Macduff Flashcards
Macduff
TS1 – Macduff is presented as morally good foil to Macbeth.
TS2 – He is introduced by the witches as a threat to Macbeth, and Macduff’s family pays the price when he flees to England.
TS3 – Macduff is presented as a patriot when his loyalty is tested by Malcolm.
TS4 –In the final act, Macduff is revealed as Macbeth nemesis and the natural order is restored.
[ Macduff ]
‘sacrilegious murder hath broke open the Lord’s anointed temple’
C - Divine right of king
Jacobeans believed in the divine right of king, therefore murdering the king was an act against God. (the Gunpowder plot)
L - Metaphor
Duncan’s stabbed body is compared to a temple that has been broken into. Macduff’s use of religious semantic field established his moral goodness.
[ First Apparition ]
‘beware Macduff’
R - The apparition’s warning is an effective dramatic device as the audience wonders why Macbeth should fear Macduff and how he might threaten Macbeth’s position on the throne.
[ Macbeth ]
‘give to the edge of the sword his wife, his babes’
R - Audience despises Macbeth for his cruelty in killing innocent children.
L - Emotive language
When Macbeth learns Macduff has fled to England and he takes revenge by murdering his family.
[ Macduff ]
‘sinful Macduff, they were all struck for thee’
R - The audience may feel sympathy but also feel leaving his family was a serious error of judgement. He should have protected them.
L - Adjective
It suggests his guilt that his innocent family were murdered for his action. Sibilance shows his self-hatred.
D - Macduff is not a flawless character.
[ Macduff ]
‘fit to govern? No, not to live. O nation miserable…’
L - Rhetorical question
Malcolm tests Macduff by pretending to have a sinful character. Macduff’s rhetorical question shows he refuses to support a sinful king because this will just continue Scotland’s suffering. Malcolm is then satisfied that Macduff is loyal and patriotic.
[ Macduff ]
‘Macduff was from his mother’s womb untimely ripped’
C - The natural order is restored and God’s chosen king, Malcolm, takes the throne of Scotland.
R - When Macduff faces Macbeth in the final scene, he reveals to Macbeth and the audience that he was born by caesarean section. This is cathartic for the audience as they know Macbeth has become so evil he must die, and Macduff kills him, avenging his family’s murders.
