Macbeth- act 4: scene 1
The scene opens with the witches in a cave, chanting around a cauldron. The thunder in the background mirrors act 1: scene 1.
"poison'd entrails throw" "moon's eclipse" "birth-strangled babe"
The imagery used by the witches is dark and in a contemporary setting, un-Christian
Key Theme: Good VS Evil
The witches talk in trochaic tetrameter, which makes their speech stand out as it has a signature 'dum-di-dum' rhythm that is obvious against the usual prose and iambic pentameter used by Shakespeare
"let them fight against the Churches"
This comes in the middle of a speech filled with imagery of chaos. The anti-Christian language is repetitive throughout the scene and reflects Macbeth's acceptation of his damnation and amplifies on his newly-found dependency on the witches, who are supernatural creatures
"corn be lodg'd and trees be blown down; though castles topled.... even till destruction sicken"
Macbeth is aware of how his ungodly rule will affect the world around him, as he has disrupted the natural order of things and yet he is willing to know that destruction in order to live out his fate- he begs to know how his fate extends into the future
"murderer's gibbet"
A gibbet is a gallows and so this line is reflective of how Macbeth has sentenced his own death by doing what he has
Macbeth see three apparitions from the witches, each that reflect a different idea and theme of the play- Shakespeare uses these to raise tension on stage and among the audience
The first apparition Macbeth sees is of a severed head
This is foreshadowing of how Macbeth gets beheaded at the end of the play
"Beware Macduff... enough"
This reflects how Macbeth's over confidence and ambition is his hamartia as he dismisses the foretelling of his fate
The second apparition Macbeth sees is a bloody child
The blood child is symbolic of natural order and reflects on Macbeth's fears of children's power
"none of woman born shall harm Macbeth"
This feeds his ignorance and further pushes him towards his fate
The third apparition Macbeth sees is of a child that has been crowned, holding a tree
"and sleep in spite of thunder"
This is in contrast to the "Macbeth hath murdered sleep" from act 2 and thus makes it ironic
"Macbeth shall never be vanquish'd be until Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane Hill shall come against him"
This is something that should be impossible- a wood can't just move- and thus feeds Macbeth even more
"that will never be"
Hubristic tone- cause by the witches' vague profecy
"deny me this... let me know"
Macbeth's arrogance shines here- he threatens to curse a supernatural creature
"shall Banquo's issue ever reign in this Kingdom?"
This is where the action of the play began- with the telling of the prophecy that Banquo's children should be kings
In this scene, Banquo's line of heritage is shown by 8 Kings appearing. The last King would have been James 1st, with somebody holding a mirror up to him- this reminds us of the purpose of his play in the contemporary setting
"and damn all those that trust them"
Dramatic irony!
Tis reminds us that Macbeth damned himself because of what they said, showing that the Devil was already in control of him before he even met the witches
"give to the edge o' th' sword... trace him in his line"
This shows how Macbeth no longer needs Lady Macbeth to incite his action
He has fully descended into madness