Macbeth Act 4 Analysis

Macbeth is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, in 1606. Briefly summarizing the extract of act III, scene IV, lines 1409-1448, when Macbeth goes to sit down in his sit and eat, he can’t because Banquo’s ghost is sitting in his place. Macbeth faces a mental episode, in which he sees Banquo’s ghost, but no one else can. The ghost leaves, comes back again, and finally leaves, making all of the guests worried and asking what Macbeth had seen. Lady Macbeth asks the guests to exit. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth have a talk about what had just occurred and later they both go to sleep.
By analyzing this extract from Act III, Scene IV, we can see that there are many themes involved. The themes we can see in this extract are guilt, real vs. unreal, ambition and violence. We can see that Macbeth has a …show more content…
The ghost reappears and Macbeth, horrified, starts shouting at it. Lady Macbeth tries to calm down her husband's strange behavior. Macbeth has become so twisted he cannot tell the unreal from the reality anymore. Lady Macbeth sees lying is useless and chooses isolation; Therefore, she tells the thanes to leave.
There’s ambition and violence in Macbeth. Macbeth's desperation to keep power motivates him to visit the weird sisters. Macbeth says: "I am in blood / Stepped in so far" (Macbeth, Act 3, Scene 4, L. 1440-1441) meaning that turning back is as difficult as continuing on. Ambition and violence are all he has left, and he knows it. He has sacrificed everything for his ambition for power.
We, the readers, can sense their feeling through their words. In this extract, we can see that Macbeth feels fear. “When now I think you can behold such sights/ and keep the natural ruby of your cheeks/ when mine is blanched with fear” (3.4.1413-1415). Within this quote, we can sense fear and guiltiness. The appearance of Banquo’s ghost, causes Macbeth to shift from one state of mind to another until the ghost