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Act 4 of Shakespeare

Act 4 of Shakespeare. Equivocation- The use of ambiguous language to mislead The Witches’ prophecies: MacBeth will be king Banquo will beget kings MacBeth “shall never vanquished be until / Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill / Shall come against him".

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Act 4 of Shakespeare

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  1. Act 4 of Shakespeare • Equivocation- The use of ambiguous language to mislead • The Witches’ prophecies: • MacBeth will be king • Banquo will beget kings • MacBeth “shall never vanquished be until / Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill / Shall come against him"

  2. Prophecy 1- Seems to tell of future greatness but doesn’t give any indication of what Macbeth will have to do or the resistance he’ll face. • Ambiguous nature causes MB to become conflicted and disoriented as his ambition and guilt battle for control. • Prophecy 2- Confuse Banquo with equivocations (“not so happy yet much happier,” “lesser than Macbeth, yet greater”) • Creates conflict – Banquo will be the father of kings, but is not MacBeth’s father, so his destiny is in opposition to MacBeth’s.

  3. First Apparition – Tells MB to beware MacDuff. This seems to be contradicted later • Second Apparition – Tells MB that none of woman born may harm him • Third Apparition - MacBeth only hears the literal meaning of the prophecy and ignores the metaphorical meaning. • The Weird Sisters have set verbal traps, and MacBeth, due to his tragic flaw, walked into every one of them.

  4. Doubling • “Double, double, toil and trouble” • The “show of kings” – every king looks like Banquo • Like he’s haunting him x 8 • “Twofold balls and several scepters” – implies they will be the kings of more than one country • 8th king holds up a mirror • James I is the 8th generation descendant of Banquo • Also in the play it is said that the King of England has powers from heaven to heal “the evil.”

  5. Characters also “mirror” each other. • MacBeth – acts upon ambition and prophecy. • Banquo – does not • Lady MacBeth-advises MB to forget all guilt • Increasingly plagued by guilt

  6. Masks double our own faces • MB tells Lady MB to make her face a pleasant mask • She paints the servants’ faces in blood to frame them. • Malcolm, when testing MacDuff’s loyalty, says "all things foul would wear the brows of grace“

  7. When Lady Macduff complains to Ross about the abrupt departure of Macduff, she states: "the poor wren / The most diminutive of birds, will fight, / Her young ones in her nest, against the owl." • Her metaphor comes to life when she and her son are attacked by Macbeth's men.

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