Macbeth
Act IV
 Macbeth
prepares for war and visits the three
witches to learn what outcome to expect.
 Using
the blood of
a sow who has
eaten her young
and the sweat that
fell from a murderer
as he was being
hanged, the
witches bring forth
three apparitions.

The first, an armed
head, tells
Macbeth to beware
of Macduff, the
Thane of Fife.
This first apparition
really shows
Macduff beheading
Macbeth, but we
don’t find this out
until Act V.

The second, a bloody child, advises Macbeth that no one who
was born of a woman can harm him. Since everyone is born of
women, Macbeth figures that he’s in the clear. Nonetheless, to
make “double sure,” Macbeth decides to kill Macduff anyway.
The second apparition foretells his death, his killer, and his
supplanters.

The third, a
crowned child
with a tree in his
hand, tells
Macbeth he will
never be
defeated until
Birnam Wood
(the forest)
around his
castle marches
toward the
castle. The third
apparition
signals the
march from
Birnam Wood to
Dunsinane and
the unnatural
giving way to
order.

Macbeth still
wants one more
answer: Will
Banquo’s
descendants ever
rule Scotland?
 The witches
conjure a
procession of
eight kings, the
last of whom
holds a mirror that
makes it seem as
though the line of
kings stretches
endlessly.
All of the
kings in the
procession
resemble
Banquo, and
Banquo
himself
comes
behind the
line of eight,
his hair caked
with blood.

Macbeth assumes Banquo’s descendants will, in
fact, rule Scotland.
 To
cheer him up, the
witches perform a
wild dance and
disappear.
 Like so many fictional
murderers, Macbeth
can’t seem to get out
of the habit of killing.
 When
he learns of
Macduff’s flight to
England, he seeks
revenge by
planning a surprise
attack on Macduff’s
castle at Fife,
murdering
Macduff’s wife,
children, and
servants.
Macduff
has run away from Scotland.

Ross meets with Lady Macduff and reassures Lady
Macduff that her husband is a wise and trustworthy
man.
 After Ross leaves, the murderers Macbeth has hired
for the event break in and slaughter the entire family.

We see how swiftly Macbeth carries out his revenge against
Macduff.

In England, Malcolm is at first reluctant to side with Macduff.
 Malcolm
mistrusts
Macduff until he
tests the degree to
which Macduff is
loyal to the late
Duncan and disloyal
to Macbeth.
 Malcolm
tests
Macduff’s loyalty
through a set of
clever questions;
that such a test
is necessary
shows the extent
of Macbeth’s
depravity.

Scotland lies in ruins,
violence and death
commonplace.
 Macduff passes the
test, and together
they plan their attack
on Scotland.
“How does my wife?” inquires Macduff.
 “Why, well,” replies Ross.

“And my children?”
Macduff asks, to
which Ross answers,
“Well, too.”
 Macduff then asks
whether Macbeth has
harassed his family.

“No,” says Ross,
“they were well at
peace, when I did
leave ‘em.”
 Of course they were;
they were dead.

 Finally,
Ross tells Macduff that Macbeth
has had his wife and children “savagely
slaughtered.”
Macbeth’s
tyranny is
evident, and
Macduff
realizes that
for the good
of Scotland,
he must be
deposed.
 Meanwhile,
Siward is
leading an
invasion into
Scotland.
