In Act IV, the Witches play a huge role in what happens next in the play. The act begins with the three witches doing what witches are famous for doing – stirring pots and making some sort of soup with things that can be considered disgusting. We can see this in lines 12-13: “Fillet of a fenny snake // In the cauldron boil and bake.” These lines remind the reader the obscureness and how sinister the witches are, as well as the reader is reminded of what the witches are capable of, which leads on to what happens next in the scene. One can analyze, first, the rise of Macbeth to power which came by the hand of the Witches, and second, one can analyze, through the occurrences of the first scene in Act IV, how the Witches are also responsible for Macbeth’s fall. They present apparitions to Macbeth, which supposedly create a feeling of securedness for Macbeth; we can see these apparitions in the lines: “…Beware Macduff! // Beware the Thane of Fife!…” (IV.i.81-82). This being the first apparition, the Armed Head. The second apparition is of a Bloody Child, telling Macbeth that he should “Laugh to scorn // The power of man, for none of woman born // Shall harm Macbeth.” (IV.i.91-92). The third and last apparition is of a Crowned Child, with a tree in his hand. The lines 105-107 show “ Macbeth shall never vanquished be until // Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill // Shall come against him.” (IV.i.105-7). These apparitions created by the witches have an immense role in the next scenes of the play, since this creates a feeling of being secure for Macbeth, and for him not to expect an attack from Malcolm and Macduff’s part. Something else to be noted, is that every apparition has a “Thunder” before it appears, which can connect to the Nature motif, where thunder relates with all that is evil – the Three Witches.
Of my character, no new information was learned, beside the fact that they cook absurd things on cauldrons, and that they can create apparitions. The fact that they can predict the future is not something new, we have seen it before in previous acts and scenes. In addition, the Witches’ objective in this Act specifically, is to make Macbeth feel like there’s nothing to be afraid of, that he will die of old age as a king. They attempt to do this through rhymes of verses and apparitions, where Shakespeare conveys Macbeth as convinced about the apparitions: “Then live Macduff; what need I fear of thee?” (IV.i.93) and “That will never be. // Who can impress the forest, bid the tree // Unfix his earthbound root?…” (IV.i.108-10). The audience knows that this is the Witches’ objective when we see Hecate, in a previous scene, convincing the Weird Sisters that Macbeth didn’t like them, and that Macbeth should go down, through making him feel secure. Furthermore, the Witches majorly affect the events of the Act;the Weird Sisters make Macbeth feel like there is nothing being planned against him, that he can’t be harmed, etc. They somewhat warn Macbeth of what is to come, but at the same time make him feel secure, then leading up to the fall of Macbeth. In the act we do not see a reaction from the Witches to any of the predictions they have foretold, since they do not appear anymore after they meet with Macbeth. In act IV, we can see a reaction from Macbeth’s part towards the Witches. He asks Lennox if he has seen the Weïrd Sisters, and Lennox has not. Macbeth replies by stating that he is disgusted by the Witches, that they are evil. We can see this through the following lines: “Infected by the air whereon they ride, And damned all those that trust them!…” (IV.i.157-8). Macbeth is stating that they are also not to be trusted, considering the way the Witches are.
macbeth 