Act Four Scene One

The Three Witches prepare a mixture inside a boiling cauldron, when Macbeth finds them. He is very demanding towards them, asking to know what they brew and for his questions about his fate to be answered or be cursed. From the cauldron, three apparitions appear, the first being an armored head. “Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! Beware Macduff. Beware the thane of Fife. Dismiss me. Enough.” The second, a bleeding baby, “Macbeth, Macbeth, Macbeth– Be bloody, bold, and resolute. Laugh to scorn the power of man, for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth.” The third, a child wearing the crown of a king, holding a tree. “Be lion-mettled, proud, and take no care who chafes, who frets, or where conspirers are.Macbeth shall never vanquished be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill shall come against him.” Seeing these as impossible feats, Macbeth is feels better and asks about the previous prophecy, relating to Banquo’s children. 9 Crowned apparitions arise from the cauldron, all Banquo’s family. Macbeth is angered by this (possibly for not getting the answer he wants) and curses them. The witches disappear, and Macbeth is left standing alone in a field.