17 Macbeth Act 4 Scene 2 Full Commentary and Analysis

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This video is a line-by-line walkthrough guide for William Shakespeare’s Macbeth: Act 4, Scene 2.

I provide a close reading of the entire scene, including:
— Detailed explication
— Commentary
— Literary analysis

All commentary is supplemented by in-text, line-by-line study notes designed to help students:
— Prepare for GCSE, A-Level, IB, and AP evaluation
— Prepare for general high school and college quizzes, exams, and essays
— Generate ideas for analysis essays
— Participate knowledgeably in class discussions
Click here to download the annotated text of Macbeth: https://sites.google.com/view/shakespeare-walkthrough/home

This video discusses :

PLOT:
— At MacDuff’s castle, Lady MacDuff and Ross discuss MacDuff’s flight to England
— Lady MacDuff says her husband is a traitor to abandon his family; Ross defends his decision
— Ross leaves
— Lady MacDuff complains to her son that his father is dead and a traitor; son wittily defends his father
— Murderers arrive and kill Lady MacDuff and son

CHARACTER:
— Lady MacDuff / son: Cynical, bitter, innocent victims of cruel historical forces / vicious tyrant
— Ross: conflicted about duties owed to family vs to society

THEME:
— Juxtaposition: physical/moral disgust of previous scene (act 4 scene 1) contrasts with tender pity of this one (act 4 scene 2)
— Self vs society: MacDuff’s conflict; duty to self/family vs duty to Scotland
— Nature vs the unnatural
— Great Chain of Being disruption leads to wasteland paranoia, denunciation, cynicism, inauthentic lives
— Appearance vs reality
— Tyrant’s willingness to burn the world; Cain’s spite