Macbeth Act 4 Summary with Key Quotes
Scene 1 The three witches and the boss witch, Hecate, are standing around a cauldron. They throw ingredients into the pot. Ingredients like a wolf's tooth and a dragon's scale. Toil means hard work. This is a chant and a spell.
Whoever drinks from their cauldron will experience One of the witches feels a pain in her thumb and this is a sign to her that someone evil is arriving. She says... It's Macbeth! He enters and demands to speak. This shows how desperate he is. He is suspicious of everyone. He can't relax. The Witches show Macbeth three visions. These visions are called apparitions. The first vision or apparition is of a man's head wearing armour. The Armed Head says... Macbeth agrees that he has to watch out for Macduff.
The second vision, apparition # 2, is a bloody child who says Macbeth will not be threatened by anyone who was born from a woman. This is great news; everyone on earth was born from a woman, right? Here's the quote... The third apparition is of a child wearing a crown and holding a tree. He tells Macbeth you will never be defeated until a forest actually moves up to your castle walls. Here's the quote. It's a little bit complicated so just stick with me. Macbeth is very happy with these messages. No one will defeat him, but he has one more question. He asks... "Will Banquo's children ever be kings in Scotland?" Macbeth sees a vision of Banquo smiling and pointing to a line of eight kings who are Banquo's descendants.
There are so many of them, they have to squish even more images of kings into a mirror! The Witches disappear. Macbeth asks one of his men... did he see the witches leave? Man: Witches? No. Macbeth is told that Macduff, the hero of the play, has fled to England. Macbeth says that now he is going to act immediately upon his first thoughts. He isn't going to think if his ideas are good ideas. He's going to act the very minute he thinks something. Now, he is going to send soldiers to kill everyone in Macduff's castle. That includes his wife, Lady Macduff, his children and all of his servants. Lady Macduff and her son visit with a royal visitor, Ross. Lady Macduff is angry with her husband. He's gone to England and left his family unprotected. Ross leaves. A strange messenger rushes in. He says, "You don't know me, but you should leave right now!" Lady Macduff says she hasn't done anything wrong, but she realizes in this world that doesn't mean anything. Murderers enter. They stabbed the boy and chase Lady Macduff who cries, "Murder!" Macduff has arrived to join forces with Malcolm, King Duncan's oldest son, and English soldiers so together they can all invade Scotland and get rid of Macbeth. Malcolm should be the next king of Scotland. Ross enters and gives Macduff the news that his family have all been killed. Malcolm wants to meet Macbeth and kill him. This is the end of Act Four.
