© Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved.NOTESMurderer. What, you egg!
[Stabbing him.]
Young fry^20 of treachery!
Son. He has killed me, mother:
Run away, I pray you! [Dies.]
[Exit Lady Macduff crying “Murder!” followed by Murderers.]⌘ ⌘ ⌘Scene iii • England. Before the King’s palace.
[Enter Malcolm and Macduff.]
Malcolm. Let us seek out some desolate shade, and there
Weep our sad bosoms empty.
Macduff. Let us rather
Hold fast the mortal sword, and like good men
Bestride our down-fall’n birthdom.^1 Each new morn
New widows howl, new orphans cry, new sorrows
Strike heaven on the face, that it resounds
As if it felt with Scotland and yelled out
Like syllable of dolor.^2
Malcolm. What I believe, I’ll wail;
What know, believe; and what I can redress.
As I shall find the time to friend, I will.
What you have spoke, it may be so perchance.
This tyrant, whose sole name blisters our tongues,
Was once thought honest: you have loved him well;
He hath not touched you yet. I am young; but something
You may deserve of him through me;^3 and wisdom^4
To offer up a weak, poor, innocent lamb
T’ appease an angry god.
Macduff. I am not treacherous.
Malcolm. But Macbeth is.
A good and virtuous nature may recoil
In an imperial charge. But I shall crave your pardon;
That which you are, my thoughts cannot transpose:
Angels are bright still, though the brightest^5 fell:
Though all things foul would wear^6 the brows of grace,
Yet grace must still look so.^7
Macduff. I have lost my hopes.
Malcolm. Perchance even there where I did find my doubts.
Why in that rawness^8 left you wife and child,
Those precious motives, those strong knots of love,
Without leave-taking? I pray you,- fry offspring.
- Bestride... birthdom
protectively stand over our
native land.
- Bestride... birthdom
5- Like... dolor similar cry
of anguish.
1015 3. deserve... me earn by
betraying me to Macbeth.- wisdom It is wise.
treacherous (TREHCH uhr uhs) adj.
guilty of deception or betrayal
20- the brightest Lucifer.
- would wear desire to wear.
- so like itself.
25- rawness unprotected state or
condition.
The Tragedy of Macbeth, Act IV 323LIT17_SE12_U03_A4C_WC.indd 323 3/14/16 1:12 AMRecognize Irony
Students may have marked Scene iii, lines
4–17. Use these lines to help students
understand the irony in this part of the play.
Encourage them to talk about the annotations
that they marked. You may want to model
a close read with the class based on the
highlights shown in the text.
ANNOTATE: Have students mark details in
lines 4–17 that contain irony, or have students
participate while you highlight them.
QuEsTiON: Guide students to consider
what these details might tell them. Ask what
a reader can infer from Macduff’s comments
and Malcolm’s response to him, and accept
student responses.
Possible response: Neither Macduff nor
Malcolm have any idea about what has
transpired at Macduff’s castle; Macduff
doesn’t know that those “new sorrows” he
mentions have already happened to him. Nor
does Malcolm realize that Macbeth has in fact
“touched” Macduff by killing his “weak, poor,
innocent lambs.”
CONCLuDE: Help students to formulate
conclusions about the importance of
these details in the text. Ask students why
Shakespeare might have included these
details.
Possible response: The audience knows
that Macbeth has brought on the murder of
Macduff’s wife and children. Macduff and
Malcolm’s conversation in this scene contains
dramatic irony. The audience realizes that
Macduff will soon learn the sad truth about
his wife and children. The irony heightens the
suspense and intensifies the sadness. Also,
the irony connects to the theme of Ambition
corrupts by emphasizing the effects of Macbeth’s
corruption. Malcolm’s wariness about whether
Macduff is honest also underscores the
connection to this theme.
Review with students that dramatic irony is
a form of irony that exists when the reader or
audience knows or understands something
that a character or speaker does not. Often,
there is a discrepancy between what a
character or speaker actually says and what
the reader or audience knows to be true.CLOSER LOOK
Whole-Class Learning 323
LIT17_TE12_U03_A4_WC.indd 323 4/9/16 1:56 PM