding a poisoned toad to the cauldron. This could be the witches, that represent the three fates, saying there is a new form of poison bearer. This shows the reader what Macbeth thinks will be his downfall, will not be. After this quotation from the first witch there are multiple things listed that are added to the cauldron. Shakespeare purposely tried to point this out by separating it from the other ingredients in the cauldron. This was proven at the end of Act IV Scene I when Macbeth is shown the eight kings and is told that Birnam Wood will fight him.
Second Apparition
ReplyDelete"Be bloody, bold, and resolute. Laugh to scorn
The power of man, for none of woman born
Shall harm Macbeth." (4.1.90-92).
While what kimmie said, "These words can't possible be true though. Macbeth's death is inevitable, but who will kill him?" made perfect sense. I understood that the witches said that no man individually would kill Macbeth, because that man was born of woman, but a rebellion that was thought up (and born) of by men would be able to kill him (4.1.90-92). This understanding is supported in Act four Scene three by Malcolm, Macduff, and Ross.
Throughout the entire play, manhood is equated with violence and murder. This comparison is first drawn in scene seven of act one, when Lady Macbeth dares Macbeth to "do all that may, become a man" (1.7. 51). In order to be a man, Macbeth must kill Duncan; she's calling him to be a man by being violent. In act four, manhood is again determined by willingness to be violent. Malcolm wants Macduff to "dispute it like a man" (4.3. 259). Macuff would be considered a man by getting "great revenge to cure this deadly grief" (4.3. 253-254). He needs to kill Macbeth in the most brutal way possible so that he'll be seen as a man. Manhood is based totally upon a man's willingness to be violent and to kill others.
ReplyDeleteBy the pricking of my thumbs,
ReplyDeleteSomething wicked this way comes
Open, locks,
Whoever knocks (4.1.44-47)
In this scene, the second witch feels evil in her bones. The spell being stirred up is also stirring up her evil emotions towards this spell casting in Act 4 of Scene 1. Whomever "knocks" on her door will be "locked" in her spell. Earlier in this Act, it talks about what the Second Witch put into this cauldron. From the toe of a frog and a tongue of a dog, this witch seems dirty. She seems capeable of diminishing someones soul and body. Her sisters also seem like they have been living for a long time. Their appearance throughout Act 4 is old and dead, but with devilish souls. As "something wicked this way comes (Line 45)." the Second Witch will be more than welcoming to lock someone in her deepest evil spell.
In acts one through four, the three witches always enter with thunder and lightning. Since the beginning of the play the witches have been powerful characters in the mind of MacBeth. They have told him that he is destined to become Thane of Cawdor, Thane of Glamis, and eventually King. This news sends a power-hungry surge through MacBeth and Lady MacBeth, which leads to the murder of Duncan. In act four, the words of the Weird Sisters influence MacBeth once again. The Witches warn him of MacDuff and his heir to the Scottish throne, his son. MacBeth uses this warning to formulate his next plan, to kill MacDuff and his son. I disagree with Courtney when she says that MacBeth finally has control over the witches. I believe that the witches still have a firm, controlling grip on MacBeth’s thoughts and actions. They lead him to murder Duncan and in act four they lead him to murder MacDuff, Lady MacDuff, and their son. “Thunder. Enter the three Witches.” This is the line that always comes before one of the witches’ scenes. The reader knows from this line that the witches’ are going to use their powerful presence to control a vulnerable character.
ReplyDeleteMalcolm
ReplyDelete’Tis called the evil:
A most miraculous work in the good king,
Which often since here-remain in England
I have seen him do. How he solicits heaven
Himself best knows, but strangely visited people
All swoll’n and ulcerous, pitiful to the eye,
The mere despair of surgery, he cures,
Hanging a golden stand about their necks,
Put on the holy prayers; and, ‘tis spoken,
To the succeeding royalty he leaves
The healing benediction. (4.3 168-178)
This is a religious oxymoron because it is talking about evil, but then talks about good things, even holy things, such as communicating with heaven, turning a blind eye towards people in need, curing people, and blessing them by hanging a golden stand about their necks. This is an important passage because throughout the play there is a portrayal of good and evil. The religious portrayal of good is ‘holy prayers’, ‘healing benediction’, and ‘heaven’. The evil is ‘tis called the evil’. Duncan is the good and Macbeth is the evil, or sometimes referred to as the devil. This proves how Shakespeare wrote about the comparisons of good vs. evil and heaven vs. hell.
"Tell me, if your art can tell so much: shall Banquo's issue ever Reign in this kingdom (4.1.115-116)?"
ReplyDeleteMacbeth refers to the witches powers as an "art". The dictionary definition of art is, "...expression or application of human creative skill and imagination...," this suggest that his point of view towards the powers of the witches is positive. He doesn't think of it as weird, he views is as an advantage for himself.
In act.4, Banquo’s ghost appears again, and that makes me feel like the ghost is not just a hallucination, but also the expression of Macbeth’s fear. In Act 3 when the ghost first appears, Macbeth is disordered and almost tells others what he did. That’s because he is afraid of Banquo. Also, when the Banquo’s ghost appear again in Act4, just like the witches say, “stands Mcbeth thus amazedly”, he is too scared to move, he is scared that Banquo’s child will become the king. Although these two fears are different, but they are all the expression of Macbeth’s inward, show us his fear.
ReplyDelete"Pour the sweet milk of concord into hell,
ReplyDeleteUproar the universal peace, confound
All unity on earth" (4.3.114-116).
The dictionary definition of confound is "to perplex or amaze, especially by a sudden disturbance or surprise; bewilder; confuse," but Malcolm uses confound with a definition of destroy. He uses destroy instead of the dictionary definition because he is suggesting destroying all unity on earth. He uses it in this way because he is suggesting that if he had inherited the power, he would have taken it and thrown man kind to hell.
(4.3.148-149)
ReplyDelete"The very firstlings of my heart shall be the firstlings of my hand."
Macbeth is a changed character in the sense that is he becoming less and less cautious with his actions. Macbeth has become ruthless.He is putting no thought into his actions. This is also what Macduff is doing. Macduff put no thought into the act of leaving his family.