Macbeth Act 4
Act 4 starts off with an interesting exchange between the
witches who are mixing stuff in a boiling cauldron while chanting things like “For
a charm of powerful trouble, / Like a hell-broth boil and bubble” (IV.1.19-20).
It is sort of symbolizing how the witches are brewing up trouble, which again
brings up the question of whether it’s actually fate doing it’s job or are the
witches the ones making everything happen. For example, the witches try to
provoke Macbeth to do certain things such as kill Macduff when they bring up an
apparition that says “Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! Beware Macduff!” (IV.1.81).
However, even despite the witches’ later apparitions which reassure Macbeth
that his position is not threatened, Macbeth still says that he’ll kill Macduff
just in case: “Then live, Macduff; what need I fear of thee? / But yet I’ll
make assurance double sure / And take a bond of fate. Thou shalt not live”
(IV.1.93-95). At this point, I feel like Macbeth is himself to blame for in his
future downfall—he seems to just can’t stop murdering people to feel safe in
his position and to “take a bond of fate”, but is it really fate if he needs to
secure it himself? Macbeth’s downfall seems to be coming closer as a result of
his fear, which seems like a pretty important theme and is especially
elaborated on when Ross and Lady Macduff speak about fear and Ross says “But
cruel are the times when we are traitors / And do not know ourselves; when we
hold rumor / From what we fear, yet know not what we fear” (IV.2.22-24). The
portrayal of Macbeth now as opposed to earlier in the play is very distinct—at first
he seemed honorable and have somewhat of a conscience, and Lady Macbeth was the
one who seemed evil for pushing him to fulfill the prophecy. However, now,
Macbeth is acting on himself and shows no mercy when he kills Macduff’s entire
family. The fact that this drastic change occurred in a matter of days is
pretty shocking but makes the story really interesting. I can’t wait to see how
Macbeth goes down and I feel like the mystery in this story is finding out how
he reaches his downfall and also the idea of who’s the cause of his downfall—is
it himself, the witches, fear, or something/someone else?
I like your thoughts on fate and how if it really was meant to be, Macbeth would have no need to secure himself by murdering all possible threats. I think this really stems back to his characterization and his insecurities. Clearly if he was confident in himself then he would feel no need to eliminate any and all competitors, but that is not the case. I wonder if this insecurity is a result of Lady Macbeth's constant degrading of him, saying he is weak and unmanly.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your thoughts. If it really was fate, then it should've been able to happen on its own. This brings back the question of whether or not the witches were actually prophesying something, or just manipulating Macbeth into doing what they wanted him to do. At the same time I don't believe that Macbeth was ever as good as a man as everyone thought he was or that Lady Macbeth is responsible, because he has shown his own dark side in ordering the killings of Macduff's wife and children. Nobody pressured him into doing it, he did it of his own accord.
ReplyDeleteI like your question at the end of who is the cause of his downfall. I have been wondering how prophecy and fate play a role in this book because it is not entirely clear how much power the witches have in these areas. It is also interesting to see how Macbeth acts as a result of the prophecies he hears. Is it the prophecy that is in control? How is Macbeth's reaction to the prophecy affecting the future? I also like how you brought up the ides of fear because even though that plays an important role in the story, I had not put much thought into it.
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