Loyalty/Malcolm

Question 1

“I think our country sinks beneath the yoke; / It weeps, it bleeds, and each new day a gash / Is added to her wounds,”

Answer 1

Shakespeare portrays Malcolm as the ​epitome of a pure, honest, and dedicated king​. Like Macduff, he worries for Scotland’s future, saying, ​“I think our country sinks beneath the yoke; / It weeps, it bleeds, and each new day a gash / Is added to her wounds,” (4.3).​ The ​personification ​of Scotland again ​emphasises ​its ​importance ​to Malcolm, treating it as a ​loved one​ or vulnerable person, and reflects how a country can suffer in the same way a person can.