Act Four
Scene One:
-
The three witches
stand around a cauldron bubbling in a cavern with thunder in the
background. They chant together as they concoct a potion or a brew. Hecate appears with them and tells them that their efforts shall be rewarded before she disappears again.
Macbeth
comes to the cavern and demands answers to his questions about the
future. The witches call upon their potion to answer his thoughts and
questions. The witches tell Macbeth to watch and speak not because the
questions in his mind are known. Their master will answer Macbeth with
apparitions.
Thunder sounds and a vision of an armed head rises and tells Macbeth to beware of Macduff,
the Thane of Fife. The vision disappears. Macbeth tries to ask another
question of that vision, but one of the witches warns the king that
these visions will not be commanded.
Thunder sounds and a second vision
appears--a bloody child. The vision tells him, "Be bloody, bold, and
resolute; laugh to scorn / The power of man, for none of woman born /
Shall harm Macbeth."
Macbeth reasons that if none shall kill him, he should not fear
Macduff. But just to be sure, and so that he might rest easy, Macbeth
vows to kill Macduff anyway.
Thunder sounds a third time and a third and final vision
appears. It is a child crowned that holds a tree in his hand. This
final vision tells the king that "Macbeth shall never vanquished be
until / Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill / Shall come against him."
Macbeth feels invincible at these tidings because no one can bid the
forest to uproot. But Macbeth has another question that he insists the
witches must answer. He wants to know if Banquo's
line will ever hold the throne. Although the witches tell him to be
satisfied with what he already knows, Macbeth insists they answer his
last question. So they show him a line of eight kings. The last king has a glass in his hand, and Banquo's ghost
follows the eighth king. Macbeth sees that all of these kings are of
Banquo's line as the ghost smiles at him and points at the kings of his
lineage. In the glass that the eighth holds are many more kings from
Banquo's line. After answering his question, the witches, joined by
Hecate, dance around and then vanish.
Macbeth calls Lennox
into the cave to ask if he saw the weird sisters leaving, and Lennox
did not. But while Macbeth was meeting with the witches, several riders
came to give him word that Macduff had fled to England. At this news
Macbeth says, "The flighty purpose never is o'ertook / Unless the deed
go with it: from this moment / The very firstlings of my heart shall be /
The firstlings of my hand."
With this Macbeth decides to go to Fife, Macduff's home, and murder
Macduff's wife and children while he is away in England rallying forces
against Macbeth.
Scene Two -
At Macduff's castle in Fife, Lady Macduff
and her young son are talking with Ross. Lady Macduff is angry that her
husband has fled and left his wife and children unprotected. She thinks
her husband does not love them, and Ross
tries to explain to her that her husband was wise to flee. Ross,
however, does not tell her where her husband has gone. He is very
secretive about her husband's purpose. Lady Macduff says that "when our
actions do not, / Our fears do make us traitors."
So whether her husband actually was a traitor and needed to flee or
not, the fact that he has fled makes him seem a traitor. Ross cannot
convince her that her husband has acted in wisdom, and so he leaves.
Lady Macduff tells her son that his father is dead, but the boy
argues that if his father were dead, she would be weeping. She keeps
insisting that his father is dead because he is a traitor. As they argue
a messenger comes in and warns her that danger is coming toward the
castle and that she should take her children and flee. She has nowhere
to run to, and the murderers come in disguised in horrible masks. The
murderers ask her where her husband is, and she tells him that she hopes
that Macduff is in a place where they shall never find him. The
murderers call Macduff a traitor and the young boy calls them liars. One
of the murderers stabs the boy and kills him. Lady Macduff runs
screaming 'Murder,' and the villains chase after her.
Scene Three -
Macduff arrives in England and speaks with Malcolm.
Macduff encourages Malcolm to come fight and take back the throne that
belongs to him. Malcolm, however, knows that before Macbeth took the
throne, he and Macduff were close. Therefore, Malcolm feels the need to
test Macduff's loyalty. Malcolm warns Macduff that he might not be any
better a king than Macbeth. Then Malcolm makes up all of these vices and
flaws that he claims to have that would make him a bad king. When
Macduff says that his hopes are broken and that Scotland, under Macbeth,
can no longer be his home, Malcolm sees that Macduff is trustworthy.
Malcolm explains his test and assures Macduff that his hopes should live
because he will be a worthy and honest king once he regains the throne
that Macbeth stole away.
Ross comes in and they recognize him as a Scotsman because of his
clothes. When they recognize his face, they are happy to see him to hear
news of their country. But Ross' news is not happy news. He tells
Macduff of the murder of his wife, children, and servants. Macduff is
grief-stricken and vows to kill Macbeth in vengeance for the death of
his entire family. His fury is fuel for their desire to defeat Macbeth.
The three men prepare to join the English nobleman, Siward
and his ten thousand soldiers that Edward, King of England, has offered
to help the Scotsmen fight Macbeth and win back the throne for Malcolm.
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