What “medicine” does malcolm say they should take to cure the “deadly grief”?

Literary Devices

Macbeth is filled with literary devices throughout the play. Shakespeare was a mere genius in incorporating his techniques like he did. Let'slook at the imagery in the play.

Imagery is language that appeals to the senses.
What are your five senses?

Touch

Taste

Hearing

Smell

Sight

Look at the quotes and see if you can detect to which sense it is appealing. Roll over each quote for the answer.

"Eye of newt and toe of frog, wool of bat and tongue of dog."

"What bloody man is that?"

"Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?"

"Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand?"

Look at the quotes and see if you can detect to which sense it is appealing. Roll over each quote for the answer.

"Each new morn/New windows howl, new orphans cry, new sorrows/Strike heaven on the face..."

"Bear welcome in your eye, your hand, your tongue; look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under 't."

"Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf, witch's mummy, maw and gulf of the ravined salt-sea shark,...gall of goat and slips of yew slivered in the moon's eclipse, Nose of Turk and Tartar's lips, finger of birth-strangled babe."

Shakespeare creates heaps of images for his readers. The witches have a great deal of imagery in their chants as well.

"Double, double, toil and trouble" and "something wicked this way comes" are both seen today in pop culture. In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the Frog Choir sang the witches' chant. There is a movie called Double, Double, Toil and Trouble, and Ray Bradbury even titled his novel Something Wicked this Way Comes.

Foreshadowing is the use of clues to hint at what is going to happen later in the play.

Macbeth's witches foreshadow events through the use of their prophecies for Macbeth. In the opening of the play, the witches tell Macbeth "when the battle’s lost and won" as well as the famous "fair is foul, and foul is fair." These are excellent examples, as you have seen, that something evil will be coming. The prophecies actually give Macbeth titles: "Thane of Glamis," "Thane of Cawdor," and "King hereafter." At this point in the play, we have seen these prophecies come true, but have they come true at a price?

A foil is a minor character whose attitudes, beliefs, and behavior differ significantly from those of a main character. The foil serves two main purposes:

1. to highlight flaws in the main character's personality

2. to suggest what the main character might have been like
if these flaws had not been present.

Banquo served as a foil to Macbeth in the first three acts. In this act, Macduff becomes his foil.

Words to Know

Abjure
Avaricious
Blaspheming
Bodements
Concord
Conjure
Coveted
Dolor
Entrails
Pernicious
Sear

Read Macbeth Act IV and complete your 4.05 Plot Guide as you read. If you would like to print out your play, you may open the PDF copy of Macbeth.

Scene i: The scene opens with the witches performing a ritual around a boiling cauldron. Macbeth approaches and demands to know answers to his questions. The witches summon their masters to respond. Macbeth meets three spirits who give him information that fills him with confidence.

Macbeth also wants to know if Banquo's children will become kings. A line of eight kings appears with Banquo at the end of the procession. The witches disappear. Lennox arrives and tells Macbeth that Macduff has gone to England, and Macbeth vows to kill everyone--men, women, and children--at Macduff's castle.

Do you like to read your horoscope every day? If Macbeth were alive today, I think he would be checking his horoscope on a daily basis. There are modern beliefs in the supernatural that we see around us today. Think about psychics, mediums, and fortune tellers. TLC has a hit show called Long Island Medium. There is another show called Rescue Mediums where they make house calls. They even have pet psychics on Animal Planet.

But, why do people find the supernatural so interesting or believable? Have you ever encountered a supernatural phenomenon? Whether you believe in the supernatural or not, has it affected your life?

You have now encountered the witches several times in the play. How do you know that the witches are not of this world? How do you know they are supernatural?

How have the witches affected Macbeth's decisions and character? Watch two short clips on "Witchcraft in Shakespeare's Time" and "A Force of Evil: The Witches and Machbeth" before you answer.

Scene ii: Ross attempts to comfort Lady Macduff who thinks her husband has abandoned his family. When Ross leaves, a messenger arrives to warn Lady Macduff that danger is approaching. The warning comes too late. Several murderers enter and begin the slaughter of everyone within the castle.

What is Lady Macduff's role in the play?

Scene iii: This is the longest scene of the play, and several important things are accomplished. Malcolm is established as worthy of being king of Scotland. By testing Macduff's loyalty, Malcolm proves he will not be deceived by appearances as his father was. He keeps his military plans against Macbeth a secret until he is sure he can trust Macduff. Ross appears from Scotland and informs Macduff that his family has been slaughtered. Malcolm encourages Macduff to convert his grief into anger.

Look closely at these next few quotations from scene iii. Identify the speaker of the quotation and provide the significance for it in this scene. What literary technique is being used?

"...black Macbeth
Will seem as pure as snow..."

-Malcolm, This is a simile to illustrate the irony. Malcolm knows Macbeth killed his father, but Macbeth has tried to mask it.

"Angels are bright, though the brightest fell."

-Malcolm, He is talking to Macduff telling him how he would like to disrupt the universe's peace to get Macbeth out of Scotland. Shakespeare uses a metaphor to illustrate his sentiments.

"Nay, had I power, I should
Pour the sweet milk of concord into hell,
Uproar the universal peace, confound
All unity on earth."

- Malcolm, He is using an allusion referencing the Old Testiment and the story of Lucifer, one of the most beautiful angels of heaven (whose name meant “bearer of light.” ) He challenged God’s authority. He and his followers were expelled from Heaven and became Satan and his demons.

"O Scotland, Scotland!"

-Macduff, He is truly saddened by the fact that Macbeth is an evil ruler who is doing unjustice to Scotland.

"Such welcome and unwelcome things at once,
'Tis hard to reconcile."

-Macduff, He is replying to Malcolm when told how they already have ten thousand warlike men waiting for the signal.

"A most miraculous work in this good king..."

-Malcolm, He is using verbal irony to speak of Macbeth as a "good king." Of course, he doesn't mean that; his sarcasm let's us know he really means evil king and the work isn't "miraculous" but evil as well.

"No, they were well at peace when I did leave 'em."

-Ross. He is speaking to Macduff when asked about Macduff's wife and children. This is dramatic irony since the audience knows that his wife and children have been murdered.

"Sinful Macduff,
They were all struck for thee."

-Macduff, He says this after learning that his wife, children, and servants were all murdered. He knows that Macbeth is trying to send him a message; this is why he is using third person as well as verbal irony. His actions aren't sinful; however, they are sinful in Macbeth's eyes.

"Be this the whetstone of your sword, let grief
Convert to anger. Blunt not the hear, enrage it."

-Malcolm, He wants Macduff to use this grief as anger to kill and seek revenge on Macbeth.

"Let's make us med'cines of our great revenge
To cure this deadly grief."

-Malcolm. He is speaking to Macduff after Ross's news of the murder. He uses personification to illustrate the medicine he needs is the revenge to kill Macbeth.

"Receive what cheer you may:
The night is long that never finds the day."
- Malcolm. He wants to go tonight to seek his revenge on Macbeth.

Who says let's make us Med Cines of our great revenge To cure this deadly grief?

What does Malcolm say he can do for his voluptuousness?

What does Malcolm say King Edward is able to do?

What does Malcolm say each soldier should do?