Next Week’s Quiz:
- Act II Vocabulary
- Act III Vocabulary
- Information from Act IV
The strange apparitions act as symbols that
foreshadow the way the prophecies will be fulfilled. The armored head suggests
war or rebellion, a telling image when connected to the apparition’s warning
about Macduff. The bloody child obliquely refers to Macduff’s birth by cesarean
section—he is not “of woman born”—attaching a clear irony to a comment that
Macbeth takes at face value. The crowned child is Malcolm. He carries a tree,
just as his soldiers will later carry tree branches from Birnam Wood to
Dunsinane. Finally, the procession of kings reveals the future line of kings,
all descended from Banquo.
Notice
the animals used in the spell- list them.
Dramatic irony:
By the
pricking of my thumbs,
Something
wicked this way comes
(Macbeth
walks in- we already know from act three scene 6)
Irony
infected
be the air whereon they ride, and damned all those that trust them
Points of focus:
1.
Macduff’s self-defense speech(Be not offended….)
2. The
list Malcolm gives for Macbeth’s evils.
3.
Malcolm’s listings of his own shortcomings.(lust and greed) and how Macduff
responds to them.
4. list
the good qualities Malcolm gives of himself.
5. How
King Edward of England cures the sick- political allusion- Shakespeare honoring
the English King to please King James who attends the play) as opposed to
Macbeth who ails his people. (juxtaposition)
6. what
is a man- Malcolm and Macduff discuss what is a man- compare to Lady Macbeth’s
what is a man.