Essay Example on After a while Macbeth enters the lair and Demands

Act 4 Summary Act 4 starts of with the witches in some sort of lair with a cauldron in front of them They are casting some sort of spell and using various disgusting ingredients to do so such as newt eyes and lizard legs After a while Macbeth enters the lair and demands some more information about his future In response to Macbeth the witches cauldron summons several ghosts each of which have a different message to Macbeth The first ghost is of a floating armoured head who tells Macbeth Macbeth Macbeth Macbeth Beware Macduff Beware the thane of Fife eluding that Macduff is not to be trusted and will want to harm Macbeth The second ghost is of a bloody child who tells Macbeth for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth This means that since everyone is the offspring of a woman no one can harm or kill Macbeth The last ghost is of another child but this time he's wearing a crown and holding a tree branch he tells Macbeth Macbeth shall never vanquished be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill Shall come against him Basically making him even more confident that he cannot be defeated by anyone or anything as how can a Birnam Wood tree walk and move Then eight ghostly kings appear out in a line the last one holding a mirror and behind him a ghost of Banquo This scares Macbeth as he remembers the last prophecy from his prior prophecies 

Thou shalt get kings though thou be none eluding to Banquo s bloodline being kings but not one himself Macbeth asks the witches what these last ghosts means but before he can get an answer the Witches vanish into the night After Lennox tells Macbeth that Macduff has fled to England with this information and his new prophecies Macbeth decided to invade Macduff's castle and kill Macduff's family The next scene takes place at Macduff's castle in Fife It shows Macduff's wife Lady Macduff with one of Macduff's son's Young Macduff asks where Macduff has gone Lady Macduff says that he has died Young Macduff questions this as if he did died Lady Macduff would be crying Lady Macduff says she isn't crying as Macduff is a traitor and she feels betrayed Then a Messenger comes in to warn Lady Macduff about people coming to kill her and her family she believes that she is gonna be alright Then a group of murderers barge into their room and kill Young Macduff Lady Macduff runs away we as readers are not told whether or not she is killed 

Then we go to England where Macduff has gone to to meet Malcolm Malcom believes that Macduff is Macbeth's spy while Macduff does not trust Macbeth Malcolm tests Macduff's trust by lying about how bad of a king he would make When Macduff believes him Malcolm trusts Macduff Ross then enters and talks about how bad of a king Macbeth is and how Malcom needs to return Malcolm says he will with an army under the England king Edward s command Ross also tells Macduff that his wife and children have been murdered Macduff promised to take revenge on Macbeth This whole scene shows the prophecies developing on Macbeth He believes he is invincible but still believes Macduff as a threat That is Mostly what happens in Act 4 Dramatic Significance Pathos In Act 4 Pathos is made for Macduff as his whole family is brutally murdered by Macbeth s Goons because they did not leave with Macduff because they thought he was a traitor only for him to be right Macduff left because he knew that Macbeth was behind the murder of King Duncan and he knew he would eventually come after Macduff his wife did not listen and got her and her sons killed Imagery In scene 1 the witches use quite nasty ingredients such as newt legs toad legs etc the nastiness in these ingredients show how evil the witches are 

Pathetic Fallacy In scene 2 of act 4 Lady Macduff compares herself to a Wren and talks about the incoming danger of an owl Wrens are small birds that are not harmful and are prey to more bigger birds for example Owls The group of murderers are Owls who prey on Lady Macduff who is a Wren Dramatic Irony In the scene when ross comes to warn Lady Macduff about the murderers she says that she has not done anything wrong and she will not be killed she does not realize that she will be killed but us readers do realize it Lines of Significance Be bloody bold and resolute laugh to scorn The power of man for none of woman born Shall harm Macbeth The second ghost says this to Macbeth and makes him confident in his rule it also means no person born from a woman can harm Macbeth This means everyone cannot harm Macbeth as everyone born of a woman or that is what we believe It is later found out that Macduff was born by C Section meaning he is not actually born by a woman Untimely ripped Macbeth shall never vanquished be until Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill Shall come against him The third ghost says this to Macbeth this is also like what the second ghosts says as it makes Macbeth more confident in his rule It does so as Macbeth does not believe that anyone can move a group of trees therefore no one can defeat him Double double toil and trouble