ACT 4 Questions

4.1

1) What are the four visions that Macbeth sees?
Four visions Macbeth sees are of a floating head, a bloody child, a crowned child with a tree, and eight kings.

2) Which visions does he misread or misunderstand and why?
He misreads the vision from the 3rd apparition because he believes that his time as ruler will come to an end when the forest moves in battle. To him this is good because the trees cannot move, so he will probably be king for the rest of his life.

3) What news does Lennox bring Macbeth?
Lennox informs Macbeth that Macduff fled to England.

4) What does Macbeth decide from Lennox’s news?
Macbeth decides that he will kill Macduff's family and anyone in the castle.

5) How might this scene be a possible climax for the play?
This could be the climax because earlier in the play the witches predicted Macbeth's future and he has just become greedier and greedier and will do anything to obtain greater power than he already has.

4.2

1) Why does Shakespeare include a scene with Lady Macduff and her son?
The scene is there to show us what happens to the lady and her son, but it also gives a look into their lives and how they feel about Macduff now.

2) What is important about this scene?
In this scene Lady Macduff tells her son that his father is a traitor because he left them, but he actually did it out of loyalty to the country. And then the son is murdered in a bloodbath.

3) List one motif or symbol from this scene?
A symbol from this is Lady Macduff comparing them to a bird, saying that she is now defenseless since Macduff is gone and she has to defend the eggs (the son).

4.3

1) Why has Macduff come to England?

To try to bring Malcolm back to stop Macbeth 

2) What is Malcolm’s fear in lines 10-19?

He's not sure he trusts Macduff, worried about a trap 

and he says that who is the King after Macbeth will be even worse, he's going to have all the bad traits that wouldnt make a good king

3) Who does the lamb represent in these lines?
The Lamb is representing Macduff. 

4) What is significant in the lines “Angles are bright still, though the brightest fell./Though all things foul would wear the brows of grace,/ yet grace must still look so.”

Macbeth is being compared to Satan.

5) What is significant in the line, “Bleed, bleed, pour country!”
It represents how people view Scotland under Macbeth's rule and they think that the country is suffering under his tyrannical rule. 

6) What does Malcolm call Macbeth? What list of adjectives does he use?

Malcolm says that he is worse than satan and calls him luxurious, avaricious, false, deceitful, 

7) How has Malcolm changed since Act II?

Malcolm says that he isn't worthy of being king, but he used to be a noble soldier who was fit to be king when his father died. Now he's just a scared little boy. 

8) What is the atmosphere of this scene? Why is this important?
At first it starts out hopeful because Macduff has a plan to stop Macbeth. The plan was to make Malcolm the king, but now since he said he doesn't want to be king because he fears being worse than the current one, they have no other plan. 

           
9) What news does the doctor bring? How is this symbolic to the scene, especially to Malcolm?

The doctor says that Macbeth is able to heal people because he is "god chosen" (idea of divine right) Symbolizes the right king needs to be in place, and Malcolm is worried about becoming king, and this guy is saying that Macbeth is doing alright.

10) How many men did England lend Macduff?

10,000 men

11) What does Macduff mean when he says, “But I must also feel it as a man.”

Macduff has to carry on and do what's right even though he feels bad about what happened to his family, he needs to be loyal to his country in this time of distress.