Macbeth LRJ 4

There are several purposes of the scene with Lady Macduff in Act IV. In the conversation between her and her son, the audience senses the closeness between the two and immediately like them. She gently teases him, saying things like “Thou speak'st with all thy wit; and yet, i' faith,/ With wit enough for thee.” (Shakespeare 135) and “Poor prattler, how thou talk'st!” (Shakespeare 137) They are kind, loving people, and the stark contrast between them and what Macbeth has become is apparent right away. Macbeth is becoming truly crazy, for he slaughters them for the sole reason of hurting a man he has become slightly suspicious of. The audience begins to realize there is no going back for Macbeth, for he has become too cruel and heartless to kill an innocent child and his mother.
Macbeth’s character has grown worse and worse with each passing day. Each new murder kills a part of himself. Though he sometimes seems to realize it, he does nothing to restrain himself on the belief he is unable to go back, so he might as well kill even more innocent people. His character used to be much kinder, but it is changing more and more rapidly. Others are noticing, which is why by the end of Act IV he has no friends left but his wife -- Banquo is dead and all the other lords are suspicious and frightened of him. Macduff, formerly a close friend of Macbeth, has gone to meet Malcolm in England, for he hates the new king even before he learns of his family’s murders. “Not in the legions/ Of horrid hell can come a devil more damned/ In evils to top Macbeth.” (Shakespeare 143)