malcolm- quote explanations

• "why do we hold our tongues?"

  • ignores his grief and acts first
  • as heir to the throne he knows he is in grave danger
  • decide to flee as they can no longer trust anyone in Macbeths castle
  • pragmatic in fleeing to the safety of the English court
• "offer up a weak, poor, innocent lamb to appease an angry god"

  • Malcolm suspects macduff may be working for Macbeth
  • compares himself to a lamb- symbolises innocence
  • perhaps as he is still a young, inexperienced leader
  • reminds audience of the phrase 'lamb to the slaughter' conveying Malcolms fears that he will be offered up to Macbeth as the sacrificial lamb
• "my first false speaking was this upon myself"

  • constructs a more trustworthy image of himself
  • implies these are the first lies he has ever told
  • he places little value on materialistic things and is a virtuous man
  • tries to placate macduff by calling him a 'child of integrity' - metaphor implies that he is a part of a new generation that will defeat Macbeth
• "give sorrow words"

  • Malcolm implies there is a conventional way of expressing sorrow as a man and one in which macduff is expected to conform
  • macduff shows Malcolm that manhood comprises of more than just aggression- manhood allows oneself to be sensitive and feel grief too
  • Malcolm must learn the layers of manhood if he is to become a judicious, honest and compassionate king
• "be this the whetstone of your sword"

  • a whetstone was used to sharpen a sword
  • in this metaphor, Malcolm instructs Macduffs anger to sharpen his readiness for battle against macbeth
  • now ready to avenge his family's death and stop others facing the same fate
  • he claims Macbeth is "ripe for shaking"- this autumnal image suggests that Macbeth is ready to fall from the throne and autumn is the season of change- something macduff and Malcolm want to bring about in removing Macbeth from power
• "hes worth more sorrow and that ill spend for him"

  • referring to young siward
  • become more compassionate
  • realises that there's now time for grief now that Macbeth is dead
• "by the grace of Grace"

  • things are back to how they should be
  • the divine right of kings has been restored
  • the king is guided by god and not evil
  • the use of rhyming couplets at the end of the play give an ordered and logical ending which repairs the inverted chaos the witches created in the beginning