Macbeth returns to the witches and demands to have answers
about his future. Earlier in the play, the witches came to him and addressed him as
Thane of Cawdor and King. He took these things to be predictions for his future and
killed King Duncan in order to be king.
Now, he wants
answers from the witches, again. They show him three apparitions. The first tells him
to beware Macduff; he should listen to this one. The second tells him that he will not
be defeated until Birnum Wood moves to Dunsinane Hill. He determines that the woods
cannot move, so he will not be defeated. The third apparation tells him that no one of
woman born shall harm him. He decides that all people are born of a woman, so he will
not be defeated. Macbeth takes the second and third apparitions too literally and
repeats them constantly. He never talks about the first warning him to beware Macduff,
except to point out that he was born of a woman.
The
soldiers from England and Scotland do not want Macbeth to see how many of them are
coming to attack. They are ordered by Malcolm to cut down tree branches and put them in
front of their faces and bodies in order to disguise themselves. When they advance on
Macbeth's castle, the woods appear to be moving. Thus, Birnam wood moves to
Dunsinane.
When Macbeth is found by Macduff, he says he
does not want to fight Macduff because Macbeth lives a charmed life and has done enough
damage to Macduff's family. He says that no one of woman born will be able to harm him,
so Macduff should just leave. Macduff responds that he was "from his mother's womb,
untimely ripped"; he was born by c-section instead of the natural way. So he was not of
woman born.
The witches do not mislead him with the first
apparition; he was told to beware Macduff. He chooses to ignore that one because
Macduff was born of a woman.
He also chooses to ignore the
fourth and last one which shows Banquo's ghost leading a group of kings; this one
further reinforces the first prediction by the witches for Banquo. Banquo would not be
a king, but his children would be kings at some point in the
future.
Macbeth really misled himself by deciding what to
believe in all the information that he received by the witches.
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