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All Site ContentMacbethAct 4Scene 3
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"Strike heaven on the face"
Imagery
Act 4,
Scene 3
Lines 2b-8a

An explanation of heaven imagery in Act 4, Scene 3 of myShakespeare’s Macbeth.

Macduff

                                                     Let us rather
Hold fast the mortal sword, and like good men
Bestride our down-fall'n birthdom. 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.

Malcolm

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[Enter a Doctor]

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Doctor

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[Exit Doctor]

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[Enter Ross]

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Ross

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[Exit]

Shakespeare’s imagery pictures heaven as a huge face looking down on the earth. Each morning the cries of sorrow from widows and orphans fly up and echo back off the clouds in the sky, as if they had slapped Heaven in the face, causing her to feel Scotland's pain and cry out in a similar grief.