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The absence of Macduff at the feast leads Macbeth to revisit the witches. They show him three
apparitions which demand that he both FEAR Macduff and yet NOT fear him.
Finally he is shown a series of apparitions of Banquo's heirs, each wearing the crown of Scotland.
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The witches' earlier predictions were ambiguous, yet this was nothing to their warnings about Macduff.
Macbeth, of course, already feared the Thane of Fife or he would not again have been visiting the witches.
Macduff was easily his strongest rival in Scotland. It was also quite clear from Macduff's boycotting the
banquet that he meant to snub the new king.
It was out of this fear, therefore, that Macbeth visited the witches once more -- and their predictions toyed
with his foreboding: "Beware Macduff, beware the Thane of Fife."
A second vision appeared, however, which gave Macbeth an ambiguous message: "None of woman
born shall harm Macbeth."
Then a third message, even more ambiguous: "Macbeth shall never vanquished be until Great Birnam
wood to high Dunsinane hill shall come against him."
Macbeth, of course, was totally duped by these last two prophecies. After all, are not all men born of
woman? And how can a forest uproot itself and walk?
Nevertheless, Macbeth decided to be extra careful. He had already killed Duncan and Banquo. Now he
must order the murder of Macduff and his family.
Have you looked at the questions
in the right column?
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TEST YOURSELF!
Read the left column and then answer
the following questions:
"By the pricking of my thumbs,
something wicked this way comes."
- What do these words tell you of the witches' attitude to Macbeth? (4)
[Need help?]
Do you notice that the witches refer to Macbeth as "something" and "wicked"? In other
words, they recognise the evil that now controls Macbeth's life.
Are they saying that he has become like them? Or do the witches merely see themselves as the
instruments which have exposed an inner wickedness within Macbeth which has always been there?
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"A deed without a name."
- Why can the witches not tell Macbeth the name of their deed? (4)
[Need help?]
For some reason known only to the witches, they have been planning Macbeth's downfall right from the
start.
The spell they are now brewing will continue this meddling but they cannot tell him that. Indeed, they can
tell him nothing of what they are doing.
And so they speak in generalisations: "A deed without a name". Give it a name, however, and it
would sound something like "your downfall".
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"I conjure you, by that which you profess,
Howe'er you come to know it, answer me:
Though you untie the winds and let them fight
Against the churches; though the yesty waves
Confound and swallow navigation up;
Though bladed corn be lodged and trees blown down;
Though castles topple on their warders' heads;
Though palaces and pyramids do slope
Their heads to their foundations; though the treasure
Of nature's germens tumble all together,
Even till destruction sicken; answer me
To what I ask you."
- What are the implications of Macbeth's command to the witches: "I conjure
you"? (4)
[Need help?]
The word "conjure" speaks of magical properties. A magician conjures up a spell. Witches conjure
up magic.
Macbeth's choice of this word therefore hints to the fact that he sees himself as allied to the witches, or
as a magician who himself can work magic.
He has become one of them!
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- Comment on Macbeth's acceptance of what might follow from his request to the witches: "Though
you untie . . . " (5)
[Need help?]
Macbeth is now prepared to sacrifice everything in order to know the future. He is selling his soul for
knowledge.
His words tell us that he is prepared to see even the destruction of the foundations of nature ("untie
the winds"), that he will turn his back on God ("let them fight against the churches"), and even
bring about the destruction of all the forces in the universe.
He is in short allying himself with his wife's earlier call upon the spirits to unsex her and full her with direst
cruelty.
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"The witches first predictions always seem to say the obvious."
- Comment on this with particular reference to the prophecy, "Beware
Macduff." (4)
[Need help?]
When the witches first met Macbeth, they gave him three "prophecies".
The first was not a prophecy at all. "Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis" was a mere statement of fact
because Macbeth was indeed Thane of Glamis.
In this present scene, the witches do it again: "Beware Macduff".
Surely they didn't really need to tell him that? After all, it was BECAUSE he feared Macduff that he was
visiting them in the first place.
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"Be bloody, bold, and resolute; laugh to scorn
The power of man, for none of woman born
Shall harm Macbeth."
- In what way is the second prophecy ambiguous? (4)
[Need help?]
The prophecy that Macbeth should not fear anybody born of woman could mean two things.
First, all people are born of women -- and that is the way in which Macbeth understands it. It therefore
gives him confidence.
The problem is, however, that the witches are playing with words. What of a person who was cut out his
mother and was not born naturally?
It is the commonest of all deceptions -- to tell someone something that appears to be a basic truth but
one which can be interpreted differently.
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"Macbeth shall never vanquish'd be until
Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill
Shall come against him."
- In what way is the third prophecy ambiguous? (4)
[Need help?]
This prediction is very similar to the previous one.
Macbeth interprets it that Great Birnam Wood can never uproot and advance on Dunsinane. After all, who
has ever heard of a walking forest?
But what if soldiers hacked the branches off the trees to use to camouflage their numbers? Could it not
then be said that the wood was indeed moving?
It would be cheating, of course, but hey! Witches are allowed to cheat if they want to.
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The so-called prophecies were designed to be ambiguous -- to equivocate.
- Why is Macbeth filled with false confidence from these predictions? (4)
[Need help?]
Macbeth is told to beware Macduff. But is not Macduff born of a woman? Surely all people are born of
a woman?
And he can never be defeated until Great Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane. Surely that too can never
happen?
It's like saying, "You can do it till the cows come home". Theoretically the cows never come home.
But what if they did?
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- Why do the apparitions about Banquo trouble Macbeth? (4)
[Need help?]
Ever since Fleance escaped, Macbeth feared that the witches' earlier prophecies would indeed come true:
that Banquo's progeny would be kings.
That in turn meant one of two things for him: EITHER he himself would never have sons OR that these
sons would perhaps be murdered and so would never become kings.
Ultimately, however, it would indicate that Macbeth has gone through all of this stress purely to serve
Banquo's interests.
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What is Macbeth's reaction to the news that Macduff has fled to England? (4)
[Need help?]
Macbeth's general decision is that he will never again postpone doing anything. Whatever he thinks of
will be instantly accomplished.
He knows that he can no longer touch Macduff himself but he can at least destroy everything else that
belongs to Macduff: slaughter his wife, his children, his servants, raze his castle.
In other words, he can hurt Macduff even if he can no longer kill him.
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