Layton's Online Journal

Questions and the three apparations:

Is Macbeth actually immortal or have the witches fooled him into being immortal? Why has the third apparition specifically said Birnam wood and dunsinane? It’s oddly specific.

First apparition, an armed head Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! beware Macduff;
Beware the thane of Fife. Dismiss me. Enough.

Second apparition, a bloody child Be bloody, bold, and resolute; laugh to scorn
The power of man, for none of woman born
Shall harm Macbeth.

Third apparition, a child crowned, with a tree in his hand Be lion-mettled, proud; and take no care
Who chafes, who frets, or where conspirers are:
Macbeth shall never vanquish’d be until
Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill
Shall come against him.

In scene 1 of act 4, Macbeth confers with the three witches and Hecate, who make more predictions and follow through with their plan to gift Macbeth immortality. The witches create an extreme potion with various vile and brutal ingredients such as a lizards leg, scale of dragon, finger of a strangled baby. Then enters Macbeth that receives predictions from 3 apparitions, that take the form of an armoured head, bloody child, and a crowned child that holds a tree. They say to beware of Macduff, that Macbeth will be immortal, and that he will only die when Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane. Again the witches use rhymes in their lines, showing their otherworldliness. Macbeth says an interesting line: “to crown my thoughts with acts, be it though and done”. He is saying that he will perform any actions he thinks of without hesitation, which is a stark contrast to the beginning when he killed Duncan, where he had a lot of doubt and second thoughts, and even some regret.

Lenox’s comments about Macbeth and the events that have happened is said very ironically, meaning that Lenox actually means the opposite of what he has said. In this scene, Lenox and an unnamed lord talk about the events that have happened, and they share their suspicions that Macbeth may have done evil things. They also comment about how Macduff has been welcomed into England, and how an invasion by England to overthrow Macbeth may be possible. At the start of the scene, Lenox talks on everything that has happened, and it seems he is on Macbeth’s side. However, there is a clue to indicate that Lenox is being ironic. He says “For ‘t would have angered any heart alive, To hear the men deny ‘t.” Here he says that it would have been outrageous for anyone to hear the guards, who are suspected of the murder, to deny it. But, there is a hidden meaning in these lines; that it is very convenient for Macbeth to have killed the only witnesses to the murder and the only people who knew the truth. This statement clearly states how Lenox believes that Macbeth may have been the cause of Duncan’s death, and how Macbeth shouldn’t be the king. It is a crime to directly speak against the king, so Lenox says things ironically to hide his thoughts.

Shakespeare uses rhymes in scene 5 to aid in the telling of the story and also to set the scene and tone of Hecate’s lines. In scene 5 Hecate talks about her feelings on the witches fooling with Macbeth. She is also angered that she was not a part of this, because the witches are using her powers. They then decide to fool Macbeth even more with Hecate’s help and possibly give him immortality, which the witches predict will corrupt him more. All of Hecate’s speech is in rhyme. This has 2 reasons why Shakespeare has chosen to use rhyme in the scene. The first is to make her words flow smoother, which makes the speech easier to read through and convey ideas easier, and also creates an opportunity for more complex language features to be used. The second is to make the witch sound more mysterious and inhuman, as no human ever talks in rhymes. Hecate is being portrayed as a powerful magic being, and the rhymes help with the portrayal.

This is a translation of the script from into modern English. Unfortunately, it is incomplete.

SCENE IV. The same. Hall in the palace.

A banquet prepared. Enter MACBETH, LADY MACBETH, ROSS, LENNOX, Lords, and Attendants

MACBETH

Hello, sit down!

Lords

Thank you, your majesty.

MACBETH

We will talk with everyone 

And be a good host.

Our hostess is still on her throne

BUt she will welcome us soon. 

LADY MACBETH

P

Tell them I say welcome. 

First Murderer appears at the door

MACBETH

And they respond to you with their hearts thanks.

I will sit in the middle of the table.

Enjoy yourself, let’s have a drink.

Approaching the door

There’s blood on your face.

First Murderer

It’s banquo’s blood. 

MACBETH

Is he gone? Is he dead? 

First Murderer

My king, I cut his throat.

MACBETH

YOu are the best at your job. Whoever did the same to Fleance must also be good. If you did it then you are the absolute best.

First Murderer

Fleance escaped!

MACBETH

I was once perfect and stable but now I am scared and full of doubts and fears. And Banquo’s safe. Because he’s dead. 

First Murderer

Banquo is dead. Safe in a ditch. I’m pretty sure he’s dead. 

MACBETH

Thanks for that: there Banquo lies. And Fleance has fled.

He will grow into a threat but not yet.

We’ll talk about this tomorrow. 

Exit Murderer

LADY MACBETH

My king, you are not entertaining the guests. The feast is ready. 

If you don’t make your guests feel good, they won’t want to be here.

You need to make everyone feel a little bit more welcome or this would just be boring. 

MACBETH

Thanks for reminding me!

I’ll go eat.

LENNOX

May you sit, your highness. 

The GHOST OF BANQUO enters, and sits in MACBETH’s place

MACBETH

So here we have all our noblemen

Except for Banquo who hopefully isn’t here because he’s rude

And not because something bad has happened to him

ROSS

He’s not here, that means he broke his promise. Just chill with us. 

MACBETH

There’s nowhere to sit. 

LENNOX

I’ve reserved a place for you, Sir. 

MACBETH

Where?

LENNOX

Here’s the seat. What’s wrong? 

MACBETH

Who did this?

Lords

What, my good lord?

MACBETH

You can’t say that I did it:don’t shake your head at me. 

ROSS

Everyone stand up, his highness is not well.

LADY MACBETH

Stay calm, this happens a lot.  

He’s been like this since he was a child

Please stay seated, do not go away.

He will  be well again soon.

If you pay attention to him, you’ll piss him off.

Just eat!  

Are you a man?

MACBETH

I am a brave man

Who dares look at something horrifying

LADY MACBETH

Oh good stuff!

This hallucinations aren’t even that scary,

Like the dagger you imagined before. 

Shame on you!

When it’s all done, you’ll just look at an empty stool. 

MACBETH

Look over there, can you not see it!

Why should I care?

if you can’t nod or speak.

If the dead are going to come back

Then there’s nothing to stop the bodies

Being eaten by birds. 

GHOST OF BANQUO vanishes

LADY MACBETH

How unmanly of you!

MACBETH

If I stand here, I’m sure I saw him

LADY MACBETH

That’s ridiculous

MACBETH

Before, we killed people with no consequence. 

There have been terrible murders before. 

It used to be that when a man died, he died, but now they come back.

This is more strange than just a murder.

LADY MACBETH

My king, your friends are not reliable.

MACBETH

I have forgotten.

Don’t be alarmed, my best friends!

It’s quite normal for those that know me. 

Come,let’s have some beers and get drunk!

And to our dear friend Banquo, whom we miss;

Would he were here! to all, and him, we thirst,

And all to all.

Lords

Our duties, and the pledge.

Re-enter GHOST OF BANQUO

just a wee thing before i start i dont know if this is a language feature or not but i find it quite interesting.

In scene 3, the three murderers ambush and murder Banquo, as ordered. However, Fleance manages to escape in the darkness and avoiding death. An interesting part of the scene is when Banquo says “It will be rain tonight.” Then, murderer 1 goes on to say “Let it come down.” I find this really interesting as this is almost foreshadowing, but he says this just before the murderers’ attack. His comment could indicate pathetic fallacy also, as this night could very well rain after Banquo’s death. Banquo has almost said that something terrible will happen very soon, without realizing that he had said that. It is also ironic because Banquo said that, the very person that gets killed. The murderer also says “Let it come down.” This is also another occasion of pathetic fallacy and the murderer says that the rain may come down. We can assume now that the rain means his death, and so the murderer has said that the rain may come down, which could also mean that he almost said Banquo, you will die, without actually saying it. This is a very interesting part of this scene that Shakespeare has written.

Sorry if it’s a bit confusing i would be keen to discuss this a little further after the call.

Metaphors are utilized in this scene to help portray Macbeth’s feelings and aid in him expressing them. In this scene, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth discuss how even though they are now the royal family they do not feel satisfied because they cheated their way into kingship. Macbeth says “O! full of scorpions is my mind”. This is said when he also comments on Banquo and Fleance, who Macbeth now considers as enemies. Because of this, the metaphor can mean two things. The first is that Macbeth’s find is uneasy and full of darkness and that scorpions represent this. It also means that the knowledge of Banquo and Fleance’s future stings his mind as a scorpion does. It stings his mind because he has become paranoid and believes that killing them both will guarantee his position as king forever. A metaphor is used here to describe his mind, and so a language feature that creates images can be very effective in this particular case.

In scene 1 of act 3 metaphors can be found in Macbeth’s soliloquy that help illustrates his points and ideas. In this scene, Macbeth expresses his fear of Banquo and the prophecy that stated that Banquo’s children would-be kings. He hires 2 murderers to kill Banquo and convinces them to also kill his son Fleance. When he is alone Macbeth says “Upon my head, they placed a fruitless crown, And put a barren sceptre in my gripe”. This metaphor is interesting because it contains a lot of Macbeth’s guilt in these two lines alone. The lines are saying that Macbeth is now the king, but he and Lady Macbeth are unable to have children and are therefore unable to keep kingship in their family. This realization makes Macbeth really feel his guilt because he murdered an innocent and nice king, but he cannot pass the throne to any offspring. Macbeth now feels as if being the king is almost worthless if he has no legacy, and he will be forgotten because of this. Shakespeare uses a metaphor in these lines to help show Macbeth’s emotions, particularly his guilt and sadness. Metaphors are very effective ways to do this and can help the reader relate to the protagonist as well. Shakespeare’s use of metaphors in scene 1 enhance the scene and give it more depth to the reader.

Shakespeare introduces pathetic fallacy in scene 4 to elaborate on the impacts of the King’s recent murder. In this scene an old man, Macduff and Rosse comment on the world around them, and how it has reacted to the murder. The characters are unaware that this is nature reacting to murder but they do notice an almost absence of light and the occurrence of some natural events. One example of this is when ‘Is ‘t night’s predominance, or the day’s shame, That darkness does the face of earth entomb’. In this quote by Rosse, he describes the unnatural and freakish events that have happened, specifically that the night or darkness has remained when it should be the day. Pathetic fallacy is used here to describe the night, saying that darkness has covered the earth. Nature in this act is given many human-like traits, almost portraying nature as a sentient being, that has reacted to this terrible deed. To do this Shakespeare uses pathetic fallacy to help give nature these attributes.

Macbeth uses metaphors in scene 3 to describe King Duncan’s death and the impact of it. In this scene, the king’s servants and sons are informed of his murder, and they discuss what is to come. Macbeth quickly lies repeatedly to cover his story, although most of the other characters, especially Macduff, casts doubt over Macbeth’s story. The two sons of the king fear for their lives and decide to flee. The rest will rally to discuss the murder further, which is another indication of the suspicion of the noblemen. In his lies, Macbeth says ‘His silver skin laced with his golden blood; And his gashed stabs looked like a breach in nature’. This quote has two obvious metaphors. The first is the king’s skin being silver and his blood gold. In the time that this play takes place in, Kings were often thought to have been chosen by God, and act as his representative on this earth. This would explain why his blood would be described as golden, meaning it is heavenly and superior to other men. This is described using a metaphor because it manipulates the way the reader perceives the king. Shakespeare wants to portray the king as an almost heavenly figure, chosen by God and therefore sacred to the earth. The second metaphor is his wounds looking like a breach in nature. This is saying that as he is a man chosen by God and nature, that nature would be griefed by his death and emotionally wounded. This is called the pathetic fallacy. This is also foreshadowing to the earth and nature reacting to his death in an unnatural and devastating way. The whole country will feel the consequences of Macbeth’s actions. A metaphor is used here to emphasize the impact of his death, as said by Macbeth. It highlights that particular part of the text, as it is an important line and also has foreshadowing in it. Shakespeare effectively uses metaphors in those 2 lines to add meaning and depth to those two lines and highlights them as they are of importance to the story.

Shakespeare uses metaphors in this scene to emphasise the guilt that Macbeth has. In this scene, Macbeth murders Duncan in his sleep and is broken by it. He has lost his sense of morality and recognizes that the deed that he has just performed will most likely have terrible consequences. He carries such guilt of his actions, as said in the quote ‘No, this hand will rather, the multitudinous seas incarnadine, Making the green one red.’ He uses this metaphor does give an insight into Macbeth’s feelings on the murder by comparing it directly to the action of turning the seas red with the blood on his hands. This metaphor is saying that killing an innocent man in his sleep was so dishonourable and monstrous that nothing will cleanse him of his actions. In this case, a metaphor is used specifically to express Macbeth’s guilt effectively, because there is no specific word that can be used. The metaphor also highlights this specific part of the text, which can be foreshadowing of what is to come, and the consequences that will affect Macbeth in terrible ways. A metaphor is used effectively in scene 2 to express the emotions of Macbeth.