Macbeth Act 2 Scene 4 Summary

In this scene we have characters Ross, Macduff, and Old Man. The scene starts out with Old Man saying he can remember the past events pretty well in his old age, but nothing has been as bad as Duncan’s murder. Old Man and Ross talk about how unnatural things have been since the death of Duncan, like the sky is darker and Duncan’s horses are breaking out of their stalls and eating each other. This is an example of Pathetic fallacy, where the environment basically mimics the events that have happened. So after Duncan’s death, the mood is low and it is a terrible thing to happen, so the sky turning darker and horses going mad is a result of that. Shakespeare mainly used it in Macbeth to display God’s reaction to events that occur, such as anger towards evil deeds. Macduff then enters, talking to Old Man and Ross, saying while the servants killed Duncan – it is strange that his sons have fled and this leaves them as prime suspects. Ross then talks about how Macbeth is now king, taking Duncans place, which was Macbeth intention the whole time. Macbeth has gone to Scone to be crowned, and Ross then leaves to go to Scone to see him while Macduff goes to Fife. The scene ends.