Macduff

• Macduff is, essentially, a minor character. However, he is arguably, the most prominent minor character in the play. Macduff is a static character, in that his loyalty to King Duncan, and righteous heirs to the throne, is unwavering. He immediately distrusts Macbeth and refuses to attend his coronation. Ultimately, Macduff becomes a focal point for Macbeth's rage and desire to protect his throne. Macduff's family is murdered by Macbeth's assassins, after Macduff flees to England to seek help from the king. Revenge dribes Macduff to eventually kill Macbeth and instill Malcolm. the rightful heir to the throne.
• Macduff is, in every way, the opposite to the character of Macbeth and therefore they are the foil of each other. These two characters extend to the symbols of the fight between good and evil. Arguably, these characters may also have Biblical symbolism - a representation of sin being defeated and order restored.
• Defeating Macbeth is Macduff's destiny, as Macduff suspected him from the start and the Witches prophesised that a "man of woman born" would defeat Macbeth.
• Macduff has the opposite defintion of manhood to Macbeth, as he doesn't resist emotion but embraces it.
• His bravery is selfless and out of a love for his country; violence is for a justified cause (not murder) and it is only proportional to what is needed. He is confident in facing Macbeth, as he calls to him "turn hell hound, turn", demonstrating that he is not afraid to fight Macbeth, as Macduff has righteousness on his side. His true bravery exposes Macbeth's cowardice.
• Macbeth's confidence and bravery comes from hubris, due to the witches' prophecies that state only a "man of woman born" could defeat him. Thus, it is clear that Macbeth has been a coward since Act 1: he killed Duncan in his sleep, he killed Banquo with murderers. Macduff's bravery is pure and honourable and therefore succeeds in killing Macbeth in battle.
• Macduff's reaction to Duncan's death is a long hyperbolic speech, where he uses religious language to show his belief in the 'Divine Right of Kings'. This shows Macduff to be adhering to the religious, moralistic thoughts of the historical period.
• Macduff uses metaphorical language to describe Duncan's death; "most sacrilegious murder hath broke ope the lord's anointed temple". His body is referred to as a "temple" in order to reinforce the holiness of Duncan's reign. He recognises Duncan as the true, divinely ordained, king; the "Lord's temple" and thus God's earthly deputy. Kings are anointed with holy oil at their coronation to signify this. Hence the murder is not just a crime, it is an unforgivable sin against God, which is "sacrilegious" and unholy - tantamount to the murder of God himself.
• In the Jacobean era it was believed that God picked who was to be king, therefore to try and change who was king was a sign as you were going directly against God's will. This is similar to the Biblical fall of man in the Garden of Eden, as Adam disobeyed God's orders. Macduff emphasises this belief that the king is divinely ordained and is therefore loyal to him. He associated Duncan with piety and virtue as he aligned with God.
• Macduff also recognises that the murder will have greater consequences for Scotland as he states "see the great doom's image", which is a reference to judgment day. This suggests that he sees the death of the king as comparable to the end of the world - complete loyalty and devotion, or that perhaps, ending a divine bloodline's right to the throne would enrage God. The natural order has been disturbed and thus chaos will ensue, like at the end of the world.
• [1] Macduff's Key Characteristics: Sensitive

  Macduff differs from the other male characters in the play; he publically exhibits emotional behaviour, something which was considered a feminine trait at the time. Macduff's violence is not dangerous like Macbeth's as it comes from love for his country and family; it is "grief convert to anger". This is demonstrated through the very emotional reaction to the death of his family.
• [2] Macduff's Key Characteristics: Sensitive

  Macduff believes that Macbeth must have "no children" to explain how he can live with a guilty conscience of killing Macduff's children. This also means that there is no way for Macbeth to recieve retiribution, as Macduff has no way to deliver a pain equal to having his own children killed. Nothing Macduff can do will truly pay for this pain - not even killing Macbeth; losing family is a greater pain than death.
• [3] Macduff's Key Characteristics: Sensitive

  Macduff's disbelief is evidenced through Shakespeare's use of many rhetorical questions and the reptition of questions he has already asked: "all my pretty ones? "my children too?" "my wife kill'd too?". These reveal his flabbergasted state as he cannot imagine that someone could even do that. This contrasts to Macbeth, as his selfish ambition is put before all else, including emotional sensitivity and morals.
• [1] Macduff's Key Characteristics: Patriotic

  Shakespeare portrays Macduff as a man who adores Scotland and feels as though he must save it from the tyranny of Macbeth's rule. He is the one to recognise that Macbeth's reign brings chaos to Scotland and sets about creating an opposition to Macbeth.
• [2] Macduff's Key Characteristics: Patriotic

  Macduff uses the motif of personifiying Scotland, as Macbeth is causing Scotland to "bleed bleed poor country". Shakespeare uses this technique in order to symbolise how Scotland is dying because the 'Great Chain of Being' has been subverted. The 'Great Chain of Being' is a hierarchical social structure, which dictated who had authority over who.
• [3] Macduff's Key Characteristics: Patriotic

  Shakespeare evidences Macduff's care for all of Scotland through the use of parallelism as "new widows howl, new orphans cry" demonstrates that Macduff is considering the detrimental effects of Macbeth's reign, holistically. Hence he left his own wife and children to try and save the women and children of the whole country. This contrasts Macbeth, as Macduff acts for the good of others, not the good of himself. While Macbeth's allegiance is to himself and his wife, Macduff's is to Scotland.
• Act and Scene: Act 1, Scene 6

  Occurrence: Macduff is introduced to the audience.

  Significance: Macduff is introduced to the audience amongst a series of other characters, and doesn't speak in this scene. By introducing him in a scene where he has no lines, the audience does not suspect that by the end of the play, he will be a character which enacts revenge on Macbeth and a character which will hold a great deal of power.
• Act and Scene: Act 2, Scene 3

  Occurrence: Macduff discovers Duncan's death.

  Significance: Macduff's complete loyalty to Duncan and adherence to 'Divine Right of Kings' is demonstrated through a very emotional reaction to the death and Shakespeare's use of the group of three "O horror, horror, horror" revealing Macduff's distress and also his honour. Shakespeare employs repetition to emphasise the strength of this emotion. Macduff adopts the role of the judge in this play - he knows Macbeth is in the wrong. He will act on God's behalf (in the absence of Duncan) to bring justic eupon Macbeth. Judgment day for Macbeth - his actions will result in eternal damnation.
• Act and Scene: Act 4, Scene 2

  Occurrence: Macduff's family is killed by Macbeth

  Significance: This is the ultimate 'trigger' for Macduff: he has left his family in the country he loves in order to help rid his country of Macbeth - this shows the choice he has made between his family and his country, which causes the death of his loved ones. This provides Macduff with even more rationale to enact his revenge on Macbeth.
• Act and Scene: Act 4, Scene 3

  Occurrence: Malcolm suspects that Macduff may be working for Macbeth so tests him to see if he is trustwrothy. He also finds out that his family has been killed in this scene, and promises revenge on Macbeth for this.

  Significance: Malcolm's test involves talking to Macduff about why he wouldn't be fit to be the King of Scotland, and though Macduff initally disagrees politely, he eventually agrees, proving his allegiance to Scotland and as an ally to Malcolm. This shows him as both a truthful and loyal character.
• Act and Scene: Act 5, Scene 8

  Occurence: Macduff kills Macbeth

  Significance: In this scene, Shakespeare utilises the character of Macduff to restore order to the play, by ensuring that is Macduff who brings an end to the tyrannous reign of Macbeth, rather than Malcolm. Arguably, Shakespeare does this so that Malcolm's reign isn't tained by violence and he is able to maintain his own purity. Macduff has the strongest reason to kill Macbeth: revenge. Therefore, this killing from emotion is perceived as more acceptable by the audience. This reveals the ambivalence and double sense of the witches' prophecies and forces Macbeth to realise his mistake in trusting them. He was warned of Macduff all along but chose to interpret the prophecies to suit his own ambitions. It is only then that Macbeth realises the witches were "juggling fiends" and recognise the truth in a classical moment of anagnorisis.
• Act and Scene: Act 5, Scene 8

  Occurrence: Macduff kills Macbeth

  Significance: Macduff, therefore, is symbolic of a bringer of truth and he calls Macbeth what he is - "tyrant" "hellhound" "bloodier villain". He brings truth to the deception that has been Macbeth's reign, exposing him for what he is and purges Scotland of its illness: "bleed bleed poor country"; the blood that must be bled is Macbeth's.
• Both Malcolm and Macduff hold an immense amount of loyalty and patriotism toward their country, and this is crucial as it leads to Macbeth's removal from the throne. Malcolm tests Macduff's loyalty in the play, which Macduff succeeds in and hence proves to the audience is a character to be trusted.
• Ross is part of the army which eventually overthrows Macbeth, and is a Thane. He is the one who tells Macduff that Macbeth has murdered his family. He serves as a character who delivers news both to the characters and audience in the play, and Macduff is part of this deliverance.
• Act and Scene: Act 2, Scene 4

  Quote: "lest our old robes sit easier than our new"

  Idea: Here, Shakespeare reveals Macduff's bleak perception of a future Scotland under Macbeth as he uses the extended metaphor of predicting Scotland will change for the worse. He suggests there will be a chaos and a divergence from the peace of the past.
• Act and Scene: Act 4, Scene 3

  Quote: "fit to govern? No, not to live!"

  Idea; Macduff opposes Macbeth's rule. Through Shakespeare's use of rhetorical question and hypophora (a question is raised and immediately answered) emphasise Macduff's strong hatred of tyranny and complete loyalty to Scotland. He resents tyranny and this is clear through his immediate attempts to oppose Macbeth with ana rmy from England. In the scene 4.3, Malcolm tests Macduff to see if he is in fact a man of principal. It is when Malcolm changes from character flaws to the distruption of Scotland's order that Macduff rejects him. This is evident as Malcolm suggests that "I should pour the sweet milk of concord into hell"
• Act and Scene: Act 4, Scene 3

  Quote: "thy hope ends here"

  Idea: This demonstrates Macduff's pessimistic outlook - he would not be able to live in happiness if Scotland was ruled by a tyrant. Malcolm also tests Macduff and proves him not to be naive; he will not accept something that wouldn't be good for the country as he shows great emotion towards the well-being of the country.
• Act and Scene: Act 4, Scene 2

  Quote: "He is noble, wise, judicious"

  Idea: Here, Ross is defending Macduff, and the audience are provided with an inital view of Macduff as a trustworthy and calculating leader.
• Act and Scene: Act 4, Scene 2

  Quote: "Cruel are the times when we are traitor and do not know ourselves"

  Idea: Macduff is only doing hwat he thinks is best for Scotland in not being a traitor to Scotland, but he is a traitor to his family as he coould only save one. In doing this, Macduff becomes the complete foil to Macbeth, who conversely obeys his wife and is a traitor to his country.
• Act and Scene: Act 2, Scene 3

  Quote: "Most sacrilegious murder hath broke op the lord's anointed temple"

  Idea: Shakespeare uses this metaphorical language, in stating that Duncan's body was a "temple", in order to reinforce the holiness of Duncan's reign. He recognises Duncan as the true, divinely ordained, king. This demonstrates Macduff's loyalty to Scotland, in addition to his intensely patriotic nature.
• Act and Scene: Act 4, Scene 3

  Quote: "new widows howl new orphans cry"

  Idea: Macduff kills Macbeth after the murder of his wife and children, as he is fighting for his family, but also for all the women and children in Scotland, which is evidenced through the Shakespeare's use of zoomorphism. The verb "howl" cultivates a greater sense of sympathy for these orphans - like abandoned puppies.