The Witches' predictions : Act 4 Flashcards
(12 cards)
the witches amplify….
the theme of deception and equivocation within this act
proverbial supernatural phrases
- ‘eye of newt’
- ‘fire burn and cauldron bubble’
- ‘hell broth, boil and bubble’
how does the act begin?
- with them speaking in proverbial supernatural phrases
- to conform to the archetype of witches that the audience would fear
- the allusions to heat and hell epitomist their evil nature
macbeth’s hubris is explicit
- he enters and speaks with imperative phrases - ‘tell me’ and ‘call ‘em’
- he is driven by greed and hunger for power
what does macbeth threaten the witches with?
- an ‘eternal curse’
- ironic
- we have seen their overt supernatural power and he believes he can supersede this
what do the witches summon?
- three apparitions
- manifestations of the threats macbeth faces
‘an armed head’
- warms macbeth of macduff
- emblematic of the violence of battle and foreshadows macbeth’s decapitation
‘a bloody child’
- serves to represents macduff who was born by Caeserean section
‘a child crowned with a tree in his hand’
- could represent the rightful heir to the throne, malcolm
- tree could be emblematic of birnam wood - one of the witches prophecies - til birnam wood come to dunsinane
the witches prophecies
- each are equivocal
- second is particularly pertinent revealing that ‘none of woman born shall harm macbeth’
- is ambiguous and macbeth’s hubris denies him from being able to read into their deception
what do the witches’ prophecies give macbeth?
an ephemeral sense of security and invincibility
- yet he still plots to kill macduff - ‘thou shalt not live’
- this exposes how he is now driven by a thirst for blood and violence rather than fear or ambition
topic sentence
the theme of equivocation is epitomised by the witches’ three apparitions which lull macbeth into a false sense of security and elevate his hubris, it is this overconfidence which then leads to his murder
