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Macduff

Macduff. Nikhita Devchand. Character. The combination of traits and qualities distinguishing the individual nature of a person or thing Macduff- characterised sporadically Foil to Macbeth Figure of Morality Instrument of femininity. Actions.

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Macduff

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  1. Macduff Nikhita Devchand

  2. Character • The combination of traits and qualities distinguishing the individual nature of a person or thing • Macduff- characterised sporadically • Foil to Macbeth • Figure of Morality • Instrument of femininity

  3. Actions • Follows Malcolm to England- shows faithfulness • Slays Macbeth in a duel when English army marches on Dunsinane

  4. Motivation • Refuses to recognise Macbeth as king • Discovers Duncan’s body (Act II, Scene 3) • “O horror! Horror! Horror! Tongue nor heart cannot conceive nor name thee” • Death of his wife and children (Act IV, Scene 3) • “Your castle is surprised; your wife and babes 
 savagely slaughter'd” “What, all my pretty chickens and their dam At one fell swoop?”

  5. Ambition • A figure of morality • Shown as a human being-(Act IV, Scene 3) • Malcolm urges him to “Dispute it like a man,” Macduff's reply “I will do so. But I must also feel it as a man” • Macbeth has lost all humanity, Macduff regains his • Combat between hero and anti-hero- (Act V, Scene 8) • “I have no words
My voice is in my sword”

  6. Relationship with Macbeth • Serves as a foil to Macbeth • Holy versus Evil- (Act III, Scene 6) • Lennox refers to Macduff as “some holy angel” • His integrity contrasts with Macbeth’s moral perversion • Contrast is accentuated by their approaches to death • Macduff- “But I must also feel it as a man” (Act IV, Scene 3) • Macbeth- “I dare do all that may be a man; Who dares do more, is none.” (Act I, Scene 7)

  7. Relationship with Macbeth • Idea of emotional depth and sensitivity • Macduff struggles to express his rage and anguish- (Act II, Scene 3) • “O horror, horror, horror” • Macbeth expresses brutal indifference- (Act V, Scene 5) • “She should have died hereafter There would have been a time for such a word Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow”

  8. Aspects of femininity • An instrument to the play’s desired excision of femininity • Macbeth and the fantasy of female power • Relationship between male vulnerability and feminine influence • The impossibility of the fantasy of absolute masculinity

  9. Aspects of femininity • Macbeth believes femininity is a source of vulnerability - (Act V, scene 8) • “I bear a charmed life, which must not yield To one of woman born” • He also believes true manhood cannot derive from or be tainted by femininity • However, Macduff’s very existence counters this idea. - (Act V, scene 8) • “Despair thy charm, And let the angel whom thou still hast served Tell thee, Macduff was from his mother’s womb Untimely ripped”

  10. Example Essays • My PowerPoint could be useful for potential essays relating to character, as it shows how one character is used to portray a variety of aspects. • It would also be helpful in viewing the text through a gendered discourse, as Macduff is a character who strongly relates to the idea of femininity.

  11. Shakespeare, W, 1999, Macbeth, United Kingdom, Cambridge University Press. Macduff, 2014, Wikipedia, 15/05/2014, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macduff_(Macbeth) Macbeth, n.d., Sparknotes, 18/05/2014 http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/Macbeth.html Macduff, 2014, Shmoop, 18/05/2014, http://www.shmoop.com/macbeth/macduff.html References

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