1. What three things does Macbeth learn from the witches and apparitions, and how does he react to them?
2. How does Macbeth react to Macduff's departure? (use concrete details)
3. What action is taken by Macduff and Malcolm in Act IV? (use concrete details)
Sedale Scullark
ReplyDelete1.What three things does Macbeth learn from the witches and apparitions, and how does he react to them?
a. Macbeth during the play is approached by 3 witches who bring forth the apparitions. The first apparitions explains to Macbeth that he should watch out for Macduff, Macbeth in return thanks the apparition for interpreting his future and explains that he will be more careful and watch out for Macduff. This is shown in the act 4 scene 1, lines 83-85 “whate’er thou art, for thy good caution, thanks. / Thou hast harped my fear aright. But one word/more —“. But this was only one of three encounters he faces with the apparitions, the next apparition he meets expresses that he should fear no man born of woman. Macbeth returns by stating that he will kill Macduff anyway just in case there should be any problems. The next apparition who has the most important message tells Macbeth that he will not be defeated until Great Birnam Woods march to Dunsinane Hill and go against him. Act 4 scene 1 line 108-110 show that Macbeth plays off the fact that the apparition says that he will be defeated. He says that Great Birnam Woods will never march so he has nothing to worry about. “That will never be. / Who can impress the forrest, bid the tree/ Unfix his earthbound root? Sweet bodements , good!” .
Sedale Scullark
ReplyDelete2nd post
b.Macbeth during act 4 goes to the witches again because they were right about all of the things they said before. They said that he would be king of Cawdor and now he is. Macbeth probably goes back to the witches because he wants more answers and more power. Macbeth might be getting a little paranoid now that he is king, because he knows someone wants to take the thrown from him. Maybe he goes to the witches to find out who he should be suspicious of or might cause him problems in the end. Macbeth during the play is approached by 3 witches who bring forth the apparitions. The first apparitions explains to Macbeth that he should watch out for Macduff, Macbeth in return thanks the apparition for interpreting his future and explains that he will be more careful and watch out for Macduff. This is shown in the act 4 scene 1, lines 83-85 “whate’er thou art, for thy good caution, thanks. / Thou hast harped my fear aright. But one word/more —“. But this was only one of three encounters he faces with the apparitions, the next apparition he meets expresses that he should fear no man born of woman. Macbeth returns by stating that he will kill Macduff anyway just in case there should be any problems. The next apparition who has the most important message tells Macbeth that he will not be defeated until Great Birnam Woods march to Dunsinane Hill and go against him. Act 4 scene 1 line 108-110 show that Macbeth plays off the fact that the apparition says that he will be defeated. He says that Great Birnam Woods will never march so he has nothing to worry about. “That will never be. / Who can impress the forrest, bid the tree/ Unfix his earthbound root? Sweet bodements , good!” .
Chisom Oraedu (post 1):
ReplyDelete1. What three things does Macbeth learn from the witches and apparitions, and how does he react to them?
The first thing that Macbeth learns is to be cautious of Macduff. The First Apparition chants to him, “Macbeth! Beware Macduff, Beware the Thane of Fife!” (IV.i.71-71). If Macbeth was not suspicious of Macduff before, he definitely is now. This encounter also foreshadows that Macduff may be the one to lead Macbeth to his demise later on. Before, Macbeth revealed that he sent spies to Macduff’s house to learn if he was conspiring; this information from the First Apparition shows that Macduff indeed was and still is his enemy. Macbeth reacts by saying that what the First Apparition told him has inspired a little fear to grow inside of him. He articulates, “Whate’er thou art, for thy good caution, thanks’ Thou hast harped my fear aright” (IV.i.72-73). Macbeth doesn’t exactly know what the First Apparition’s intention is in telling him this, but he is still grateful that he does tell him. The second thing that he learns is from the Second Apparition. It tries to warn Macbeth, but he construes the information the wrong way. The Second Apparition tells him, “…laugh to scorn The power of man, for none of woman born Shall harm Macbeth” (IV.i.79-81). It says that any child that is born from a woman will be no threat to Macbeth. This is true; only Macduff will be a threat. But he was not born from a woman; he was untimely ripped from his mother’s womb. The Second Apparition appearing as a bloody child symbolizes this. Macbeth takes this warning literally and assumes that any person will be no threat to him because all children are born from their mothers. Macbeth is ignorant and does not take the context of Macduff’s birth into consideration. The third thing that Macbeth learns is that he will be ambushed in the woods. The Third Apparition warns him, “Macbeth shall never vanquished be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill Shall come against him” (IV.i.92-84). Again, Macbeth takes this warning literally. He immediately writes it off because he thinks that it is impossible for a tree to get up and attack him. He does not see that the Third Apparition is foreshadowing that the rebels led by Macduff and the other nobles will hide in camouflage in the forest then jump out and attack Macbeth. After Macbeth’s second meeting with the witches and the three Apparitions, he leaves ignorant, thinking that he is safe. What Macbeth doesn’t know is that his demise is lying close ahead.
2. How does Macbeth react to Macduff's departure? (use concrete details)
After the witches vanish, Macbeth is left to mull over what they and the three Apparitions told him. Lennox then enters during Macbeth’s reverie and informs him of some surprising news. He reports, “…Macduff is fled to England” (IV.i.142). Macbeth is taken aback and immediately pounces into action. He cannot let Macduff’s treachery go unpunished. He makes a plan to bring justice for his wrongdoings. He does not hesitate with his plan. Macbeth states, “…The very firstlings of my heart shall The firstlings of my hand” (IV.i.147-148). Macbeth feels that if he hesitates for even a second, he will become weak and not be able to do what he must. He wants to prove that he is a strong ruler with an iron fist, which is why he decides to show no mercy. To punish Macduff for his actions, he decides not to kill him but rather his family. Macbeth says mercilessly, “The castle of Macduff I will surprise…give to th’edge o’th’ sword His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls That trace him in his line” (IV.150-153). Macbeth decides to go straight to Macduff’s heart; by killing the ones that he loves, this is the ultimate punishment. Macduff will forever feel guilt and remorse for being the cause of his entire family’s death. Macbeth reacts to Macduff’s departure by marking his entire family for death.
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ReplyDeleteChisom Oraedu (post 1 cont.):
ReplyDelete3. What action is taken by Macduff and Malcolm in Act IV? (use concrete details)
Malcolm tests Macduff’s loyalty in the beginning of Act IV. He needs to know that he can trust him before he fully supports him in the rebellion against Macbeth. He says to Macduff, “This tyrant, whose sole name blisters our tongues, Was once thought honest. You have loved him well; He hath not touched you yet” (IV.iii.12-14). Malcolm suggests that since Macbeth has not harmed Macduff in any way yet, it makes him look very suspicious. Macbeth has harmed Malcolm because he killed his father. Since Macduff has neither been personally attacked or harmed in any way, this makes him look suspicious. Macduff does not realize that this is a test and tries to claim his innocence. He pleads, ”I am not treacherous” (IV.iii.18). Macduff honestly thinks that he is losing Malcolm’s trust and that he will therefore not help him in his plight against Macbeth. Later, after Malcolm comes to the conclusion that Macduff is honorable and therefore worthy of his assistance, reveals that it was all a test. Malcolm and Macduff then come to a consensus to help each other in their battle against Macbeth. They make a plan for attack: “Come, go we to the King. Our power is ready; Our lack is nothing but our leave. Macbeth is ripe for shaking, and the powers above Put on their instruments” (IV.iii.238-241). Macduff and Malcolm are ready to take action against the corrupt king Macbeth. He is not a good ruler; he is a murderer and a tyrant in their eyes. By testing Macduff in Act IV, Malcolm decides to support the other nobles in the battle to overthrow Macbeth.
Chisom Oraedu (post 2):
ReplyDelete1. What three things does Macbeth learn from the witches and apparitions, and how does he react to them?
Macbeth not only learns from the Apparitions but also from the witches. They showed him a vision of the probable future. Macbeth sees Banquo and a long line of his descendants; they are his sons and grandsons. What this vision is showing him is that the witches original prophecy will come true and that Banquo’s posterity will be kings in the future. Macbeth says, “…and some I see That twofold balls and treble scepters carry” (IV.i.120-121). Not only will all of Macbeth’s future sons be kings of Scotland, but they will also be kings of various other countries. These other countries are England, France, and Ireland. Macbeth reacts to this vision with horror and abhorration. He exclaims, “Thou art like the spirit of Banquo. Down! Thy crown does sear mine eyeballs” (IV.i.112-113). Macbeth cannot bear the fact that Banquo’s family will continue in prosperity whereas Macbeth will be the first and only king in his lineage. This is Macbeth’s greatest fear. By showing him this vision, the witches show that Macbeth will not stay in power forever and that he will ultimately fall, leaving the throne open for Banquo’s sons to take control.
2. How does Macbeth react to Macduff's departure? (use concrete details)
When Macbeth hears that Macduff has fled to England, he makes an impulsive decision: to kill Macduff’s family. He plots, ““The castle of Macduff I will surprise…give to th’edge o’th’ sword His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls That trace him in his line” (IV.150-153). Macbeth plans to not only kill Macduff’s wife and child, but also anyone else who stands in his inheritance line. Macbeth likes the rash decision he has made and vows to only make decisions from now on in this manner. He states, “The flighty purpose never is o’ertook Unless the deed go with it. From this moment The very firstlings of my heart shall be The firstlings of my hand” (IV.i.145-148). Macbeth vows to act first, think later. This is a very unwise decision. Macbeth believes that unless a person acts on something the moment that he thinks of it, he’ll never get a chance to do it again. This is a foolish belief. By acting so rashly, Macbeth is bound to make careless mistakes in the future, making him more vulnerable and leading him closer to his demise.
3. What action is taken by Macduff and Malcolm in Act IV? (use concrete details)
At first, Macduff goes to England to gain Malcolm’s support in the battle against Macbeth. He is motivated only to get justice for the oppressed in Scotland and for the poor souls such as Duncan and Banquo that Macbeth has slayed. After he finds out that Macbeth has killed his family, however, he has a new motivation: revenge. Malcolm eggs Macduff on. He urges, “Be this the whetstone of your sword. Let grief convert to anger; blunt not the heart, enrage it” (IV.iii.230-231). Malcolm wants Macduff to be motivated to kill Macbeth. He is willing to use the slaying of Macduff’s family to his advantage. Macduff feels very guilty for being the cause of his family’s death. He cries, “Sinful Macduff, They were all struck down for thee!” (IV.iii.226-227). Macduff uses the anger and the guilt that he feels as a form of motivation that makes him ever more determined to defeat Macbeth. In Act IV, Malcolm and Macduff make their plan of action to take out the corrupt Scottish king.
Chisom Oraedu (post 3):
ReplyDelete1. What three things does Macbeth learn from the witches and apparitions, and how does he react to them?
Macbeth may not mentally realize it, but he also learns from his meeting with the witches that they are more powerful than he is. He may think that he is the almighty king and that no one is greater than him, but he’s wrong. The mere fact that he came to the witches for them to tell him his next prophecy is proof that he is dependent on them and that he is below them. He says to the witches, “I conjure you, by that which you profess, Howe’er you come to know it, answer me” (IV.i.50-51). The witches are sort of taunting him and making fun of him by not directly answering any of his questions. They want him to learn in the most cruel way possible that he is not the powerful and great king that he thinks he is. When he later tries to command the Apparitions to tell him what he wants, the witches answer by saying, “He will not be commanded” (IV.i.75). Macbeth is taken aback by the fact that the witches are not listening to him. This is a wake-up call for him that he may want to respect and have a sense of fear towards those who have the power to remove him from the throne. Even after the witches deny him more information, he still tries to assert his power. He exclaims, “I will be satisfied. Deny me this, And an eternal curse fall on you!” (IV.i.104-105). Macbeth learns something from the witches besides his prophecy: that he is not the most powerful man in the world. He is still lower in power than the witches are. Macbeth learns that just because he has slayed Duncan and became king, he still has not reached the ultimate level of power that he wants so desperately.
2. How does Macbeth react to Macduff's departure? (use concrete details)
Macbeth is very heartless when he decides Macduff’s punishment for fleeing. He does not even want to harm Macduff directly. Rather, he wishes to harm him through his heart. By slaying Macduff’s family, Macbeth wants the pain to reach straight to his core. Macduff has the exact reaction that Macbeth wants. After finding out that his family has been slain, Macduff exclaims, “All my pretty ones? Did you say all? O hell-kite! All? What, all my pretty chickens and their dam At one fell swoop?” (IV.iii.217-220). Macbeth shows no mercy towards Macduff’s misconduct. He is willing to punish those who had nothing to do with Macduff’s fleeing. Neither Macduff’s son nor his wife know why Macduff has fled. When the murderers arrive to kill him, one says, “Where is your husband…He’s a traitor” (IV.ii.81-83). The boy then exclaims, “Thou liest, thou shag-haired villain!” (IV.ii.84). This proves that he has no idea that his father has fled to England in order to plan a rebellion against the king. Macbeth kills Macduff’s family to make an example of him and to show what happens to those who cross him. He wants to assert his title and power as king of Scotland.
Chisom Oraedu (post 3 cont.):
ReplyDelete3. What action is taken by Macduff and Malcolm in Act IV? (use concrete details)
In the wake of finding out that Macbeth has slain his family, Macduff decides to commit himself entirely to the rebellion against Macbeth. He needs to avenge his wife and child by killing the man who commissioned their deaths. Macduff is riled up and prepared for battle. He says, “Front to front Bring thou this fiend of Scotland and myself; Within my sword’s length set him. If he scape, Heaven forgive him, too!” (IV.iii.234-236). Macbeth’s slaying of Macduff’s family ended up having the opposite effect that he anticipated. Instead of punishing him and making him not want to cross the king again, it instead made him want to cross him again and kill him. Malcolm also wants to kill Macbeth. He is unhappy about what is going on in Scotland. He says of Macbeth, “This tyrant, whose sole name blisters our tongues, Was once thought to be honest” (IV.iii.12-13). Malcolm does not support Macbeth as the king of Scotland; he thinks that he will be its undoing. After Macbeth kills his father, therefore seizing the throne, Malcolm begins to consider the possibility of overthrowing him. In Act IV Macduff and Malcolm conspire against Macbeth.
While the Witches and Macbeth are talking, 3 apparitions appear to tell them more prophecies. When the first apparition appears it says that he is carrying a head “ first apparition, an armed head… beware Macduff, beware the Thane of Fife” he warns Macbeth and tells him that he should be conscious of Macduff. And maybe with this warning and him carrying the head it could symbolize Macbeth’s head that was cut off by Macduff or vise versa. By this warning the apparition is telling Macbeth that the future could be either way with either Macbeth or Macduff having the power.
ReplyDeleteWhen Macbeth finds out that Macduff has fled, he immediately doesn’t like it and handles the situation his own way. Again, Macbeth hires murderers to kill Macduff. “ 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.” The consequences to Macduff going to England is his family and anyone in their sight be killed. This is the first time where we see Macbeth actually attempt and make plans for Macduff to be hurt. Macbeth has become this murderous man. He kills and the emotions no longer affect him. It seems that when he first killed Duncan he killed his conscious, ethics, and emotions with him.
After Ross told Malcolm and Macduff that Macduff’s castle has been attacked and everyone including his wife and son has been killed. Macduff says that he will take this situation like a man. “ but I must also feel it as a man. I cannot but remember such things were, that were most precious to me.” He tells Malcolm that he will grieve for his family like a man, they were the most important and precious things to him and he will mourn their slaughtered souls. He also says that they are going to the King and they are going to go to Macbeth to confront him about the recent incident.
deidre
When the second apparition comes he also gives Macbeth news about what his future could possible hold. “ be bloody, bold, and resolute; laugh to scorn the power of man for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth.” When the Apparition enters it is said to be carrying a bloody child. Macbeth hears this and analyzes it literally. He knows that every baby is born from a woman so this would ultimately mean that no one has the power to hurt him. “Then live Macduff, what need I fear of thee?” However he does not take into consideration that Macduff could possibly have been born a C-Section or while his mother was in labor she could have died and Macduff might have been taken out of his dying mother to save his life. After Macbeth says “ But yet I’ll make assurance double sure, and take a bond of fate. Thou shalt not live, that I may tell pale-hearted feat it lies, and sleep in spite of thunder.” When Macbeth says this he is implying that he will guarantee that his prophecy will come true. If he kills Macduff he will not only have made sure that he won’t harm him like the second apparition said but he will also put to rest the first apparitions prophecy; that he should be conscious of Macduff.
ReplyDeleteAfter the Witches has vanished and Macbeth is left there Lennox immediately comes in. he tells Macbeth that Macduff has ran off. “ Macduff is fled to England. Macbeth: fled to England! Lennox: ay, my good lord. Macbeth: time, thou anticipat’st my dead exploits. The flighty purpose never is o’ertook unless the deed go with it” here Macbeth says that he wants to punish Macduff for him fleeing to England. Macbeth says that Macduff will not hold him back that the only thing that will prevent him from killing Macduff is time. And finally he says that feeling is not going to be overlooked unless he gets a punishment that will go along with this. This is the moment that the desire to kill or to watch someone suffer so that he can get closer to his prophecy starts to takeover Macbeth’s mind.
In the beginning of Act 4 scene 3 Malcolm and Macduff are having a conversation. Malcolm begins to talk about how great he believes Macbeth is and Macduff says that he doubts Macbeth and has lost hope in him. “But Macbeth is, a good and virtuous nature may recoil in an imperial charge…I I have lost my hopes. Perchance even there where I did find my doubts… let not my jealousies be your dishonors, but mine own safeties, you may be rightly just, whatever I shall think.” Malcolm jokes with Macduff and says that he is going to become manipulative. He says that his jealousies and his lack of honor will come in his actions. He does this to see Macduff’s reaction and wonder’s what kind of person Macduff is. Macduff says that Scotland has been through enough and that he shouldn’t do it. However Malcolm tells Macduff that he is only joking and doesn’t intend on becoming manipulative. Unfortunately Macduff doesn’t fully believe what he is saying and sill questions Malcoms loyalty
deidre
Finally when the last apparition comes he enters with a baby with a crown on its head and a tree in it’s hand.” Macbeth shall never vanquish be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill shall come against him.” He tells Macbeth that the trees in the Woods and in the Hills will come against him. In Macbeth’s mind he takes this as the forest will come after him. “That will never be. Who can impress the forest, dif the tree unfix his earthbound root… rebellious dead, rise never till the wood of Birnam rise, and our high-placed Macbeth shall live the lease of nature, pay his breath.” Macbeth says that if the People that are dead, which are Banquo and Duncan, will never rise then the trees in the forest will not rise either. However the third apparition could have been referring to people pretending to be trees and bushes in the forest and ambushing Macbeth and going against him that way.
ReplyDeleteAfter Macbeth had met with the weird sisters him and Lennox have a conversation about Macduff. Lennox tells Macbeth that Macduff had fled to England which is the same place where Malcolm, Duncan’s son, had fled to as well. Macbeth then says aside to himself that Macduff’s actions that stalled his plans and that he will do something about it. “ the flighty purpose never is o’ertook unless the deed go with it. From this moment the very firstlings of my heart shall be the firstlings of my hand” Macbeth is saying that Macduff’s actions will not go without a punishment. He says that the original promptings in his heart are going to be turned into actions and will become the first of his deeds.
deidre