Macbeth Act IV Discussion Questions*
These questions will be asked in class as part of discussion, or they may be given out as homework, exit/entrance tickets, or essay assignments. Not all of these questions may be asked, but many of them will. Please pay attention to in-class directions.
ACT FOUR
Scene One
Macbeth returns to the witches, apparently placing his trust in their knowledge. However, as the audience knows through the dramatic irony of the Hecate speech, he will be deceived by them, playing upon his own illusions and their creation in him of a state of false security.
- Read the opening of the scene, prior to Macbeth's entrance. What do you think is the purpose of this scene?
- Look carefully at the three prophecies. In what ways does each encourage a sense of false security in Macbeth?
- Having gotten three pieces of (apparent) good news with the Apparitions, why does Macbeth press the issue further and ask about Banquo's children?
- What does Macbeth's willingness to believe and disbelieve the Witches' prophecies -- sometimes simultaneously -- suggest about his character? Is there a pattern to the ideas he believes (and when he believes them)?
- Activity: Examine each of the apparitions. In a fictional text, apparitions, ghosts, visions, hallucinations, etc., are always symbolic and almost always directly related to the motifs and themes of the work. Compare the apparitions with some of the major motifs of this play we have seen up to this point. Are there motifs that keep appearing in this set of visions -- that is, motifs that seem to be strongly represented here?
- Motif List - Note: This is not an exhaustive list.
- Babies / Children / Mothers and fathers / Fertility / Nursing
Clothing / Disguise
Birds
Drunkenness / Hallucination / Altered consciousness
Spells / Illusion
Appearance vs. Reality
Masculinity / Femininity
Power
Fate vs. free will
Fair vs. foul
Scene Two
This scene contains the murder of Lady Macduff and her children.
- Why do you think Shakespeare includes a scene showing the relationship between Lady Macduff and her son?
- This is the first murder to be committed on stage. What effect does this murder have on the audience?
- Why do you think Shakespeare deems it necessary to create this effect at this particular point in the play?
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Scene Three
Scene three is a comparatively long and complex scene in which Malcolm tests Macduff 's loyalty, not to him, but to Scotland.
- Why does Malcolm need to do this?
- What do Ross's comments suggest about the state of Scotland under Macbeth's rule?
* Questions taken or adapted from this site: www.appohigh.org/.../Macbeth%20Study%20Questions%20Act%201.doc