ACT FOUR: #4 Plot
Scene Observations
Scene I:
This act starts off with 3 witches dancing and concocting substances in their cauldrons. Macbeth appears and consults them to further understand about the prophecy. Three Apparitions are called upon to tell Macbeth about the future. The first Apparition is a armed head and tells Macbeth to beware of Macduff. The second Apparition is a bloody child that tells him that no one will harm Macbeth. The third one is a crowned child with a tree in his hand claiming that Macbeth will not be vanquished until “Greate Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill/ Shall come against him” (A4 S1 L93-94) Macbeth then demands to know more and have his questions answered. To play with his boldness, they sent in a row of eight kings with the last one holding a mirror and Banquo’s ghost following behind. Macbeth then becomes fearful and decided that he will act immediately from his thoughts from now on. One can really see Macbeth’s transformation in this scene as he was more demanding than before. As audience, we learnt from before that the witches and Hecate are planning to play with his mind by giving him too much confidence and see him fall driven by his greed and desires as seen in act 3 secene 5. This may lead the audience to ponder upon whether the witches are for real or was just joking.
Scene II:
Scene II is a simple ironic but humorous scene. Majority of the dialogue is between Lady Macduff and her son. They discuss about Macduff and how the child is now “fatherless”. Upon asked how will the child live, he replied that he will be like the birds, a significat symbolism being played here. They later talk about how Macduff is a traitor (in Lady Macduff’s point of view from what she knows) and the child asks what is a traitor. It was ironic as Macduff was not a traitor and far from it. He left the country so that he can fight back against Macbeth like a hero. However, the next scene later explains the reason for Macduff’s leave. The order of the scene was shown to express what normal people with no clear idea of the situation would think logically. Ironically after a comedic conversation, murderers on Macbeth’s orders come in and kills them both. The killing was done off set and was not shown — just like other scenes when murdering occur.
Scene III:
After the murder of Lady Macbeth and her child, the scene switches to Macduff and his conversation with Malcolm. They discuss about their current situation and Macbeth’s control of the country. Macduff then wants to fight back against Macbeth and Malcolm tries to test Macduff’s loyalty by claiming he is not fit to be king and many other immoral desires. To which Macduff argues that Malcolm had gotten away and was smart enough not to fall into Macbeth’s traps. Rosse later comes into the scene and tells them news about Scotland. He also had trouble trying to Macduff that Lady Macduff and his child had been killed. Macduff was speechless at first but he immediately decides that he shall take fight back Macbeth. The killing of his wife and child was shown on the previous scene to create irony and also dramatic irony as we know what Rosse was trying to say. Macduff then immediately reacts to the news and therefore ends the scene by having a motivation to bring Macbeth down — following the theme of tragedy.
Act Analysis
According to Freytag’s conception of dramatic structure, he/wikipedia claims that “During the falling action [in act 4], or resolution, which is the moment of reversal after the climax, the conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist unravels, with the protagonist winning or losing against the antagonist. The falling action might contain a moment of final suspense, during which the final outcome of the conflict is in doubt.” I do not think that Act 4 fits into Freytag’s Dramatic structure because no sides were particularly winning or loosing. Instead, it seems like Macbeth is winning in power-wise and Macduff had fled as well. The antagonist is also just revealed as it was not exactly clear from before and technicaly it is Macduff. However, the long term conflict was always Macbeth against himself as evilness takes over him slowly. There was some suspense in act 4 however, such as the scenes with the witches. There is suspense to what will happen later as the three Apparitions told Macbeth about the future. No final outcome of the conflict was made certain just yet as in the last scene Macduff finally decides that he will fight back Macbeth. Therefore, I do not think that Shakespeare followed dramatic structure or the Freytag’s dramatic structure does not work for Macbeth.
If there was an extra scene in the play, I would like to see more of Macduff’s side as a way to develop character. It is up to these few acts that his character finally comes to light but it would be more interesting to know more about him. This extra scene may be after scene III and is a monologue of his thoughts about Macbeth and the situation. It can show a side to him to the audience and can form a opposition side in the story as the good vs. bad. Macduff will later be an important character in the final act so I believe that by having an extra scene of him, it will give a round and understanding of the characters and story.
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