Macbeth- Act 4

Below are descriptions and images of my perception of the following riddles: "Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! beware Macduff; Beware the thane of Fife. Dismiss me. Enough."(IV.i.71-72) My image depicts the scene where Macbeth is facing the floating head in armour. It is known as the first apparation summoned by the witches. The head is telling Macbeth that he must fear Macduff and he is standing in the way of Macbeth as King. The head is supposedly supposed to be able to read thoughts, so Macbeth does not speak and lets the head do the talking. It is for this reason that I did not put any words beside Macbeth’s picture and instead put a thought bubble. Within the thought bubble I put a crown, as the kingdom and being King is what Macbeth’s main thoughts were. I made the head much larger than that of Macbeth’s to show that the apparition is much more powerful that him. My feelings toward this riddle is that is is quite simple. Perhaps because this head is not as powerful, he is not able to give as wide and detailed adivice as the other two apparitions. In this riddle, the advice given is similar information that Macbeth already knew in the first place!

"Be bloody, bold, and resolute; laugh to scorn The power of man, for none of woman born Shall harm Macbeth. " (IV.i.79-81) The next image demonstrates a bloody child who appears to continue giving advice to Macbeth on how to stay King and remain powerful to the kingdom. Again, these apparitions are far more powerful that Macbeth, and as a result their heads are larger than Macbeth’s. The bloody child emphasizes that in order to maintain to throne, he must stay confident while feeling superior to all other men who also have power. In addition, the child points out that no man will be able to defeat Macbeth if they are born from a woman. Macbeth listens intently, and I drew an extra ear beside Macbeth. I felt as if this riddle was aimed more towards Macbeth's mental challenges and to help him overcome them. By advising Macbeth to remain confident and not to be intimidated by other powerful men, this riddle will aid Macbeth. It will not help by telling him specifically what actions to perform, but gives him emotional support on his endeavour.

"Be lion-mettled, proud; and take no care Who chafes, who frets, or where conspirers are: Macbeth shall never vanquish'd be until Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill Shall come against him." (IV.i.90-94) The final riddle is shown in the image with a child carrying a tree with a crown on his head. To represent the riddle, the picture of Macbeth is drawn listening to the child speak. In his words, the child’s advice for Macbeth is to remain proud and unafraid of his enemies. He also says that Macbeth cannot be dethroned until the Birnam wood begins fighting him at Dunsinane hill. This apparition is the third and most powerful; hence he has the largest head. Macbeth does not have a speech bubble in this image as the witches specifically told him not to speak to the apparition. I believe this riddle reassures Macbeth that his throne is more secure than he thinks it is. By giving him a concrete cause-effect situation, Macbeth will be less disturbed by challenges that come his way. The riddle states that Macbeth will only be in trouble if there is fighting on the Dunsinane hill. As long as Macbeth can assure that that does not happen, Macbeth should be able to remain King.

Macbeth from NoemieThomas