Heroes come in all varieties and forms and are imperative to almost any story. A hero may not always be the leading man or powerful and prominent figure in a situation and in Shakespeare’s tragedy of Macbeth, the Scottish nobleman Macduff arises from the abundance of characters as a humble hero. Macduff begins as a silent, static character and develops from a less than glorious beginning to eventually help lead(motivate) an army and ultimately save Scotland by ridding the country of its’ apocryphal king. Through this, Macduff can be characterized as Macbeth’s honorable and brave opposition and the hero of the play.
The role of Macduff is an essential one in Macbeth. He acts as the brave antagonist and foil to Macbeth, while portraying a dynamic and round character in the play as well. Macduff’s values do not change throughout the play however, as acts progress, more is learned about his character and certain traits are accentuated. For example, Macduff is hostile against Macbeth from the beginning, immediately suspicious of his path to royalty, first seen when Macduff chooses to return to Fife instead of attend the new king’s coronation. As Macbeth is more overwhelmed with his power, and chaos ensues from his reign, Macduff’s suspicion and lack of acceptance in his kingship grows to fuel his rivalry against the once heroic Macbeth. Macduff is dynamic in his growth as a more involved character but also in his suspicion and hatred for the protagonist. In addition, Macduff is also considered a round character with many facets. In Act 4, Macduff is revealed as more than just a moral man and brave Thane, but also a sensitive family man with a wife and many children. His multi-facet life exposes the increasing differences in M...
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... truly seen as a character when he discovers the just previously murdered Duncan. He shows utter shock at the sight of the deceased Duncan and is first to question Macbeth about the suspicious act, including the death of the servants. Macduff provides Macbeth with paranoia that is evident through the rest of the play and Macduff continues to show his loyalty to Duncan even after the murder by making it his goal to ensure the rightful king is crowned. Macbeth is told by the witches to beware of Macduff, but also that he may not be harmed by anyone “born of woman”. Macduff is therefore destined to slay Macbeth and end the conflict that Macbeth has created with his ambition as his was “untimely ripped” from his mother’s womb. The heroic Macduff through bravery and fate is able to withstand the prophecy and kill Macbeth honoring his family, morals and all of Scotland.
In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, “Fair is foul, foul is fair”, sets the paradoxical tone of the play (I.I.12). The paradox between loyalty and cowardice dissimulates the true nature of masculinity in the play. Macduff proves his masculinity during Malcom’s test of loyalty to state rather than the tyranny of Macbeth. Though he is not the protagonist, Macduff’s integral role in the murder of Macbeth proves his sense of ambition in the play. Despite Macduff's responsibility for his family's murder, his loyalty to both family and country conveys his valiant nature.
At this point, Shakespeare has provided sufficient evidence to prove that Macbeth is mentally troubled. His death and his mental deterioration are inevitable. He is haunted by the deeds he has done and the witches’ prophecies. Macbeth claims that life is utterly meaningless when he says, “Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player/ That struts and frets his hour upon the stage/ And then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury/ Signifying nothing.” (5.5 27-31). He no longer has the will to live with knowledge of what he has done. The witches, however, have revealed that he cannot be killed by “one of woman born.” Upon hearing this, Macbeth believes himself to be invincible. During the battle of Dunsinane, he fights recklessly against his foes, under the impression that none can harm him. Macduff then enters the scene. He reveals that he was not of woman born but “from his mother’s womb / Untimely ripped” and therefore has the ability to kill Macbeth (5.8 19-20). Afraid for his life, Macbeth remains persistent and declares that he will not surrender. In the end, Macbeth is slain and Malcolm becomes King of Scotland. Ultimately, Macbeth’s mental deterioration led to his downfall and imminent death. Before Macduff slew him, Macbeth was almost wishing for death. He was overwhelmed with guilt, regret, ambition, power, paranoia, and the blood on his hands.
Thirdly, feelings of paranoia and guilt cause Macbeth characters to make damaging choices. When Macbeth asks the witches to reveal the truth of their prophecies to him, they summon horrible apparitions, each of which offers a prediction to allay Macbeth’s fears. First, a floating head warns him to beware Macduff. Macbeth says that he has already guessed as much. Later when Lennox enters and tells Macbeth that Macduff has fled to England. Macbeth in reply 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 line.” (4.1.149-152). As Macbeth descends to madness he becomes obsessed with eliminating any threats to his power. Macbeth orders the murderers to kill Macduff's family and eliminate any threat to him. Ironically, this is the moment that Macbeth seals his own fate, by murdering Macduff's family he ensures Macduff's retaliation against him, which ultimately leads
...d, he is apathetic to her death. All he holds value of is keeping his crown, and his greed for power leads to his cockiness in his last battle with Macduff. Because he does not believe one of women-born can stop him, he overlooks Macduff, and when Macduff’s history is revealed, Macbeth loses all confidence and loses the battle, and his life.
At this point in the play, Macbeth is afraid of losing his crown that he is willing to do anything to save it. He lost his moral values and rational judgment. Every actions does indeed have consequences. Macduff learns the truth that Macbeth killed Duncan and when Macduff is often absent from Macbeth’s sight he grows suspicious. Macbeth has also been told by the witches during his second visit to beware of Macduff. Upon hearing this, he decided to send people to kill Macduff and his family. Macduff fled the castle first leaving his family behind. During the time Lady Macduff voice her fear: "He loves us not; / He wants the natural touch: for the poor wren, / The most diminutive of birds, will fight, / Her young ones in her nest, against the owl" (4.2.11).
When Macbeth informs Macduff of the prophecy, which Macbeth thinks, will protect him and will allow him to maintain hold over Scotland, Macduff now makes it know that he was not born of woman. The third piece of fate is now complete; Macbeth can be killed. Macduff becomes assured that he can defeat Macbeth for he was not born of a woman. With this new knowledge Macduff knows that he must be the one to kill Macbeth and secure Malcolm’s right to the throne. Macduff does kill Macbeth, being the only one able to do so and secure peace and prosperity for Scotland.
What is more, the one thing that Macbeth does that encompasses every aspect of a tragic hero is fighting Macduff and knowing he is going to lose. Macduff is a man much like Macbeth, and arguably the man Macbeth would have become had he not been tempted into such awful actions. Besides that though, Macduff is the man that Macbeth wronged the most. Macbeth killed his family, his wife and children, and that is more pain than any one person should ever have to bear. So who better to slay Macbeth than the man who really deserves the vengeance. Macbeth goes into battle with Macduff not only because it is his nature, as mentioned previously, but because Macbeth owes it to him. It is Macbeth’s way of making things right, this is Macbeth’s apology and that is tragic, heroic, and most importantly an act of a true tragic hero.
Not only does Macduff wins back his rightfully place to his father’s throne by taking action and killing Macbeth with his bare hands, he is intelligent enough to distinguish whom can be trusted: he puts Malcolm through a test to be certain that Malcolm is trustworthy. Through the characters of Macduff, Shakespeare reveals that only those who possess leadership, intelligence, and deliver a good performance can become possess absolute
... Macduff, was able to figure out that Macbeth was behind the murders. He went to England to get help from King Edward to overthrow Macbeth. When he gets back to Scotland he confronts Macbeth and then kills him. The truth of his acts caught up with him and he got what he deserved. This play is a prime example of why people need to think about the reality of their actions and think about how it will affect them in the future.
...e murdered. When king Duncan thanks Macbeth for his heroic service in the battle he replies “Your highness a king cares for his people as a father cares for his children and the people represent the loyal children to the father (I, iv, 23-25). Later in the scene, Lady Macbeth shames her husband so he can continue with the plan of killing Duncan. To shame Macbeth, she calls him a coward, questions his manhood, and tells him that he should be as tough as she is, (1.7.54-59). The second apparition is a bloody child which shows Macbeth "The power of man, for none of woman born Shall harm Macbeth" (4.1.81). This shows that no man can harm Macbeth because everyman is born of a women except Macduff. He says that Macduff was born untimely and was ripped out of his womb . This was abnormal because being ripped out of your mothers womb is being born.
At this point Macbeth has become a tyrant, so wrapped up in his delusions and power he 's nothing of his former self. When the English army arrive he is confident in the fact no man born of a woman can harm him. “Thou wast born of woman. But swords I smile at, weapons laugh to scorn, Brandished by man that’s of a woman born.” When Macduff reveals he was not born of a woman, Macbeth is snapped out of his delusions and realizes the evil he 's done.
Imagine the world where everyone has the same characteristics. No one would stand out as a significant being as everyone conforms to the same standard. However, when there is a contrasting standard, one can use that as a stepping stone to compare oneself with and to see what kind of a person he or she really is. The existence of opposing or different characteristics can emphasize another. In the play, Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Macbeth’s weaknesses, concerning his family, masculinity, and perspectives, are emphasized through contrast with Macduff’s strengths in those same areas in order to illuminate that good always triumphs over evil in the end.
“Showed like a rebel’s whore. But all’s to weak,/ For brave Macbeth-well he deserves that name-/ Disdaining fortune, with his brandished steel,/ Which smoked with bloody execution,/[...]/ Till he faced the slave;/ Which ne’er shook hands, nor bade farewell to him,/Till he unseamed him from the nave to th’ chops,/ And fixed his head upon our battlements.” (1.2.18-25). In this quotation it reveals that Macdonwald was a traitor and he was winning the battle until his luck ran out and Macbeth came and killed Macdonwald without him saying his last words, he was “smoked with a bloody execution”(1.2.20). A lot of blood was shed that day however Macbeth came out of that battle victorious because he killed the traitor. Another victory was in Act 5, scene 8 when Macduff killed Macbeth. Macduff with Macbeth’s blood on his hands was seen as a hero , for killing this mad man “...Behold where stands/ The usurpers cursed head”(5.9.25-26).Macbeth’s hopes of being victorious was diminished when he learned that Macduff wasn’t born of a woman.Macduff ended up being victorious.
When the witches told Macbeth that no man born of a woman could harm him, he would not be defeated until the forest came to his castle, and that his only threat was Macduff, Macbeth felt very secure about his kingship. Little did Macbeth know, that all of these foretellings would bring about his demise. Macduff was born out of a dead woman, so he was the only one who could hurt Macbeth. When Malcolm's army attacked Macbeth's castle, they camouflaged themselves with trees, thus giving the appearance of the forest coming to the castle. Finally, Macduff was the only thing that Macbeth had to worry about, because he was not born of a woman, and could kill Macbeth.
“The witches predict that Macduff may harm Macbeth. The prediction becomes the catalyst again and makes Macbeth decide to murder Macduff’s family in order to make sure his own safety. Apparently he’s determination is continuously becoming stronger. He no longer struggles with moral justice and this is when Macbeth’s ambition reaches a climax” (Blind ambition kills).