Not only does Macduff wins back his rightfully place to his father’s throne by taking action and killing Macbeth with his bare hands, he is intelligent enough to distinguish whom can be trusted: he puts Malcolm through a test to be certain that Malcolm is trustworthy. Through the characters of Macduff, Shakespeare reveals that only those who possess leadership, intelligence, and deliver a good performance can become possess absolute
And again, behaves in a way that neither Macbeth nor Banquo would behave and shows how unselfish he is, Macduff acts in a way unmotivated by greed and power. The final idea supporting Macduff’s heroism is his willingness to abandon his own family for the love of his country, which result in his family’s death and causes him obvious pain but Macduff remains sensible and motivates himself to do what is best for his country. While some may place family above country, I see his willingness to place Scotland above all else a testament of his loyalty selflessness. It is this selflessness and motivation to do what is best for something greater than himself that really makes Macduff worthy of the hero
When the audience is first introduced to Macduff, he arrives to Macbeth’s home to deliver a message to Duncan, the current king. Prior to his arrival, Macbeth was appointed Thane of Cawdor for his success in battle (1, 106); this position opened after the former Thane of Cawdor betrayed Scotland, and he was subsequently executed for his disloyalty and corruption. This disloyalty initiates a snowball effect
Macduff and Malcolm, along with ten thousand soldiers, move to Dunsinane to attack Macbeth at his castle. While the army is fighting, Macduff slips into Macbeth’s chambers. He calls out to Macbeth, saying, “That way noise is. Tyrant, show thy face! If thou beest slain, and with no stroke of mine, My wife and children’s ghosts will haunt me still. I cannot strike at wretched kerns, whose arms Are hired to bear their staves. Enter thou, Macbeth, Or else my sword with an unbattered edge I sheathe again undeeded” (420). Macduff tells Macbeth that he is coming to kill him. He hopes to get there before anyone else finds and kills Macbeth because he needs to avenge his wife and children. Macduff then finds Macbeth and stabs and kills him. If Macbeth had not chosen to kill Macduff’s family, Macduff would not have desired to kill him to avenge their deaths. This shows that Macbeth’s decision to murder yet another group of people led to his final
Conflict of forces is reflected in the character of Macduff. Duncan’s murder is discovered by his loyal supporter Macduff. It is the intensity of his devotion to the king that brings him to the castle just at the time of the murder and makes him the first to see the dead body, "The Lord’s anointed temple" (Act II, Scene3, 67) as he calls it. Had Macduff’s loyalty been supported by corresponding strength he could have come in time to save Duncan. But as Duncan displays goodness and virtue without sufficient power to maintain his rule, Macduff’s capacity for pure loyalty is not combined with the strength required to express it. When soon afterwards he goes to England in support of Duncan’s son Malcolm, his wife and children are left to be murdered by Macbeth. His personality lacks the energy to sustain both the commitments of his loyal heart. In expressing his loyalty to the dead king he ignores his equally great commitment to protect his family.
The essence of Macbeth lies not only in the fact that it is written by the universal talent William Shakespeare; the royal-conspiracy, the political unethical activity, the killin...
Macbeth taking advantage of this solemn time to take the throne counteracts on his prior “honorable, loyal, and brave” behavior. Due to Macbeth’s ruthless and selfish actions, he has caused great a disturbance and concern for well-being of Scotland. Contrary to Macbeth’s self-absorbed attitude, MacDuff has Scotland’s best interest at heart. MacDuff proves his allegiance to his nation by begging Malcolm to fight with him against Macbeth. MacDuff wholeheartedly believes Malcolm will be a better king and this is what King Duncan would want for his country. As MacDuff becomes a threat to MacBeth’s reign, MacBeth wants to kill Macduff, “And take a bond of fate. Thou shalt not live, That I may tell pale-hearted fear it lies, And sleep in spite of thunder.” (IV.i.86-88). In order to protect his fate, MacBeth believes in killing anyone who challenges him. It becomes evident that the power hungry Macbeth has caused great sufferings and has destroyed the hierarchy in the kingdom. It becomes apparent that MacDuff is a better fit for the throne, his constant bravery, loyalty, determination surpasses the greedy and egotistical Macbeth’s ability to be king. This uncontrollable desire for power becomes Macbeth’s largest flaw, which results in his destruction of character, therefore making Macbeth a tragic
By them getting Macbeth who coincidentally at the point of the first prophecies was being rewarded by the King for his loyalty and courage in protecting the Scottish realm, they manage to manipulate and deceive him into what is “fair is foul” which gives him blood-thirsty and evil thoughts to become king, by simply telling him, the Thane of Glamis that he will become the Thane of Cawdor then he “[shall] be the king hereafter”. Also very manipulative, deceitful and ambitious herself, Lady Macbeths makes a triple threat into influencing her husband Macbeth’s amoral thoughts and actions. With Macbeth being known as a courageous man within the kingdom, Lady Macbeth thinks opposite as she believes he is “too full o' the milk of human kindness" especially when it comes to him murdering to become king and she effectively uses this against him to manipulate him when he informs her of his conflicting thoughts and leans towards not killing Duncan. An ambitious Lady Macbeth instantly questions his love for her, his manhood and asks him if he “will live a coward in thine own esteem” always saying that he can’t after saying he will, Macbeth who willingly tries to keep peace, prays for her to stop which results in Lady Macbeth finally questioning his faithfulness to her and saying that she would rather rip her nursing baby for her nipple and
In the beginning if the play, Macbeth is respected by most, including the good king Duncan and the captain who praised “the Brave Macbeth” for his role in against the “villains Rebels’’ from Ireland. But this changed when his ambitions fuelled by those around him including his manipulative wife and weird sister who turned macbeth from good to evil, which is what drives Macbeth to commit unnatural actions of destruction.
This message is extremely important to William Shakespeare’s story Macbeth because, Macduff leaves his wife and young son alone and leaves them unprotected even though Macbeth is still alive and slaughtering everyone in his sights that he wants to. By leaving his family unprotected they looked at him differently and his wife questioned his man hood, because a man would not leave his family unprotected. “Fathered he is, and yet he’s fatherless”, said by Lady Macduff. The young son asks Lady Macduff if his father is a traitor and she tells him yes “a traitor is one that swears and lies”. Leaving his family behind, Macbeth sends a murderer to Macduff’s castle to kill the young son and Lady Macduff. This is a great message to learn from because by Macduff leaving his family unprotected he doesn’t have a family
While in Hamlet and others of Shakespeare's plays we feel that Shakespeare refined upon and brooded over his thoughts, Macbeth seems as if struck out at a heat and imagined from first to last with rapidity and power, and a subtlety of workmanship which has become instructive. The theme of the drama is the gradual ruin through yielding to evil within and evil without, of a man, who, though from the first tainted by base and ambitious thoughts, yet possessed elements in his nature of possible honor and loyalty. (792)
Macduff’s suspicion of Macbeth grew as more and more people were found dead. Macduff didn’t believe that the guardsmen killed King Duncan. He even refuted the idea that Banquo was randomly killed, or that Fleance killed him. As the kingdom began to crumble under Macbeth, Macduff decided to leave Scotland. He joined the English rebellion led by Malcolm (one of Duncan’s sons) in hopes that they could reclaim their country. “Our power is ready; / Our lack is nothing but our leave” (Shakespeare 408). However, Macbeth received word that Macduff had left the country to join the rebellion. Unfortunately for Macduff, his entire family was massacred by Macbeth’s men. The agony and vengeance within Macduff intensified his preexisting longing for a new king. Not only did Macduff want a new king, but he also wanted the head of Macbeth. “Macduff is the archetype of the avenging hero, not simply out for revenge but with a good and holy purpose” (“Character Analysis: Macduff”). In their fight to the death, Macbeth and Macduff were at each other’s necks. Both men had a goal set in mind that could only be accomplished with the other being dead. Macbeth lost his sense of invincibility once Macduff revealed that he wasn’t naturally born by woman. Macbeth began to fight sloppily, and Macduff delivered a fatal blow to his neck that beheaded him. “Lay on, Macduff / And damned
As is evident in the work of most writers, Shakespeare’s writing was modified and developed over the course of his career. The most apparent change over time is his use of female characters within the tragedies. In King Lear, Goneril and Regan were created as unsympathetic female characters, essentially the antagonists of the plays. However, in Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is portrayed with many of the same characteristics of Goneril and Regan, yet is seen as a tragic character because she is later portrayed in a sympathetic light. As Goneril and Regan precede the creation of Lady Macbeth, comparing and contrasting their characteristics can then be used to identify Shakespeare’s evolution of the female roles within his plays.
Shakespeare introduces Macbeth as a brave, honorable, and loyal man, instead of portraying him as a character with inherent vices. He presents a descent of an honorable man to a ‘butcher’ to the audience, which pleads for great sympathy. Macbeth is hailed as ‘noble,’ ‘valiant’ and ‘brave’ for his display of valor in the war against Norway. Fearless Macbeth ‘unseam[s]’ the traitorous Macdonwald ‘from the nave to th' chops.’ This bloody visualization of Macbeth splitting Macdonwald from the belly to the jawbone reinforces his bravery and loyalty to the king and Scotland. Macbeth’s great military feat grants him honorable titles and displays him as a loyal subject. Thus, the initial impression of Macbeth is highly admirable to the audience. If Shakespeare had depicted Macbeth as a character with innate evil characteristics, the audience would feel no pity for him, through course of the play, as it would be expected for such man to commit such deeds. However, it is the transition of an honorable man to a wicked one that begs for sympathy.
In the beginning of the play Macbeth, Macbeth was viewed as a righteous and brave man; and had helped his cousin the king in stopping a rebellious thane. In the next scene Macbeth and Banquo meet three witches that foretell Macbeth’s future by saying “All hail Macbeth! Thane of Glamis! All hail Macbeth Thane of Cawdor! All hail Macbeth that shalt be king after!” (I, iii, 51-53) After hearing this Macbeth and Banquo do not think much about it for Macbeth was not Thane of Glamis, or king, and simply shrugged it off. Later in the play, Macbeth meets Duncan the king and he awards Macbeth with the title of the thane of Cawdor. This is what starts Macbeth’s ambition and his fall from grace. For now, Macbeth has realized that the witches’ prophecy was coming true. Expecting that he would become King; for during those times the strongest thane would be the next in line for the throne, and that the witches’ prophecy said that he would become king. Howeve,r Duncan announces that his next heir to the throne would be his son Malcolm.