Macbeth LRJ act 4

1. The scene with Lady Macduff shows Ross reassuring Lady Macduff that Macduff had fled only for the best. She is paranoid because she has no husband at home and doesn’t know what to do. A messenger comes in and tells her that her, and her son, should leave immediately. Before they can escape murderers break into the house and kill Lady Macbeth and her son. This shows how ruthless and ambitious Macbeth is for sending these murderers after Lady Macduff. She doesn’t even have anything to do with Macbeth but he kills them anyways. This shows how far he is willing to go to get what he wants.

2. This scene shows that Macduff wants to overthrow Macbeth so badly that he would leave his wife and his child just to do this. He is acting just as ambitious as Macbeth is. This ambitious characteristic is also shown when Macduff is trying to convince Malcolm to overthrow Macbeth with him on page 129. “Let us rather/Hold fast the mortal sword, and like good men/Bestride our downfall’n birthdom. Each new morn/New widows howl, new orphans cry, new sorrows/Srike heaven on the face, that it resounds/As if it felt with Scotland and yelled out/like syllable of dolor. Just as Macbeth, Macduff will stop at nothing to get what he desires.

3. Macbeth is getting extremely ruthless with an utter desire to harm people. He is getting more violent and will not stop at anything. There was no reason to kill Lady Macduff and her child, yet he carried through with it anyway because he is growing more and more mad. His demanding reign is shown on page 117. “Then live, Macduff; what I need I fear of thee?/But yet I’ll make assurance double sure,/And take a bond of fate. Thou shalt not live,/That I may tell pale-hearted fear it lies,/And sleep in spite of thunder.”