Macduff

Macduff

Macduff connects national duty to personal feeling. His grief challenges the idea that masculinity depends on suppressing emotion.

Discovers regicide → Resists tyranny → Grieves for family → Confronts Macbeth

Feeling and courage

“I must also feel it as a man” — Macduff, 4.3
paired with “Turn, hell-hound, turn!” — Macduff, 5.8

The first statement insists that feeling belongs within manhood; the later repeated imperative turns grief into confrontation. Action does not require him to erase love or sorrow.

From public horror to private loss

“O horror, horror, horror!” — Macduff, 2.3
paired with “All my pretty ones?” — Macduff, 4.3

Repetition marks the enormity of Duncan’s murder. The later question and affectionate phrase individualise the cost of tyranny: national disorder now destroys his own household.

Push the argument

Leaving his family makes his duty painful and debatable. Lady Macduff’s criticism should remain part of an account that also recognises his resistance to tyranny.

Recall

How does Macduff challenge Lady Macbeth’s definition of being a man?

Read Macbeth. Scene locations are used because page numbers vary by edition.