MACBETH page 6
Act IV
Macbeth has acquired some self-knowledge and realises that both his own nature and practicalities in his cicumstances mean that he must continue in evil. The original prophecies have come true but are insufficient to satisfy his need for a sense of security; in this he fails to see that the position of an evil man can never be stable. Obtaining the throne is not enough for him: he must kill anyone whose existence threatens him. This meeting with the witches is the result of these feelings and is initiated by Macbeth. They call upon their familiars, supernatural attendants, who announce the right moment for the encounter. A mysterious and dark atmosphere is created by the listing of the gruesome contents of the cauldron and, although the rhythm is tetrameters, it is controlled and magical. These agents of evil deal with the unnatural things of earth and unchristian elements. The chorus operates as a unifying chant as they add bits of animal bodies and, to Christians, unholy people. The lines of Hecate are clearly spurious and nearly destroy the atmosphere so far evoked.
Macbeth is now felt even by them to be "wicked" and, when he enters, he accosts them in an aggressive manner, perhaps recalling and copying how bluntly Banquo addressed them in the first meeting when he, himself, was more hesitant. The "secret [mysterious], black [practising black arts] and midnight hags" reply in cloaked and oracular fashion: "A deed without a name". Macbeth's next speech reveals utter recklessness and lack of consideration for the future of his kingdom. He is aware that the witches may use black magic and an alliance with the Devil to find answers but does not care: "Howe'er you come to know it". Anaphora in the repetition of "Though" at the start of many of the lines emphasises the obsessional nature of his mood as he states that they may, if necessary, use winds to destroy churches, symbolic of religion and order, allow frothy waves to sink ships, permit crops to be ruined, and trees blown down along with castles, palaces and pyramids and even authorise the seeds of matter and life, ("germens"), to be obliterated until the very forces of destruction are sickened through excess. The lexis suggests unnatural confusion and annihilation and we recall that it is a king who is suggesting this for his own selfish and personal satisfaction of mind.
A further opportunity for instances of the supernatural and unnatural occurs when he agrees to hear the oracles from their "masters" and more grisly ingredients are added: the blood of a sow which has eaten her nine piglets and the sweat of a hanged murderer. This and the rest of the encounter reveal the differences in Macbeth and his behaviour since the first meeting: now he calls upon the spirits and addresses them; he concentrates on possible dangers and he is remorseless, aggressive and heedless. The first apparition is the head of Macbeth when dead and it utters a warning to beware of Macduff which should, in its clarity, colour the next two cryptic utterances. Macbeth is drawn in because the words have "harp'd" [guessed] his fear correctly but he fails to retain this in his mind. The first witch tells him outright that the next apparition is more powerful and it is the infant Macduff in the image of a bloodstained child. This creation advises Macbeth that he will not be harmed by any man born of woman but he does not analyse these shifty words in their context of the "bloody child." Despite his instant conviction that Macduff cannot hurt him he once more decides make an agreement with Fate and kill Macduff to be "double sure" and obtain peaceful sleep despite troubles. Sleep is only permitted to those with an innocent conscience but Macbeth always thinks that one more wicked act will give him security: he has become afraid of fear itself and so intervenes to influence Fate.
The final apparition is the young Malcolm, crowned and holding a tree. Its prophecy sounds reassuring but Macbeth should realise he is dealing with the powers of darkness and not trust it. It offers the boldness and absence of fear that he craves as it advises him to ignore those who annoy him and be convinced that he is safe until Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane castle, a distance of twelve miles. The second and third prophecies seem to offer safety but should be seen in the light of the first; they are contradictory to it and he does not turn this over mentally but hears what he hoped to hear, that he cannot be defeated. The last one seems to deal with the impossible but he is listening to equivocators and liars. He feels certain that he will live out his normal span, employing the legal imagery of a lease and we note also that he uses rhyme as though he has truly fallen under the influence of the prophecies. His main obsession now surfaces as he cannot resist asking if one of the orginal predictions will come true and Banquo's offspring become rulers. Although they warn him not to proceed, he risks cursing them to know the answer. A procession of eight kings appears and the last holds a mirror looking ahead. Banquo was thought to be the ancestor of the Stuart kings and these are his offspring. His worst fear is confirmed.
Macbeth's speech in response shows that his ambitions have spread from his own life in the present to the line of succession in the future. He looks at each apparition in turn, finding that they resemble Banquo and his reaction is painfully physical in intensity: "Thy crown does sear mine eye-balls". His attitude to the witches is aggressive and, in calling them "filthy hags", he reveals that he is hostile to Fate and its agents when they do not favour him; he repudiates this unwelcome fortune by saying: "I'll see no more." In the mirror are reflected a whole line of kings and some carry two orbs for the rule over England and Scotland and some three sceptres (which could be England, Scotland and Ireland or two for England and one for Scotland.) This is worse than he had imagined and he sees Banquo with hair matted into knots by blood smiling at him in triumphant confirmation. The next speech by the first witch is clearly spurious and unconvincing. Macbeth is left wishing he could accept the favourable aspects of Fate and reject the rest. In the thematic debate between Fate and free will we see that Macbeth's character is his fate and that he seems to have no choice but obey its edicts.
This time no-one else has seen the witches and Macbeth curses them and all who believe in them, which must include himself, a strange reaction. The news that Macduff has fled to England and has escaped shows that the first of these recent three prophecies could come true and Macbeth recognises this, saying that time has forestalled him and that, unless the plan and the deed are simultaneous, the deed never catches up with the plan. This relates to the theme of the gap between thought and action, often caused by conscience. Macbeth now resolves to cut this out and make the "firstlings" [first ideas] of his heart be the first actions of his hand: he will leave no room for hesitation or virtuous doubts. In his rage and frustration, he determines instantly to kill the entirely innocent Lady Macduff and her children: his evil is limitless and without reason, even though he uses the word "purpose". He blames himself for having paused in the past and his one motive now is to appear bold and sudden. The murder of Macduff's family will bring him no profit except revenge and the audience is prepared for the next terrible scene and its dramatic irony as Lady Macduff is anxious but only we know for certain that there will be an attack.
Lady Macduff has a small but vital role as she shows herself to be a strong character as wife and mother. The scene has great poignancy and is the moment at which we have no sympathy for Macbeth, a dramatic crux as Shakespeare must regain some of that bond with him before the end. Lady Macduff is angry that her husband has left them without protection and accuses him of cowardice. He has been torn between the personal and private desire to stay with his family and the public need to mount an opposition to Macbeth. She will not accept that there was any wisdom in his action and accuses him of unnatural feelings and behaviour, a powerful condemnation and one backed up by the image of the wren (another use of the leitmotif of birds), the smallest of birds but one which will fight a much stronger owl to protect its young. She refuses to believe that there is love or wisdom in him, merely fear and irrationality. The rule of Macbeth is so evil that it makes good men behave in an unnatural fashion to regain law and order as Rosse goes on to explain.
He calls Macduff "noble, wise, judicious" and knowledgeable about the "fits o'th'season", the troubles of the times which necessitate unwanted actions and make it impossible for men to be loyal. Macbeth's cruelty in power has brought this about and we recall that Shakepeare has altered history as the real Macbeth ruled well for ten years. He speaks of rumour and fear without a definite cause, using imagery of a wild sea to indicate how desperate times are but also to suggest that the tide may be turning against the tyrant. Anacoluthon after the word "move", breaking the structure of his sentence, indicates his anxiety and haste but, when he says: "Things at the worst will cease, or else climb upward/To what they were before", there is heavy dramatic irony as we know they are about to become much worse in a truly horrific fashion. The little boy is listening and the thought of him in danger without a father present nearly makes Rosse weep, so moved is he by their plight.
The young Macduff is a cameo portrait of a precocious and quick-witted child whose unnaturally adult nature makes it seem as though he is already influenced by the evil condition of the country. It can be played with his mother attending to him as in bathing him which makes the scene more poignantly domestic in contrast to the brutal affairs of state which soon intrude. Lady Macduff taunts him by telling him that his father is dead (meaning dead to her in his abandoning them) but he is unmoved and says he will manage as birds do. When she calls him "poor" he picks up the word and points out, cynically though wrongly, that poor people are not in danger from traps: this also shows that the country is full of hazards for everyone. He is perky and answers all her jibes with wit, claiming that women are faithless. and will readily exchange one husband for another. She points out that he has sufficient wit to answer her with humour and enough intelligence for his age. She calls his father a traitor, but it is not clear if she means to them or to Macbeth; the boy points out by an extended question and answer session that the villains in the country are so numerous that they could become the most powerful and hang the honest men. He is logical, lively and shrewd and claims that she would be weeping if his father were dead and that, if she does not weep for his death, she must have a new suitor in mind. She is preoccupied and feels their vulnerability.
The messenger rushes in to warn them of impending danger: he knows their rank although he is not known to them. He apologetically feels himself to be "savage" in frightening them with his news but shows that there are still good and altruistic people willing to risk themselves to save others. She has nowhere to escape to and tries to trust in the conviction that no-one would harm the innocent, a sense that she and we know to be unfounded. The present state is one where good and evil are reversed, as they were with the witches, and "to do harm/Is often laudable" and to do good frequently "dangerous folly." She and her son show great courage in her replies to the murderers but they are victims of the times and are killed, though Lady Macduff meets her fate off stage, leaving some horror and surprise to our imagination.
The short scene has many functions: pathos in a domestic setting which shows how normal family life might be; the effects of Macbeth's spreading evil influence and the horrific acts he is now prepared to authorise; the contrast provided by the appearance of a women and child in a drama dominated by political dealings; a certain black humour, though related to the wider background; the point of the play at which we can have least sympathy for Macbeth and out of which Shakepeare must rescue some tragic emotions. It is brief but truly memorable.
The next scene between Malcolm and Macduff is based on the historical chronicles of Holinshed and takes place at the court of Edward the Confessor in England. It has a choric function in showing how Macbeth's tyrannical reign has caused deaths and suspicion everywhere but it is hard for a director or actors to give it dramatic interest as it is wordy and somewhat sluggish. Malcolm, heir to the throne is testing Macduff, whose attempt against Macbeth has failed and who has, seemingly inexplicably, left his home unprotected. Malcolm needs to know if he is a true patriot. There is strong dramatic irony when he says that Macbeth has not yet injured Macduff and when Macduff comments that there are new widows and orphans every morning but the dialogue is rather tedious until the entry of Rosse. Having bewailed the state of Scotland, Macduff is subject to a trial as Malcolm fears he may have intentions to offer him up to the King for payment. He comes near to offending his ally but turns the scene into a more difficult test when he accuses himself of several dark vices until Macduff is horrified. We learn that there is a gathering army to save the country, personified as one of Macbeth's victims. Malcolm states that he is not fit to rule, having more evil that Macbeth in being more bloody, lustful, greedy, lying, deceitful, violent and criminal generally (lines 57-60) but Macduff, unwilling to believe, excuses these flaws until Malcolm claims that he has no kingly virtues at all. This list (lines 91-94) serve, as does a chorus, to recall the ideal of monarchy against which to measure Macbeth. Finally, Macduff erupts and turns against him, thus proving his patriotism and loyalty, at which point Malcolm clears his name by stating his own virtues. We see that Macbeth has used many tricks to test his followers and that, in an ironic reversal, Malcolm has had to put on an evil appearance to do good. Macduff takes a while to be reconciled and a further choric speech from the doctor contrasts another good king healing folk with the scrofula. Whereas Edward cures his country, Macbeth's is spoken of as sick and wonded by his actions. The supernatural lies behind both as Edward's powers are miraculous and all Macbeth's evil started from the original secret prophecies.
Rosse knows he has distressing personal news to deliver to Macduff but delays this onerous task as long as possible, thus creating suspense for the audience. He is also given a choric speech in which he laments the state of Scotland, where only the ignorant smile and where heart-rending noises of misery can be heard but hardly noticed since they are so frequent. "Violent sorrow" has become a "modern ecstasy" [a commonplace emotion], deaths occur regularly and good men meet untimely ends. He shows here the unselfish partriotism of the ordinary man and Macduff finds his account "Too nice [detailed] and yet too true"; the dramatic irony here is powerful as we know there is more information to come. When Rosse hints that news even an hour old is derided as out of date, Macduff becomes suspicious that he is hiding something concerning himself but Rosse avoids answering by saying that his wife and the young Macduffs are "well" in the sense that the dead are better off in such a terrible land. He equivocates by claiming that they were at peace when he left them but we know that the truth must emerge soon. Rosse is wary of having to reveal the truth but also wants to enlist their help before involving their personal griefs so that they join the rebellion for more objective reasons. Having received this assurance he breaks the news of the slaughter of the Macduffs claiming that his words are too fearful to be heard.
Rosse firstly tries to give the tidings as gently as possible but finally tells what has happened swiftly and plainly: the deaths of Lady Macduff and harmless servants are not entirely a surprise to the audience and the bitter pun on "deer" makes the information more savage. Macduff is overcome and hides his face but Malcolm encourages him to voice his feelings for relief and to use them to spur him to further revenge. Macduff's response: "He has no children" is a crux with two main explanations. He could mean that Malcolm has no children and so can be comparatively unfeeling or he might refer to Macbeth, which causes difficulty as Lady Macbeth claims to have breastfed a child and Macbeth is deeply anxious about the inheritance of the throne. If he means Macbeth he could imply that he cannot take full revenge on a childless man by repeating his actions or that even Macbeth would not have been so cruel had he his own children. Bird imagery recalls the scene of the slaughter and its mention of the wren.
Malcolm somewhat callously tries to persuade Macduff to immediate action as a man and soldier (another theme of the play being the definition of manliness) but Macduff claims his need to feel his personal distress first as a man should and can only recall the precious nature of what he once had. He feels Heaven has abandoned him and blames himself for their fate, "naught" being a strong word meaning "wicked." He reminds us that Macbeth's evil has spread to harm the entirely innocent if they seem next in line. Now Macduff moves from potential tears to action and vows personal revenge on "this fiend of Scotland" in mortal combat. We have a sense of the play progressing to a final resolution and recall the prophecy concerning the danger of Macduff to Macbeth, one hard to reconcile with the apparent promise that no man born of woman can harm him. Good is uniting and "Macbeth/Is ripe for shaking." Imagery of day and night in a somewhat proverbial maxim adds to the feeling that good will triumph but, as in all tragedy, at its own expense, which in this case has been poignant and heart-rending.
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Act IV
Macbeth has acquired some self-knowledge and realises that both his own nature and practicalities in his cicumstances mean that he must continue in evil. The original prophecies have come true but are insufficient to satisfy his need for a sense of security; in this he fails to see that the position of an evil man can never be stable. Obtaining the throne is not enough for him: he must kill anyone whose existence threatens him. This meeting with the witches is the result of these feelings and is initiated by Macbeth. They call upon their familiars, supernatural attendants, who announce the right moment for the encounter. A mysterious and dark atmosphere is created by the listing of the gruesome contents of the cauldron and, although the rhythm is tetrameters, it is controlled and magical. These agents of evil deal with the unnatural things of earth and unchristian elements. The chorus operates as a unifying chant as they add bits of animal bodies and, to Christians, unholy people. The lines of Hecate are clearly spurious and nearly destroy the atmosphere so far evoked.
Macbeth is now felt even by them to be "wicked" and, when he enters, he accosts them in an aggressive manner, perhaps recalling and copying how bluntly Banquo addressed them in the first meeting when he, himself, was more hesitant. The "secret [mysterious], black [practising black arts] and midnight hags" reply in cloaked and oracular fashion: "A deed without a name". Macbeth's next speech reveals utter recklessness and lack of consideration for the future of his kingdom. He is aware that the witches may use black magic and an alliance with the Devil to find answers but does not care: "Howe'er you come to know it". Anaphora in the repetition of "Though" at the start of many of the lines emphasises the obsessional nature of his mood as he states that they may, if necessary, use winds to destroy churches, symbolic of religion and order, allow frothy waves to sink ships, permit crops to be ruined, and trees blown down along with castles, palaces and pyramids and even authorise the seeds of matter and life, ("germens"), to be obliterated until the very forces of destruction are sickened through excess. The lexis suggests unnatural confusion and annihilation and we recall that it is a king who is suggesting this for his own selfish and personal satisfaction of mind.
A further opportunity for instances of the supernatural and unnatural occurs when he agrees to hear the oracles from their "masters" and more grisly ingredients are added: the blood of a sow which has eaten her nine piglets and the sweat of a hanged murderer. This and the rest of the encounter reveal the differences in Macbeth and his behaviour since the first meeting: now he calls upon the spirits and addresses them; he concentrates on possible dangers and he is remorseless, aggressive and heedless. The first apparition is the head of Macbeth when dead and it utters a warning to beware of Macduff which should, in its clarity, colour the next two cryptic utterances. Macbeth is drawn in because the words have "harp'd" [guessed] his fear correctly but he fails to retain this in his mind. The first witch tells him outright that the next apparition is more powerful and it is the infant Macduff in the image of a bloodstained child. This creation advises Macbeth that he will not be harmed by any man born of woman but he does not analyse these shifty words in their context of the "bloody child." Despite his instant conviction that Macduff cannot hurt him he once more decides make an agreement with Fate and kill Macduff to be "double sure" and obtain peaceful sleep despite troubles. Sleep is only permitted to those with an innocent conscience but Macbeth always thinks that one more wicked act will give him security: he has become afraid of fear itself and so intervenes to influence Fate.
The final apparition is the young Malcolm, crowned and holding a tree. Its prophecy sounds reassuring but Macbeth should realise he is dealing with the powers of darkness and not trust it. It offers the boldness and absence of fear that he craves as it advises him to ignore those who annoy him and be convinced that he is safe until Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane castle, a distance of twelve miles. The second and third prophecies seem to offer safety but should be seen in the light of the first; they are contradictory to it and he does not turn this over mentally but hears what he hoped to hear, that he cannot be defeated. The last one seems to deal with the impossible but he is listening to equivocators and liars. He feels certain that he will live out his normal span, employing the legal imagery of a lease and we note also that he uses rhyme as though he has truly fallen under the influence of the prophecies. His main obsession now surfaces as he cannot resist asking if one of the orginal predictions will come true and Banquo's offspring become rulers. Although they warn him not to proceed, he risks cursing them to know the answer. A procession of eight kings appears and the last holds a mirror looking ahead. Banquo was thought to be the ancestor of the Stuart kings and these are his offspring. His worst fear is confirmed.
Macbeth's speech in response shows that his ambitions have spread from his own life in the present to the line of succession in the future. He looks at each apparition in turn, finding that they resemble Banquo and his reaction is painfully physical in intensity: "Thy crown does sear mine eye-balls". His attitude to the witches is aggressive and, in calling them "filthy hags", he reveals that he is hostile to Fate and its agents when they do not favour him; he repudiates this unwelcome fortune by saying: "I'll see no more." In the mirror are reflected a whole line of kings and some carry two orbs for the rule over England and Scotland and some three sceptres (which could be England, Scotland and Ireland or two for England and one for Scotland.) This is worse than he had imagined and he sees Banquo with hair matted into knots by blood smiling at him in triumphant confirmation. The next speech by the first witch is clearly spurious and unconvincing. Macbeth is left wishing he could accept the favourable aspects of Fate and reject the rest. In the thematic debate between Fate and free will we see that Macbeth's character is his fate and that he seems to have no choice but obey its edicts.
This time no-one else has seen the witches and Macbeth curses them and all who believe in them, which must include himself, a strange reaction. The news that Macduff has fled to England and has escaped shows that the first of these recent three prophecies could come true and Macbeth recognises this, saying that time has forestalled him and that, unless the plan and the deed are simultaneous, the deed never catches up with the plan. This relates to the theme of the gap between thought and action, often caused by conscience. Macbeth now resolves to cut this out and make the "firstlings" [first ideas] of his heart be the first actions of his hand: he will leave no room for hesitation or virtuous doubts. In his rage and frustration, he determines instantly to kill the entirely innocent Lady Macduff and her children: his evil is limitless and without reason, even though he uses the word "purpose". He blames himself for having paused in the past and his one motive now is to appear bold and sudden. The murder of Macduff's family will bring him no profit except revenge and the audience is prepared for the next terrible scene and its dramatic irony as Lady Macduff is anxious but only we know for certain that there will be an attack.
Lady Macduff has a small but vital role as she shows herself to be a strong character as wife and mother. The scene has great poignancy and is the moment at which we have no sympathy for Macbeth, a dramatic crux as Shakespeare must regain some of that bond with him before the end. Lady Macduff is angry that her husband has left them without protection and accuses him of cowardice. He has been torn between the personal and private desire to stay with his family and the public need to mount an opposition to Macbeth. She will not accept that there was any wisdom in his action and accuses him of unnatural feelings and behaviour, a powerful condemnation and one backed up by the image of the wren (another use of the leitmotif of birds), the smallest of birds but one which will fight a much stronger owl to protect its young. She refuses to believe that there is love or wisdom in him, merely fear and irrationality. The rule of Macbeth is so evil that it makes good men behave in an unnatural fashion to regain law and order as Rosse goes on to explain.
He calls Macduff "noble, wise, judicious" and knowledgeable about the "fits o'th'season", the troubles of the times which necessitate unwanted actions and make it impossible for men to be loyal. Macbeth's cruelty in power has brought this about and we recall that Shakepeare has altered history as the real Macbeth ruled well for ten years. He speaks of rumour and fear without a definite cause, using imagery of a wild sea to indicate how desperate times are but also to suggest that the tide may be turning against the tyrant. Anacoluthon after the word "move", breaking the structure of his sentence, indicates his anxiety and haste but, when he says: "Things at the worst will cease, or else climb upward/To what they were before", there is heavy dramatic irony as we know they are about to become much worse in a truly horrific fashion. The little boy is listening and the thought of him in danger without a father present nearly makes Rosse weep, so moved is he by their plight.
The young Macduff is a cameo portrait of a precocious and quick-witted child whose unnaturally adult nature makes it seem as though he is already influenced by the evil condition of the country. It can be played with his mother attending to him as in bathing him which makes the scene more poignantly domestic in contrast to the brutal affairs of state which soon intrude. Lady Macduff taunts him by telling him that his father is dead (meaning dead to her in his abandoning them) but he is unmoved and says he will manage as birds do. When she calls him "poor" he picks up the word and points out, cynically though wrongly, that poor people are not in danger from traps: this also shows that the country is full of hazards for everyone. He is perky and answers all her jibes with wit, claiming that women are faithless. and will readily exchange one husband for another. She points out that he has sufficient wit to answer her with humour and enough intelligence for his age. She calls his father a traitor, but it is not clear if she means to them or to Macbeth; the boy points out by an extended question and answer session that the villains in the country are so numerous that they could become the most powerful and hang the honest men. He is logical, lively and shrewd and claims that she would be weeping if his father were dead and that, if she does not weep for his death, she must have a new suitor in mind. She is preoccupied and feels their vulnerability.
The messenger rushes in to warn them of impending danger: he knows their rank although he is not known to them. He apologetically feels himself to be "savage" in frightening them with his news but shows that there are still good and altruistic people willing to risk themselves to save others. She has nowhere to escape to and tries to trust in the conviction that no-one would harm the innocent, a sense that she and we know to be unfounded. The present state is one where good and evil are reversed, as they were with the witches, and "to do harm/Is often laudable" and to do good frequently "dangerous folly." She and her son show great courage in her replies to the murderers but they are victims of the times and are killed, though Lady Macduff meets her fate off stage, leaving some horror and surprise to our imagination.
The short scene has many functions: pathos in a domestic setting which shows how normal family life might be; the effects of Macbeth's spreading evil influence and the horrific acts he is now prepared to authorise; the contrast provided by the appearance of a women and child in a drama dominated by political dealings; a certain black humour, though related to the wider background; the point of the play at which we can have least sympathy for Macbeth and out of which Shakepeare must rescue some tragic emotions. It is brief but truly memorable.
The next scene between Malcolm and Macduff is based on the historical chronicles of Holinshed and takes place at the court of Edward the Confessor in England. It has a choric function in showing how Macbeth's tyrannical reign has caused deaths and suspicion everywhere but it is hard for a director or actors to give it dramatic interest as it is wordy and somewhat sluggish. Malcolm, heir to the throne is testing Macduff, whose attempt against Macbeth has failed and who has, seemingly inexplicably, left his home unprotected. Malcolm needs to know if he is a true patriot. There is strong dramatic irony when he says that Macbeth has not yet injured Macduff and when Macduff comments that there are new widows and orphans every morning but the dialogue is rather tedious until the entry of Rosse. Having bewailed the state of Scotland, Macduff is subject to a trial as Malcolm fears he may have intentions to offer him up to the King for payment. He comes near to offending his ally but turns the scene into a more difficult test when he accuses himself of several dark vices until Macduff is horrified. We learn that there is a gathering army to save the country, personified as one of Macbeth's victims. Malcolm states that he is not fit to rule, having more evil that Macbeth in being more bloody, lustful, greedy, lying, deceitful, violent and criminal generally (lines 57-60) but Macduff, unwilling to believe, excuses these flaws until Malcolm claims that he has no kingly virtues at all. This list (lines 91-94) serve, as does a chorus, to recall the ideal of monarchy against which to measure Macbeth. Finally, Macduff erupts and turns against him, thus proving his patriotism and loyalty, at which point Malcolm clears his name by stating his own virtues. We see that Macbeth has used many tricks to test his followers and that, in an ironic reversal, Malcolm has had to put on an evil appearance to do good. Macduff takes a while to be reconciled and a further choric speech from the doctor contrasts another good king healing folk with the scrofula. Whereas Edward cures his country, Macbeth's is spoken of as sick and wonded by his actions. The supernatural lies behind both as Edward's powers are miraculous and all Macbeth's evil started from the original secret prophecies.
Rosse knows he has distressing personal news to deliver to Macduff but delays this onerous task as long as possible, thus creating suspense for the audience. He is also given a choric speech in which he laments the state of Scotland, where only the ignorant smile and where heart-rending noises of misery can be heard but hardly noticed since they are so frequent. "Violent sorrow" has become a "modern ecstasy" [a commonplace emotion], deaths occur regularly and good men meet untimely ends. He shows here the unselfish partriotism of the ordinary man and Macduff finds his account "Too nice [detailed] and yet too true"; the dramatic irony here is powerful as we know there is more information to come. When Rosse hints that news even an hour old is derided as out of date, Macduff becomes suspicious that he is hiding something concerning himself but Rosse avoids answering by saying that his wife and the young Macduffs are "well" in the sense that the dead are better off in such a terrible land. He equivocates by claiming that they were at peace when he left them but we know that the truth must emerge soon. Rosse is wary of having to reveal the truth but also wants to enlist their help before involving their personal griefs so that they join the rebellion for more objective reasons. Having received this assurance he breaks the news of the slaughter of the Macduffs claiming that his words are too fearful to be heard.
Rosse firstly tries to give the tidings as gently as possible but finally tells what has happened swiftly and plainly: the deaths of Lady Macduff and harmless servants are not entirely a surprise to the audience and the bitter pun on "deer" makes the information more savage. Macduff is overcome and hides his face but Malcolm encourages him to voice his feelings for relief and to use them to spur him to further revenge. Macduff's response: "He has no children" is a crux with two main explanations. He could mean that Malcolm has no children and so can be comparatively unfeeling or he might refer to Macbeth, which causes difficulty as Lady Macbeth claims to have breastfed a child and Macbeth is deeply anxious about the inheritance of the throne. If he means Macbeth he could imply that he cannot take full revenge on a childless man by repeating his actions or that even Macbeth would not have been so cruel had he his own children. Bird imagery recalls the scene of the slaughter and its mention of the wren.
Malcolm somewhat callously tries to persuade Macduff to immediate action as a man and soldier (another theme of the play being the definition of manliness) but Macduff claims his need to feel his personal distress first as a man should and can only recall the precious nature of what he once had. He feels Heaven has abandoned him and blames himself for their fate, "naught" being a strong word meaning "wicked." He reminds us that Macbeth's evil has spread to harm the entirely innocent if they seem next in line. Now Macduff moves from potential tears to action and vows personal revenge on "this fiend of Scotland" in mortal combat. We have a sense of the play progressing to a final resolution and recall the prophecy concerning the danger of Macduff to Macbeth, one hard to reconcile with the apparent promise that no man born of woman can harm him. Good is uniting and "Macbeth/Is ripe for shaking." Imagery of day and night in a somewhat proverbial maxim adds to the feeling that good will triumph but, as in all tragedy, at its own expense, which in this case has been poignant and heart-rending.
To go on to Macbeth page 7 click here
To return to the Home Page and list of texts click here
