Question

What do you predict about the apparitions’ last two predictions in The Tragedy of Macbeth, Act IV? Do you think the seeming impossibility of their happening means that Macbeth is safe, as he believes? Or do you think there will be a way for what seems impossible to happen? Explain your answers in a paragraph or two that speculates about what might occur later. Base your speculations on what has happened so far.

Answer 1

In my view, the apparitions' prophecy that "fair is foul and foul is fair" actually occurs in the play since almost everything that happens is unpredictable and nothing and nobody is what it seems. Besides, I do not think Macbeth is safe because the witches are not his friends - they just wish to propagate evil and produce mischievousness.

On the other hand, the witches' prediction that Macbeth will not be harmed by a man born out of a woman or until Birnam wood comes to Dunsinane give the impression to be unimaginable. However, given the fact that the witches have genuinely forecast that Macbeth will become powerful at the beginning of the play, I trust the their anticipations.