Macduff, a Scottish nobleman, is a figure of morality in the play. He is the first one who suspects Macbeth of regicide, therefore does not participate in his coronation. Although at first he seems insignificant as a character, towards the end of the play he is the one who serves a great contribution in saving Scotland from Macbeth’s tyranny. His traits, of being trustworthy to his country and morally upright, do not change throughout the play and do not become complicated, as a result, we can say that he has respectively a static and flat character.
At the beginning of the play, Macduff discoveres Duncan’s dead body and is shocked at the horror of murder. When Macbeth says that he has killed the guards because he became angry seeing them
Many people who have read William Shakespeare’s Macbeth know that Macbeth is the tragic hero in the play, but there another character stands out as a much greater protagonist. Macbeth is the type of character who turned from a loyal warrior to the king into a violent, tyrannical, and conflicted person as he progressively commits crimes inside the kingdom without anyone’s notice, except for one person, who is Macduff. Macduff doesn’t have any flaws and remains sinless and heroic throughout the play. As Macbeth progressively gains power and prestige in exchange for the lives of his king, his friends, and his countrymen, Macduff meanwhile goes through great personal loss in his attempts to stop Macbeth’s tyrannical ruling and to restore justice and freedom to Scotland. It is ironic how Macduff acts so much more nobly than his king. Throughout the tragic events that have occurred in the play, Macduff serves as a heroic figure through his demonstrations of intelligence, loyalty, and righteousness.
Macduff’s burning desire for revenge towards Macbeth was encouraged by many forces. As it is known, Macbeth murders Duncan which causes Malcolm to flee to England because he fears for his life. Following Duncan’s death, Macduff was the first to discover Duncan dead, and it can be inferred that he was so angry and mortified that it sparks apprehensiveness towards Macbeth’s acquiring the throne. As he realizes that he does not agree with Macbeth’s reign, he decides to leave his family behind in Fife to go to England to find Malcolm, the true heir to the throne. His plan is to conspire with Malcolm to build an army against Macbeth. Macduff was so loyal to Scotland and the true ruler that he was willing to abandon his family in the process of freeing Scotland from tyranny. As he meets with Malcolm, Ross delivers the news that
In Williams Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth a man who starts off as an innocent man who throughout the play gets corrupted by power. Macduff the hero of this story kills Macbeth from his dreadful rule. Macduff knew Macbeth killed Duncan to get the crown, therefore he does not show up to the coronation. Macduff convinces Malcolm to get back what he owns. Macduff gets emotional after he finds out his wife and kids had been killed by murders sent there by Macbeth. Macduff proves his strength and his ability to be a hero to all Scotland.
Alternative characters in the play contrast Macbeth and Lady Macbeth's twisted perception of a man by allowing their emotions and not giving in to traditional gender roles. When taking a look at masculinity in Macbeth, MacDuff’s is an aforementioned character. Shakespeare gives MacDuff phrases, which contrast the misguided ways of Macbeth and his Lady, and also show that there is hope in masculinity. It is obvious that MacDuff is Shakespeare's ideological adaptation of a real man. MacDuff knows himself and he performs his duties, as he knows he must and settles his feelings with the stability a man needs. As he is told to take the news of their murders “like a man.” He retorts, “I shall do so, / But I must also feel it as a man” (4.3.
Macduff is the thane of fife, the foil to Macbeth, and the greatest patriot of Scotland during the play. He first appears in act one scene six, the King Duncan and the nobleman come to Macbeths castle. Macduff’s fellow noblemen marvel about the greatness of Macbeth’s castle, though Macduff stays silent throughout the scene. This is generally how Macduff acts; only speaking when spoken to, and not making unnecessary conversation. In act two scene three Macduff and Lennox come to wake the king and he is the one to make the discovery that the king has been murdered. He exclaims to Macbeth and Banquo what has happened, saying that the King is the Lord’s appointed temple. This is common in the time period
In opposition, there was not a clearly defined reason found in Throne of Blood. Macduff acted as a representation of a righteous man, someone that put the benefit of others before his. Although Macduff once admired Macbeth, he turned malicious after Macbeth murdered his family. In the play, he acted as a judge of all evil acts. In Throne of Blood, Kurosawa purposely left the character anonymous.
He is also promised good fortune by the three witches, but his peaceful and righteous reaction corresponds poorly with Macbeth's greed. He is yet another of Macbeth's new enemies, and his murder spins a greater web of deceit and guilt around Macbeth. Macduff is at first merely introduced as another Scottish nobleman, but his role in the story takes a more significant turn when he seeks revenge after Macbeth murders his family. He is revealed as the only one able to kill Macbeth, and his succes in doing so finally ends the story's treachery. Ross and Lennox are noblemen of Scotland who at first know nothing of Macbeth's greedy ambitions.
In the tragedy “Macbeth”, by William Shakespeare, he devluges into the circumstances in which Macduff's character is developed. Macduff starkly contrasts the actions of Macbeth, from Macbeth's treachery to Macduff's righteousness. Macbeth throughout the play was loyal to whoever he was serving, be it Macbeth up unto treachery or be it his rebel army. Throughout the play, Macduff drops things like “Is thy master stirring?”
Macduff's ambition in this play was to be loyal to his country by taking out Macbeth. Too much of his time is spent plotting against Macbeth, which throws off Macduff’s values. He abandons his family and left for England to find Malcolm so he could wage war against Macbeth. Later, Macbeth hears that the recent absence of Macduff at the banquet and at Duncan’s funeral was because he had fled to England, to find Malcolm. So Macbeth reacts to this by sending murderers to kill Macduff's family. Once Macduff finds out that his family is dead, he starts to exhibit some emotion. At this time he is about to wage war on Macbeth with Malcolm; Malcolm say's to Macduff "Dispute it like a man"(4.3.259). Macduff then replies,
Macduff's intelligence leans towards irresponsibility when he abandons his family without realising the danger his actions will cause them. When Macduff goes to England for help in freeing Scotland from the tyrant Macbeth, and informs Malcolm of the terrible things that have been happening in Scotland, he says; "Let us rather / Hold fast the mortal sword, and like good men / Bestride our down-fall'n birthdom" (4, 3, 2-4). There is a great sense of urgency in Macduff's words because his thoughts become obsessive with eliminating Scotland of its evil tyrant rather than focusing on his family. His suspicion grows after Macbeth’s killing of the guards and so he refuses to attend Macbeth’s coronation which leads to the murder of his family.
Before Macbeth meets with Macduff, he thinks of ways to handle Macduff so he would no longer be a problem. Macduff was considered to be a problem because he left the kingdom in order to assist an opposing force. Macbeth states “Then live, Macduff: what need I fear of thee? But yet I’ll make assurance double sure, and take a bond of fate.” (Act IV scn i, ln 82-84) He wants to make sure Macduff will not be a problem; he wants to keep Macduff out of his way. In this scene Macbeth is attempting to discover ways to inforce his superiority through the phrase “The castle of Macduff I will surprise; seize upon Fife; give to th’ edge o’ th’ sword his wife, his babies, and all unfortunate souls.” (Act IV scn i, ln 150-152) He hired men to kill Macduff’s family, so he will be depressed and will grieve; he wants to keep Macduff out of the way of him still being King. The main reason he did this, however, was to exert his leadership over Macduff and send a message. This paragraph explains how Macbeth was disloyal to Macduff and how he did anything to keep Macduff out of his way, but things did not turn out as he
Macduff is also a character that deals with guilt. He is guilty of leaving his entire family behind in Scotland which is eventually why they are killed. He uses this guilt to drive him to bring Macbeth down. If Macduff would have thought to bring his wife and children they wouldn't have died. This shows that every action has consequences and those consequences must be taken into consideration.
Macduff's only ambition is to kill Macbeth, the man who has murdered his wife and children. He has no interest in personal gain and is the first character in the play to understand that Fortune rules you, you don't rule Fortune. This is a certain indicator that he'll be the one to take down the tyrant, who is always challenging
After this Macbeth kills Macduff whole family and servants to send Macduff a message for being disloyal and he thinks that Macduff suspects him of something as well. This is shown when Macbeth says “The castle of Macduff I will surprise, Seize upon Fife, give to th' edge o' th' sword His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls That trace him in his
Macduff’s character is used as an effective foil for Macbeth in the play. The foil serves to show the parallels between these two characters.