Macbeth Act IV Study Guide (E-Learning 2020) NAME: Jennifer Stephen

Please type your responses onto this document and email them to me. To ensure full points, go in
depth with your responses. (I recommend spending at least a few sentences on each answer.) You
don’t need to quote the text, but I recommend summarizing or paraphrasing specific details and
dialogue.

Act III Reflection:

What are the possible political implications of Macbeth’s behavior during the banquet in Act III Scene 4?
What thematic connections to modern politics could you make?
In that scene the heads of the kingdom came together sort of like a modern democracy.

Act IV Scene 1

What three ingredients in the witches’ cauldron most stand out to you? Why?
The three ingredients in the witches' cauldron that stand out the most is the scale of dragon, tooth of
wolf, maw and gulf of the ravined salt-sea shark.

The first Apparition (an armored knight) tells Macbeth to beware of Macduff. But the second Apparition
(a bloody child) seems to contradict this. How?
Because the second apparition says that the person that bring his downfall isn't born from a women.

Why does Shakespeare choose to show the line of eight kings with a mirror at the end? (see my video!)
Shakespeare wants macbeth to be paranoid and feel guilt .

How does the following line express a change in Macbeth’s character?

“The very firstlings of my hearth shall be / The very firstlings of my hand. And even now, / To crown
my thoughts with acts, be it thought and done” (IV.1.167-170). Firstlings refer to ‘first things’ he would
want or do.
It shows that he no longer feel remorse to kill.
Act IV Scene 2

Ross visits Lady Macduff and warns her to leave. What is her response and why?
Ross visits lady macduff to warn her that macbeth will come to kill her but she doesn't leave

Lady Macduff has a humorous conversation with her son where they hypothetically discuss what they
would do if Macduff were dead. She jokes that she would easily find a new husband at the market. Then
they discuss their views on justice. She seems to believe that “Right always wins” and that the ‘good
guys’ would always defeat the ‘bad guys’. What is her son’s response to this? What world view does he
express?

Thoughts: This scene isn’t only provocative because it involves the murder of innocent women and
children. (We can assume everyone living in the castle was murdered; not just the two on stage.) It also
reflects the deprivation of the world of Macbeth’s kingdom. This is a realm where altruistic ideals lose
against base evil and brutality. Lady Macduff thought she would be okay because she was righteous; this
is her naïve folly.
Keep in mind as well the descriptions of nature in the play. When evil is done, particularly on the royal
stage, nature responds with terrible atrocities and disasters. The land and the king were believed to be
unified in the Middle Age cosmology. This is why after King Duncan’s death, horses ate each other,
nocturnal animals came out in the daytime, and terrible storms have destroyed the economic prosperity
of the land. (Notice Ross’s lines in the next scene, when he tells Macduff and Malcolm how people are
dying across the country.)

Act IV Scene 3 – SKIP TO LINE 182 PAGE 149

Thoughts: We can skip the beginning of this scene. Macduff is traveling with Malcolm. (Remember, he
has fled to raise an army in England to fight against Macbeth.) Malcolm is young, and explains that, if he
were king, he would be a ruthless, corrupt king. Macduff scolds him and coaches him to be a righteous
king. This can be interpreted two ways: either Macduff corrects Malcolm’s flaws, or Malcolm is
pretending to be corrupt to test Macduff.
After this, Ross enters the stage with terrible news for Macduff. (Notice how he doesn’t get to the point! I
would hate for someone to tell me bad news like this!)

What is Malcolm’s advice to Macduff for dealing with his grief?

Malcolm tells Macduff to deal with it like a man.
What new ‘masculine’ characteristics does Macduff express at the end of the scene? How is he
characteristically different than Macbeth or other warriors? What does being a “man” mean to him? (His
view of being a ‘man’ is different from what other characters in the play have said.)
He shows his pain. While everyone is perfres to hide it like a "man" would, but when macduff shows his
emotions he begins acting like a woman would at the time.

Additional Info in case you didn’t know:

Roman Numerals

1=I 2 = II 3 = III 4 = IV 5 = V

Middle Age Pronouns

You = thou (subject) thee (object)

Your = thy
Yours = thine

Also, “Wherefore” = Why