brindled, or having grey or black streaks against a tan or light-colored background.
hedge-pig
hedgehog
Harpier
an attendant spirit like Graymalkin and Paddock in Act I, Scene I
Swelt'red . . . got
venom sweated out while sleeping
Fillet
slice
fenny
from a swamp
blind-worm's
legless lizard's
howlet's
owl's
Witch mummy
mummified flesh of a witch
ravined
ravenous
Which phrase best describes the impression we get of Macduff's son before he is murdered? Explain your choice, citing details from The Tragedy of Macbeth, Act IV, to support your answer.
a, Explanation: Only this answer reflects the whimsical remarks of the boy ("as birds do, mother") and obvious affection he has for his mother.
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Choices b, c, and d are not supported by the text, their negative qualities quite contrary to the impression the son gives.
What do you predict about the apparitions' last two predictions in The Tragedy of Macbeth, Act IV? Do you think the seeming impossibility of their happening means that Macbeth is safe, as he believes? Or do you think there will be a way for what seems impossible to happen? Explain your answers in a paragraph or two that speculates about what might occur later.
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Base your speculations on what has happened so far.
Students are likely to predict that what seems impossible will in fact happen, since "Fair is foul and foul is fair," and the unexpected has been happening all along. They may also point out that the supernatural characters are not friends of Macbeth (or any other human being) and that they seem bent on spreading evil and creating mischief.
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In discussing how the seemingly impossible predictions will actually come to pass, students' speculations will of course vary and need only show a reasonable understanding of the predictions themselves (none of women born will harm Macbeth; Macbeth won't be harmed until Birnam wood comes to Dunsinane).
Write a brief essay about the imagery in the witches' chant (Scene i, lines 1-38) and the mood that the images help create. Examine the senses to which the different images appeal. Then consider how the images, taken as a whole, establish a particular mood or atmosphere. Be sure to cite several examples of images from Act IV of The Tragedy of Macbeth. You can gather them first on the diagram below.
Students should cite examples of images, indicate the sense or senses to which each image appeals, and then consider how all the negative images work together to create a mood they are likely to describe as eerie, horrid, and/or evil. Among the many images they may cite are the harpier cries of line 3 (sound), the poisoned entrails thrown into the caldron in line 5 (sight), the toad under cold stone in line 6 (touch, sight), and the two images in the refrain of "fire burn and caldron bubble" (touch, sight, and sound).
Shakespeare is often praised for his profound understanding of human nature. Evaluate this praise based on the details of The Tragedy of Macbeth, Act IV. Setting aside the behavior of the nonhuman characters (the witches, Hecate, and the apparitions), focus on Macbeth, Malcolm, Macduff, Lady Macduff and her son, and Ross. Do their behavior and attitudes seem realistic to you? Would you say that Shakespeare's knowledge of human nature holds up across the centuries? Address these questions in a brief essay that cites specific details to support your opinions.
Students should evaluate this praise based on the details of Act IV. They should focus on the behavior of Macbeth, Malcolm, Macduff, Lady Macduff and her son, and Ross and point out that their behavior and attitudes seem realistic. They should also explain that Shakespeare's knowledge of human nature holds up across the centuries. Students may disagree with this premise, as long as they support their opinions with textual details.
In a brief essay, discuss the poetic form of the witches' chant in The Tragedy of Macbeth, Act IV. How is it different from blank verse? Why do you think Shakespeare uses this form instead of blank verse? Answer these questions then cite specific examples to support general statements.
Students should recognize that the chant, unlike blank verse, uses end rhyme and that the lines are shorter than blank verse's iambic pentameter (five-beat) lines. They may speculate that Shakespeare uses this form because a witches' chant should by its nature be more musical and should not try to approximate the sound of spoken English (the way blank verse does) and that the strong, repetitious rhythm and rhyme adds to the lulling sense of the supernatural spell.
Based on The Tragedy of Macbeth, Act IV, write a few paragraphs tracing the murders thus far. Explain the reasons that Macbeth commits or orders each murder and the mounting horror of his acts. What does his behavior suggest about violence and its outcome?
Students should recognize that the murder of Duncan is motivated by ambition; the murder of Duncan's guards, by self-preservation; the murder of Banquo and attempted murder of his son, in part by ambition or pride (about his future descendants) and in part (in Banquo's case) by fear and the desire for self-preservation; and the murder of the Macduff family, by some combination of anger and revenge and the hope of sending out a warning to other would-be traitors. They should recognize that Macbeth's fears are becoming less and less rational. They should also recognize that all the murders are great evils—killing Duncan betrays the king to whom he has sworn loyalty, as well as a kinsman and a guest in his home; killing the grooms is an attempt at escaping the consequences of one's own acts by harming others; killing Banquo betrays a friend and comrade-in-arms; the killing Fleance and particularly the Macduff family seems like irrational overkill, with the killing of an innocent woman and her young children a particularly heinous act for a king (who vows to protect his subjects) and former soldier. Students are likely to say that the events show that violence seems to bring not happiness but only fear, isolation, insecurity, and more violence, and that as time goes on it seems to become easier and easier to commit violence with fewer and fewer pangs of conscience.
What recurring image in The Tragedy of Macbeth, Act IV, is associated with Lady Macduff and her son? Cite examples of this imagery and explain the qualities that it helps to convey.
c, Explanation: Examples include Lady Macduff's many remarks about flying and birds in IV, ii, 1-13; the exchange between son and mother in IV, ii, 32-36; and Malcolm's poignant remark in IV, iii, 218-219. The bird imagery stresses that Macduff's home is a nurturing place, like a nest; that Macduff had to flee his "nest" and leave it unprotected; and, most especially, Lady Macduff and her children's innocence, physical weakness, and lack of protection, thereby underscoring the horror of Macbeth having them killed.
In the witches' chant in The Tragedy of Macbeth, Act IV, Scene i, lines 1-38, what do all the images have in common? Cite examples to show why each choice is correct or incorrect.
b, Explanation: This is the only choice that accurately sums up the imagery in the chant. Choice a is incorrect because the images are generally negative and often disgusting. Choice c is incorrect because some of the images ("bubble, bubble," for example, and "fire burn") also appear to the senses of sound, touch, and smell. Choice d is incorrect because only a few of the images appeal to the sense of smell.
In The Tragedy of Macbeth, Macbeth appears only in the first of the three scenes in Act IV, yet his presence is strongly felt in Scenes ii and iii. Write an essay explaining how that presence is felt. How are the feelings of Lady Macduff produced by that "felt presence"? How does it affect the meeting between Malcolm and Macduff?
Students should tell how Macbeth's presence is felt in each of the two scenes. For example, they might state that Lady Macduff's anger and fear in Scene ii, though directed at her absent husband, are really produced by the atmosphere of insecurity created by Macbeth's tyranny, and that the family's murders were ordered by Macbeth. Students may also mention that the meeting between Malcolm and Macduff grows from the need to save Scotland from Macbeth; Malcolm's suspicions and testing of Macduff are a direct result of the state of fear and distrust to which Macbeth has reduced everyone in Scotland.
What method does Malcolm initially use to test Macduff's loyalty, and why is he so suspicious of Macduff? Cite details from The Tragedy of Macbeth, Act IV, to support your answer.
Sample answer: He claims to be worse than Macbeth and uninterested in helping to free Scotland from Macbeth's tyranny. He does so because he is in fact plotting against Macbeth and does not initially trust Macduff, since Macbeth has sent others to spy on him and he thinks Macduff may actually be such a spy.
Which senses do the following lines from Act IV, Scene iii of The Tragedy of Macbeth appeal to?
This avarice / Sticks deeper, grows with more pernicious root / Than summer-seeming lust, and it hath been / The sword of our slain kings.
sight and touch
One of the images that runs throughout The Tragedy of Macbeth is that of
blood
Which of the following lines spoken by Malcolm in Act IV of The Tragedy of Macbeth best conveys how he really feels about Scotland?
". . . It weeps, it bleeds, and each new day a gash / Is added to her wounds."
In Act IV of The Tragedy of Macbeth,when Macduff's mother asks him how he is going to manage now that his father is dead, Macduff's son remarks, "as birds do, mother." Based on this remark, which of the following best illustrates the impression we get of Macduff's son before he is murdered?
charming, naive, and affectionate
Which of the following words would best replace the underlined word in the following line from Shakespeare's Macbeth?
Thrice the brinded cat hath mew'd.
spotted
What is a Harpier?
a demon spirit
After visiting the witches in Act IV of The Tragedy of Macbeth, why does Macbeth initially change his mind and decide not to have Macduff killed?
He knows Macduff has fled to England.
A major purpose of Act IV of The Tragedy of Macbeth is to foreshadow events related to
Macbeth's downfall.
Updated: Nov 21, 2022
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Drama: Act IV- Macbeth. (2018, Jan 02). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/drama-act-iv-macbeth-essay
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