In Act IV Scene III, MacDuff learns of the slaughtering of his wife and child upon the orders of Macbeth. This scene is usually portrayed with a tortured MacDuff, who is overcome by the sorrow of just losing his family, as seen in the Centre production of Macbeth, directed by Tony Haigh. However, I believe that upon further examination of the text, it is viable that MacDuff’s reaction can be unadulterated rage. Through manipulation of diction, clothing, lighting and appearance, I will provide a depiction of the scene that shows MacDuff’s reaction as one of rage; not the usual sorrow.
The exploitation of the characters clothing, Malcolm, Ross and MacDuff would help to create a dark dismal aura around the scene to begin with. In my depiction of the scene I would have Malcolm and Ross clothed in dark brown hues with slender dull armor. Their cloth articles would fit tightly to outline their athletic and strong bodies. Their armor would only include a breastplate and a tarnished silver sword. For MacDuff I would dress him in black and dark grey attire with bulky armor that reflected the light shown upon it. His clothing would be looser to give him more bulk and his armor would not be limited to a breastplate, but include armored sleeves and chainmail. MacDuff would also carry an immense sword with gold a gold handle and a gleaming silver blade. I would also have him wear black leather gloves and a black fur cape to help convey a sense of immensity and awe. By having MacDuff clothed in dark tones followed by dark hues around him, the attitude of the scene is dreary and stern before any interactions are played out.
In DramaCentre’s production of Macbeth, the lighting on the stage was radiant due to the immense brightness and the a...
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...ld play the woman with mine eyes and braggart with my tongue!” intensity would kick up, as the audience watches him screaming at Malcolm and Ross’ faces with spit flying into their eyes. The entire rest of the scene would have MacDuff bellowing his lines in and a quick speed to convey a picture of chaos and fury.
Shakespeare’s Macbeth is not only one of his memorable tragedies, but it also one of the plays most open to interpretation. As DramaCentre and countless other productions such as the one involving Judi Dench have shown, many different parts of the play can be changed to show different emotions, as the scene involving Macbeth receiving the news of Lady Macbeth’s suicide shows. But through staging, costume, accompanied with the exploitation and altering of the performance of the lines, it is still possible to convey Macbeth in a new light not yet portrayed.
His personality lacks the energy to sustain the commitments of his loyal heart. In expressing his loyalty to the dead king, he ignores his equally great commitment to protect his family. Macduff returns from the scene of Duncan’s murder, crying "O Horror, horror, horror!" (Act II, Scene 3, 63) The response of the other lords is revealing.
Madduff is a man of action rather than a man of words. There are several occasions where Macduff acts on his thoughts rather than sitting down and talking about it showing his courage, passion and bravery. Macduff left his family whom he loves dearly, and fled without words to England. "My voice is in my sword, thou bloodier villain than terms can give thee out!," Macduff yells his savage rage, and beheads Macbeth in the final wager of battle. Macduff is truly the hero in this magnificent piece by Shakespeare as he takes the head of Macbeth for Scotland.
In brief, the three scenes discussed above are illustrations of the compunction the two Macbeths are equally afflicted with after they preside over the murders of their king, a close friend, and an entire innocent family. Neither one was expecting such a strong impact on their minds, but neither could hide from their guilty consciences after the fact. Inevitably, Lady Macbeth is overcome with despair and commits suicide, not surprising given her poor, ravaged mind. Macbeth, too, seems to succumb to his inexorable destiny by Macduff’s sword, solidifying the pervasive theme that unchecked ambition must lead to an unpleasant end.
What is more, the one thing that Macbeth does that encompasses every aspect of a tragic hero is fighting Macduff and knowing he is going to lose. Macduff is a man much like Macbeth, and arguably the man Macbeth would have become had he not been tempted into such awful actions. Besides that though, Macduff is the man that Macbeth wronged the most. Macbeth killed his family, his wife and children, and that is more pain than any one person should ever have to bear. So who better to slay Macbeth than the man who really deserves the vengeance. Macbeth goes into battle with Macduff not only because it is his nature, as mentioned previously, but because Macbeth owes it to him. It is Macbeth’s way of making things right, this is Macbeth’s apology and that is tragic, heroic, and most importantly an act of a true tragic hero.
Firstly, Macbeth is respected and admired by King of Scotland, due to his great exhibit of courage and strength on the battlefield against Norwegians, which resulted him being rewarded with the titles of “Thane of Cawdor”. Macbeth, who also holds a strong moral conscious regrets his decision of murdering Duncan and Banquo, due to his mature personality. After the regicide of Duncan, Macbeth feels greatly remorse and is deeply troubled by his guilt conscience. This is shown when Macbeth says to himself “Wake Duncan with thy knocking. I would thou coudst”. This suggests that Macbeth was aware of the crimes he has committed, and he wishes he could turn this tragedy around. Macbeth also deserves respect and admiration due to his courage and bravery. Macbeth was aware of the fact the Macduff is not born from his mother’s womb, however, Macbeth refused to surrender in front of Malcom, knowing he was going to die. Macbeth’s bravery is evident in his last words, when he says “And thou opposed, / being of no woman born, yet I will try the last. Before my body/. I throw my warlike shield. Lay on, Macduff, and damn'd be him that first cries, 'Hold, enough!’.”
The death of Lady Macduff and her son, causes Macbeth’s power to spiral downwards. When Macduff finds out that Macbeth is behind the murder of his wife and son, Macduff wants to have revenge on Macbeth for his actions. To do this, Macduff decides to gather an army to fight against Macbeth. The two enemies fight against each other, with Macduff being the winner, after killing Macbeth.
In addition to the importance of her role, the facination that audiences had with her character has led to later playwrites even adding to her role. Sir William Davenant, a 17th century poet and playwrite especially, added 4 extra scenes to his operatic adaptation of ‘Macbeth’ in order to better establish her character as a foil to that of Lady Macbeth’s. This, in my opinion, is the mark of great writing- when a marginalised character in a particular writer’s work has insipired a generation of new writers to further explore the character’s potential. As far as the representation of Lady Macduff goes in Shakespeare’s original ‘Macbeth’, there is not much context from which we can draw conclusions. All we know from the scene is that Lady Macduff is a fierce woman and mother. She her love for her children comes across blatently in the scene; so does the love she has for her husband, although that is masked by fury and her feelings of betrayal. She is a woman, unafraid to speak her mind, whatsoever be the consequences. She speaks out brazenly against her husband’s disoyalty to his family exclaiming “He loves us not!” She does not lose this quality even when faced with the murderers. She is, as far as we see in this scene, a strong willed woman with a clear-cut idea of where her loyalites lie and a sharp and candid tongue. She is considered to be, in
Within the pages of the play Macbeth, one can find the five distinct literary devices of symbolism, allusion, alliteration, personification, and repetition used throughout. These three devices aid the story along and help develop the plot and characters each in a different way.
William Shakespeare, one of the greatest English play writers, has had a profound influence upon different societies globally since the fifteenth century, for his plays inspire many contemporary artists to present new scopes reflecting their societies. Considered as one of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies, Macbeth has a completely disparate interpretation of the movie Scotland, PA, which translates the original play into a black comedy. A Scottish royal and general, Macbeth the protagonist undergoes a demonic transformation in personality, in which he unethically takes the crown by murdering numerous characters. The director of the movie alters the plot while maintaining the basic semblance of power, ambition, and masculinity from Shakespeare’s work. In the movie, the alteration of the process Macbeth usurps the power of Duncan, including his internal and external incentives, gives the audience a fresh perspective on one of the English classical plays.
... Macduff, was able to figure out that Macbeth was behind the murders. He went to England to get help from King Edward to overthrow Macbeth. When he gets back to Scotland he confronts Macbeth and then kills him. The truth of his acts caught up with him and he got what he deserved. This play is a prime example of why people need to think about the reality of their actions and think about how it will affect them in the future.
The most important emotions that we see in Macbeth are ambition, remorse, and fear. They are significant because they provoke Macbeth to do evil and cruel things. Ambition takes control of him earlier in the play when the witches tell him he is going to be king. After he already has done the deed, killed Duncan, he is remorseful for his actions. Out of fear for himself, Macbeth murdered Macduff’s family and killed Banquo.
One such character in “Macbeth” is Macduff, the Thane of Fife. Within the play, Macduff is the foil ; a character that exemplifies the contrasting characteristics of another character, who is Macbeth in this play. In stark contrast to Macbeth, Macduff resolves to restore peace and order in Scotland, which Macbeth has disrupted. After King Duncan's unfortunate demise and the coincidental murder of Scotland's Commander and Macbeth's dear friend, Banquo, Macduff suspects that Macbeth is not the “innocent flower”(1.5.56-57) he pretends to be. Macduff finds himself on the course to England, where Malcolm, the rightful heir to the throne, has found refuge. He wishes that Malcolm would reclaim the throne as the legitimate heir, which shows his allegiance to the royal family. Instead of grasping the throne for himself, he decides to endanger his family to restore the lawful king. When he was informed of the assassination of his kin, he was able to express his grief, like a true man. In this line Macduff mourns for the loss of his family, “...All my pretty ones/ Did you say "all"? O hell-kite! All? / What, all my pretty chickens and their dam/ At one fell swoop?”(4.3.255-258). Here, Macduff's immense capacity to sacrifice for the common good of his people is shown. Consequently, the following lines display his course of actions at the
William Shakespeare’s masterpiece, Macbeth, is a tragedy brilliantly brought to the 21st Century by Rupert Goold. Although Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a play set in 16th Century Scotland, Rupert Goold modernizes the play by changing the setting to a Soviet-styled country and implementing modern elements into the characters and theme. Although Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Rupert Goold’s film adaptation share many ideologies and a general storyline, a difference exists in the setting, the characters, and the overall ambience of the story.
“Showed like a rebel’s whore. But all’s to weak,/ For brave Macbeth-well he deserves that name-/ Disdaining fortune, with his brandished steel,/ Which smoked with bloody execution,/[...]/ Till he faced the slave;/ Which ne’er shook hands, nor bade farewell to him,/Till he unseamed him from the nave to th’ chops,/ And fixed his head upon our battlements.” (1.2.18-25). In this quotation it reveals that Macdonwald was a traitor and he was winning the battle until his luck ran out and Macbeth came and killed Macdonwald without him saying his last words, he was “smoked with a bloody execution”(1.2.20). A lot of blood was shed that day however Macbeth came out of that battle victorious because he killed the traitor. Another victory was in Act 5, scene 8 when Macduff killed Macbeth. Macduff with Macbeth’s blood on his hands was seen as a hero , for killing this mad man “...Behold where stands/ The usurpers cursed head”(5.9.25-26).Macbeth’s hopes of being victorious was diminished when he learned that Macduff wasn’t born of a woman.Macduff ended up being victorious.
William Shakespeare’s usage of stage techniques and language effects in Macbeth are extraordinarily used in creating gradual tension from the moment King Duncan is killed by Macbeth, followed by a short relaxation period and then increasing it again until the climax point of the act of regicide. The reader and the audience are kept in suspense right from the beginning of the play until the final scene.