Act 4

After Macbeth’s hallucination of Banquo’s ghost at the banquet, the witches begin to cook exotic and
unusual things like snakes, frogs, bats and much more. The three witches chant the following: ‘Double,
double toil and trouble. Fire burn and cauldron bubble.’ (4.1.130) The use of the word double connotes
the idea of deception, hence the terms double-dealing and two-faces and deceptive are exactly what the
witches are, as they flatter Macbeth by stroking his ego buttons with hints of his impending kingship all
the while orchestrating diabolical developments in the background. Ultimately, this pushed Macbeth
towards his tragic destiny with their misleading prophecies and horrible sights. Shakespeare uses double
and trouble as a pair of internal rhyme, reinforces the idea of the witches causing all sorts of trouble
through their deceitful nature. As a result, the audience can see how double, and trouble are linked.
Another fascinating point is that Shakespeare uses the word toil to describe someone stuck in a bind,
which is extremely like Macbeth's condition. The following lines of the passage, fire burn, carry
foreboding overtones and anticipate Macbeth's demonic impulses, as evidenced by his violent pursuit of
MacDuff. Furthermore, the word bubble not only refers to the act of boiling, but also to a deceptive sham,
which, when juxtaposed with trouble, suggests that while the witches are instigators of trouble, their
wicked shenanigans are more imaginary than real, which only the weak of mind and vulnerable to
temptations like Macbeth would fall for. It also signifies the transience and hollowness of Macbeth's
desperate pursuit of power and ambition.

Macbeth pays a visit to the Three Witches in Act Four, Scene 1 to discover more about his prophecy. The
Three Witches summon several apparitions who deliver cryptic instructions to Macbeth concerning his
future. After seeing the first apparition, in which a head in an armoured helmet warns Macbeth to avoid
Macduff, he sees the second apparition. They say the following: ‘Be bloody, bold and resolute; laugh to
scorn. The pow’r of man, for none of woman born. Shall harm Macbeth’ (4.1.137) This depicts an advice
given to Macbeth that he should feel completely safe and secure because no one who has not been born
naturally of a woman can harm him. The equivocation here is that the apparition is Macduff and so
clearly, he is plainly alive despite not being born of woman. Macbeth fails to see the deception here and
interprets into the prophecy to mean that he has nothing to fear. Blood denotes badness and grief in this
scenario. Shakespeare is also demonstrating the evil attitude that is about to take over the scene and act in
the next several scenes and acts by using blood. In the part where the bleeding child says, "Be bloody,
bold, and resolute," another drop of blood is used. In this statement, the word "blood" denotes "cruel" or
"cold-blooded." This foreshadows Macbeth's future acts, which will be brutal.

The wickedness of Macbeth reaches its pinnacle in the following lines: ‘From this moment. The very
firstlings of my heart shall be. The firstlings of my hand...' (4.1.144) This reveals that Macbeth is unable
to get Macduff because he is tormented by the vision of Banquo's descendants, and as a result, he murders
Macduff's entire family. The most significant point to note here is that these acts of cruelty and violence
have nothing to do with the prophecy. Indeed, there is nothing in the prophecy that suggests he should be
fearful of Macduff's family in any way. In this quote, Macbeth emphasizes that acting as quickly as
thought is difficult unless you act when an idea comes to you. Essentially, he is talking about putting
actions a thought in action as soon as they happen without even thinking about the consequences.
Macbeth has decided to act without thinking, and the thinking he's referring to is morality. Macbeth,
according to Shakespeare, decided to abandon all morals. It's ironic since, as Lady Macbeth says in Act 1,
scene 5, 'No compunctions visitings of nature shake my fell purpose,' he's now become what his wife
desires. Through this phrase, Shakespeare demonstrates the play's actual image of evil. Macbeth is the
definition of evil because he has ambition without a sense of morality.

During a discussion between Macduff and Malcolm about Macbeth's change, Malcolm interrupts and
says: 'Angels are bright still, though the brightest fell...' (4.3.153) This quotation emphasizes the theme of
deception through a consideration of the highest angel (Lucifer) who fell to wage war on God and become
the devil. The implication here is that Macbeth could have appeared good and could still appear good but
could have now become evil. Throughout the play, Shakespeare uses the theme of religion. He makes
sure that the audience understands the evolution of Macbeth's character. He was once good and now
turned evil, completely changing who he is. Malcolm compares Macbeth to Satan here. In addition, when
Malcolm and Macduff characterize Scotland as a country where there was once brightness compared to
now that the darkness has taken over, it could be viewed in this way. As a result, Scotland might be
compared to angels in this quotation. Angels, or light, are still there, but their numbers have decreased
due to the evil that has occurred in Scotland. Throughout the play, we can observe how people change
because of evil corrupting their minds. Macbeth changed as well, as he assassinated Duncan and Banquo.
He gradually followed in Lucifer's footsteps.

Macduff is in despair when it seems that goodness in the form of Malcolm is not prepared to stop the
tyranny that he just explained is experienced by Scotland. Malcolm halts him and says the following: 'I
think our country sinks beneath the yoke...' (4.3.138) Malcolm personifies Scotland as a female character
and one that's being assaulted, as a gash is added to her wounds. He also uses parallelism: 'it weeps, it
bleeds'. The use of parallelism provides a connection between the two and implies that it is universal and
ongoing, much as there is a gap between the two clauses where weeps and bleeds after having expressed
his doubts about Macduff.

Act 5
During Lady Macbeth's sleepwalking scene, she says the following: ' Here’s the smell of blood still. All
the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.' (5.1.182) Here, she is imagining Duncan's blood
still on her hand when of course it has been washed off. This represents her sense of guilt and her fear of
Hell. Living in a patriarchal society run by men and at the expense of women, we can see the social
pressure on women to perfume themselves to make themselves acceptable to men. Indeed, ways that they
are not, and this is a motif that runs throughout the play, with Lady Macbeth telling Macbeth to be false to
give a false sprunt. In this quotation, the words 'sweetened' and 'little' portray how we see the society that
forces women to behave like their little because they are insignificant compared to men. In addition, they
must sweeten themselves because they are not allowed ambition of their own. They must instead merely
attract male power and achieve any influence they can that way. This suggests that Lady Macbeth now
regrets being independent, asking for power and she now wants to conform to society's view of
womanhood and make herself small and attractive again. The natural consequence of that is that women
are taught to punish themselves for their ambition and that is why Shakespeare has her commit suicide. In
the end, Lady Macbeth's tragedy is that she ends up conforming to society's view of what womanhood
should be as she simply ends her life.

Scene 3

Macbeth states arrogantly: 'Bring me no more reports; let them fly all: Till Birnam wood remove to
Dunsinane, I can not taint with fear,'. This is an intriguing structure because Shakespeare juxtaposed this
scene with the last one, which ended with the Scottish Lords announcing their march upon Birnam.
Indeed, the audience is aware of it, and Shakespeare is preparing them for a tragic collapse at the very
least.

Macbeth recounts the premonitions and asks the following question: 'What's the boy Malcolm? Was he
not born of woman?' Macbeth feels completely invulnerable and what Shakespeare is doing is to remind
the audience that Macbeth's excessive pride is caused by the supernatural, the witches that know all
mortal consequences.

‘I’ll fight till from my bones my flesh be hack’d…’ Articulation of act 1 scene 2, because of his breavery,
his violence.