Macbeth+Act+4+-+1

Kevin Wong Pd#5

Summary- The witches are concocting a spell for Macbeth, Macbeth questions the witches above the future, the first apparition warns of MacDuff, the second apparition states that only an immortal can harm MacBeth, Third apparition foreshadows his death, ghost of Banquo shows up, Macbeth states that he will raid Macduff's castle and slaughter the family.

Questions- 1. What is the purpose for repeating "Double double...? 2. What is the importance of Harpeir? 3. Why is a toad put in then a frog? 4. Elves and faires vs witches, importance 5. Importance of the number 3? Language- "Double, double toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble" This unique way that Shakespeare wrote it as, gives the audience a very ominous feeling about the scene that they are watching. Shakespeare uses "double" in the line to state that doing the same thing over again will lead to trouble, in this case the murdering of Macduff and his family will be the downfall of Macbeth. The fire burning represents the ignition and eventful putting out of the climax.

The Big Idea
 * Use and Abuse of Power- Macbeth forces witches to fortune tell, Macbeth sends more people to Macduff.
 * Fate and Free will- Macbeth's death is foreshadowed by apparitions.
 * The Supernatural- apparitions appearing and the cauldron concoction.
 * The psychological burden of sin- Macbeth can't sleep at night because of his guilt.
 * Change characters- Macbeth has lost himself and is acting on impulse now.

Character development Macbeth
 * Macbeth demands that the witches answer his questions, at the expense of tearing down churches and killing sailors. Macbeth's lines tells the audience that Macbeth has finally travelled too far to turn back to the path of righteousness.
 * Macbeth has also stated that he does not care now about what would happen to him if he storms Macduff's castle, the only important thing to him is that he kills Macduff and his family. This development of Macbeth's physche shows that he is acting on impulse instead of logically planning his moves carefully.

Vocabulary-
 * Drab- prostitute
 * Pernicious- having a harmful effect, in a gradual or subtle way.
 * Bodements- omens that are of good or ill will.

Connections: Supernatural belief of Macbeth and his gradual reliance on it. > Macbeth originally did not pay close attention to the supernatural, but now he is 100% reliant on it, in his conquest to become king.

Yatrik Solanki, Period Five


 * Summary**: The witches work on a potion, which contains fairly disconcerting ingredients. They summon Hecate, who congratulates them on their work and leaves after a song. Enter Hamlet, to whom the witches show four apparitions – an armoured head that tells him beware Macduff, a blood-matted child that tells him no one born of woman can kill him, a young child with a crown and a tree who claims Macduff shall not be defeated until the forest is, and a series of Banquo’s ancestors parading as king. The witches leave. Enter Lennox, Macbeth gives the order to destroy Fife and Macduff’s wife and child.


 * Questions**:
 * Why are the premonitions children?
 * Do the ingredients mean anything specific?
 * In Shakespeare’s Christian era, how prominent were superstitions about witches?
 * Did this scene incite fear, or mirthless laughter?
 * The Language:** The stark difference between the language of the wyrd sisters and Macbeth is embodied in rhyme and meter. The witches speak in iambic tetrameter, with a rhyme of AABBCC…Macbeth’s speech is mostly iambic pentameter, lacking a definite rhyme scheme.The purpose of this rhyme is to develop an aura of determined (malicious) purpose about the witches. “Spells,” and charms are often in rhyme, and Shakespeare’s superstitious audience were no doubt aware of this.
 * Big Idea**: The idea of fate and external intervention being of little importance in the fall of a tragic hero is paramount in this play (Macbeth’s interpretations, all driven by paranoia, of the apparitions result in his violent actions).Furthermore, the appearance of Macbeth comdemning the witches versus Lennox and trusting them when alone stresses the theme of equivocation. Furthermore, Macbeth's ambition and desire, along with his ability to be easily deluded, eventually lead to his destruction.
 * Character Development**
 * //Macbeth//**//://** Macbeth’s paranoia takes full hold of him in this scene – he uses the apparitions (even when they contradict themselves with hidden meaning) to his own interpretation – that of violence, of ending his fears with blood driven action.Macbeth is now struggling to maintain all the power he’s gained at any cost – even his ruination.
 * //Witches//: An important factor about the purpose of the witches is shown in this scene. The witches are not the cause of Macbeth’s fall – they are an external force that use his already-resent flaws to have him interpret their words in the wrong way, and bring about his own end. In a sense, they are catalysts.

Macbeth uses supernatural influences as reasoning for his violent tendencies >>> In The Crucible, the judges use fake supernaturality to justify their decisions as well. The use of supernatural to bring flaws out is prominent here.
 * Vocabulary**
 * //Drab//: a drab is a prostitute – when the witches refer to this, they erase any illusion of them being not fully perverse.
 * //Germens/Germains//: Macbeth refers to these ‘building blocks of life,’ which he would destroy just to hear the witches’ prediction.
 * //Gibbet//: the gallows where a murderer hangs.
 * Connections**