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Macduff as a foil to macbeth
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In Shakespeare’s work of literature, Macbeth, there are various characters who appear briefly throughout the play, but have a significant presence which affects the plot and development of some characters greatly. These presences create tension for other characters (not necessarily the protagonist/antagonist) which can influence them to go through with certain actions that can benefit certain circumstances or cause misfortune in others. One of the most evident cases of a significant presence in Macbeth is Macduff. Macduff momentarily appears in the first two acts, but then disappears and does not reappear until the final battle between Macbeth and his subjects. Macduff inflicts constant anxiety on Macbeth whilst he is absent. From even before
Like in all (or most) Shakespeare plays, there is always a hero that overcomes evil supernatural forces. Macduff is this essential character in this play. His loyalty and patriotism to his dear country, Scotland, is more exceeding unlike the likes of the other Scottish nobles, Macduff was devastated by the murder of his dear king, and he also somewhat sacrifices his family for his country. These three transactions add up to one hell of an admirable hero.
Macbeth is a play driven by ambition and contradiction. Fighting to become king he will do anything and kill anyone to get his way. It all started when three witches told Macbeth that he’ll soon one day be king. He took the witches advice and made an unwise decision of killing the recent king Duncan in return Macbeth dies later on. In my definition control is a person or a group of people that have power to influence or make someone do something. Some examples of control would be the government, leadership, supervision, management, or jurisdiction. The control is evenly distributed in the play Macbeth between most of the characters.
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
... 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.
In the beginning of Shakespeare's play “Macbeth”,just before Macbeth encounters the witches for the first time, he shows that he is disturbed by the things he has seen in the war,in the line “So foul and fair a day I have not seen”. One interpretation of this quote is that the use of juxtaposition shows that Macbeth's conscience is split in two ;while he has won the battle in “fair” combat however the enemy's gore and blood shed was incredibly “foul” and has seen has deeply scared him. In particular the words “not seen” could suggest that he wishes to unsee what he has already seen as it is all to much for him, Shakespeare also uses this quote foreshadow Macbeth downfall as the line closely parallels with the chant all three witches sing in the very first scene “Fair is foul, and foul is fair” . This line and the quote “So foul and fair a day I have not seen” both use juxtaposition for effect and not only that both quotes use “foul” and “fair” to express it, this shows that from the beginning Macbeth is linked to the forces of darkness before he even meets the witches or writes the letter to Lady Macbeth,
History has been filled with evil people doing evil things for power whether that means killing or putting other people down. The truth is everyone wants power and once that power is gained they will do whatever to maintain it. In the play Macbeth written by Shakespeare the main character receives a prophecy from witches (wierd sisters) telling him he will become king. Acting in response Macbeth kills the king and soon becomes the new king. The play follows his story as he struggles to maintain his power and battles against those threaten his rule. In Act 3 scene 1, Macbeth's’ soliloquy about Banquo, his best friend, expresses the tones of fear, jealousy, and anger through the literary devices of metaphors, repetition, and foreshadowing, which
The one thing that all of Shakespeare’s plays have in common is a tragic conclusion, which results in the death of the hero. What is unique about the deaths of these heroes is that all of the problems that lead them to the end are self-induced. The heroes are always in control, and make crucial judgemental errors which ultimately lead to their own demise. While it is clear that the hero Macbeth causes his own death in this famous play, there are also third-party influences which push him towards this end. The three witches plant a desire for power and growing confidence in Macbeth, while Lady Macbeth eventually persuades him to go down a path of violence, and kill King Duncan in order to take his place on the throne. These actions highlight the women of the play as the greatest influences on the development of the plot and Macbeth’s demise.
Macduff was the first to openly defy Macbeth by his decision to go to his castle in Fife rather than Macbeth’s coronation in “Scone” (2.4). Macduff flees to England to rally support and revolt against Macbeth (4.3). Macduff acts on his free will, uninfluenced by the power of Macbeth nor others, and does what he believes to be the best for himself and everyone else. He retains his independent thoughts and his sense of masculinity despite the consequences he might suffer, standing his grounds with his beliefs and ideology of being a true patriot. Later on, upon hearing the news of his family’s murder, Macduff shows his sensitivity: “I shall [disput it like a man], but I must also feel it like a man” (4.3). He depicts the ability to have emotions and link it to his masculinity as a part of human traits, embracing his weaknesses and flaws and showing that he also acts as he believes he should act. The sharp contrast between Macbeth’s cowardly actions and Macduff’s strong will is shown at the final battle between the two; Macbeth refuses to fight with Macduff when Macbeth learns Macduff is that one person in the prophecy that would defeat Macbeth until Macduff threatens to capture him alive and humiliates him in front of the crowd (5.8).Once again, Macbeth masculinity is threatened, and he gives in to the threat rather than stand his ground, leading to his ultimate demise. Macduff’s
In Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, the author has the ability to use minor characters to show the qualities of major characters. In Act Four Scene Two, Shakespeare presents two characters that will affect the reader’s response to other characters in the play. Lady Macduff and her son are used to raise emotions in the reader and assist the reader to make connections between others in the play. Shakespeare also presents minor characters to contrast the nature of major characters. For example, Lady Macduff can be used as a foil for Lady Macbeth. Through his poetry, Shakespeare describes human nature how he perceives it. He reflects on the different sides of human nature: good and evil. Shakespeare uses Lady Macduff and her son to provoke emotions in the reader, contrast the opposing personalities of the two wives, and show the two
Literary Devices used in Macbeth Imagine how dull a Shakespearean play would be without the ingenious literary devices and techniques that contribute so much to the fulfillment of its reader or viewer. Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, is a tragedy that combines fact and legend to tell the story of an eleventh century king. Shakespeare uses numerous types of literary techniques to make this tragic play more appealing. Three literary devices that Shakespeare uses to make Macbeth more interesting and effective are irony, symbolism, and imagery. One technique that Shakespeare uses is ironic.
If a picture tells a thousand words, than imagine the importance of an image upon a play such as Macbeth. In any literary work, it is extremely important that the author can effectively manipulate a reader's feelings towards a character. In Macbeth, that feat is accomplished magnificently by Shakespeare. Through his skillful use of imagery, Shakespeare shows us a deeper look into the true character of Macbeth. Though imagery is widespread throughout Macbeth, it is most dominant in clothing imagery, light and darkness imagery, and blood imagery. Through these images,
Macbeth rejects conformation to traditional gender roles in its portrayal of Lady Macbeth’s relationship with her husband, her morals and their effect on her actions, and her hunger for power. Her regard for Macbeth is one of low respect and beratement, an uncommon and most likely socially unacceptable attitude for a wife to have towards her spouse at the time. She often ignores morality and acts for the benefit of her husband, and subsequently herself. She is also very power-hungry and lets nothing stand in the way of her success. Lady Macbeth was a character which challenged expectations of women and feminism when it was written in the seventeenth century.
has sent to her, Lady Macbeth begins to plot and plan how Macbeth can become
turn into animals but when one of them turns into a rat it has no tail,
While many men conform being stereotypically apathetic, Macduff openly expresses his emotions. He does not believe that expressing emotion is equivalent to weakness and conveys his sensitivity after the profound deaths of his wife and children. After Ross delivers the heartbreaking news of the death of Macduff’s family, Malcolm tells Macduff, “Dispute it like a man” (IV.iii.222), to which Macduff responds, “I shall do so; / But I must also feel it as a man” (IV.iii.223-224). Rather than hiding his grief and sorrows behind a facade of confidence, Macduff chooses to embrace his pain. In doing so, he exuberates greater strength than characters perceived as masculine by society’s standards, as traditional gender roles render emotionalism a greater challenge than stolidity. Macduff’s response to a tragic loss of his loved ones contrasts dramatically with virile Macbeth’s response to the death of his wife. When Lady Macbeth commits suicide, Macbeth reacts by nonchalantly saying, “She should have died hereafter; / There would have been a time for such a word” (V.v.16-17). Macbeth does not display any emotion over his wife’s demise, claiming that death is inevitable and thus, she would have died sooner or later regardless. Macbeth’s phlegmatical response further conveys the difficulty of emotional expressionism and the rarity of sensitive males like Macduff. Nevertheless, Macduff proceeds to utilize his grief as motivation for vengeance on Macbeth, exclaiming to Malcolm: “Front to front / Bring thou this fiend of Scotland and myself; / Within my sword’s length set him” (IV.iii.235-237). In the penultimate scene of the play, Macduff achieves the aforementioned retribution when he slays Macbeth, saving Scotland from tyranny. Hence, Macduff prevails in comparison to Macbeth, despite Macbeth fitting society’s definition of masculinity