Macbeth: Act 4

At the beginning of Act 4 Macbeth confronts the three Weird Sisters. As he is talking to them, they send him three apparitions that are meant to warn him of a coming doom. Upon the third one coming down, Macbeth simply says, “Thou shalt not live, That I may tell pale-hearted fear it lies, And sleep in spite of thunder” (164). He sees the visions as the warnings they are and decides he is going to kill Macduff before Macduff can kill him. At this point Macbeth has had a handful of people killed and shows no sign of remorse about killing more. This shows the vast change of Macbeth’s attitudes throughout the play. At the beginning he was mindful of other people and had a sense of guilt. Towards the end when this scene takes place, Macbeth has lost that sense and has become ruthless. This scene continues with Macbeth’s increasing savage nature.