![]() ![]() The result appalls him, drawing all strength from him and reducing his earlier courage. Having rejected as impossible the second two prophecies, Macbeth asks for one last favor. The juxtaposition of children (pictures of innocence) and images of death, warfare, and blood, is dramatic and terrifying, but especially so for Macbeth: For a man who has no offspring, the image of children can only fill him with hatred and loathing. There is little fear or respect, for example, in his reply to the First Apparition: "Whate'er thou art, for thy good caution, thanks." And his punning reply to the Second Apparition's "Macbeth, Macbeth, Macbeth" - "Had I three ears, I'd hear thee" - displays a comic arrogance.Īpart from the first, all the apparitions, including the fourth and final one of a procession of future kings, contain children. What is certain is Macbeth's response to each prophetic apparition: He appears to be super-confident, even flippant, in his replies. ![]() Once again, the audience is required to assess the extent to which Macbeth is responsible for his own actions. Unlike the dagger and Banquo's ghost, these supernatural visions cannot be simply the workings of Macbeth's "heat-oppress'd brain." They are definitely summoned by the Witches. Macbeth's demand is answered by a sequence of apparitions. His most defiant act, by far, is to desire to hear the prophecy of his future not from the Witches, who are themselves only "mediums" of the supernatural, but from their "masters," that is, the controlling Fates. When he "conjures" the Witches to answer him, his language is uncompromising: He matches their power with a powerful curse of his own, demanding to have an answer even if it requires the unleashing of all the elements of air, water, and earth even if all the universe - natural or manmade - "tumble" into ruin. Macbeth arrives at the Witches' lair with extraordinary boldness, knocking at the entrance in a way that ironically recalls the entry of Macduff into Macbeth's castle in Act II, Scene 3. The strong implication is that Macbeth himself is no longer a complete human being he himself has become a half-man, half-monster, a kind of chimera. Moreover, these ingredients are all the entrails or body parts of loathed animals or human beings, which, taken together, can be interpreted as making a complete monster: tongue, leg, liver, lips, scales, teeth, and so on. The Witches' charm is fantastic: Its ingredients, thrown into a bubbling cauldron, are all poisonous. And once more he fails to understand that Fate is inevitable, however he chooses to act. Once more, he is left on his own to decide how best to interpret those prophecies. Once more, Macbeth's destiny is in question. The scene's structure deliberately recalls the opening scenes of the play. This scene can be roughly divided into three: the Witches' casting of a spell the supernatural answers to Macbeth's demands and Macbeth's return to the cold world of political and social reality. All this serves only to enrage Macbeth, who, trusting in his own pride, reveals in an aside to the audience his determination to slaughter the family of Macduff. The second is a blood-covered child who comforts Macbeth with the news that he cannot be killed by any man "of woman born." The third is a child wearing a crown, who promises that Macbeth cannot lose in battle until Birnam wood physically moves toward his stronghold at Dunsinane.Įncouraged by the news of such impossibilities, Macbeth asks, "Shall Banquo's issue ever reign in this kingdom?" The Witches present an image of a ghostly procession of future kings, led by Banquo. ![]() The first apparition is the disembodied head of a warrior who seems to warn Macbeth of a bloody revenge at the hands of Macduff. Macbeth returns to the Weird Sisters and boldly demands to be shown a series of apparitions that tell his future. ![]()
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