Tuesday, March 26, 2013

In Macbeth, how does Macduff respond when asked to take the news about his family like a man?

Specifically, in Shakespeare's, Macbeth, Malcolm tells Macduff to "Dispute it [the murder of his family] like a man" in Act 4:3.223.  Macduff responds the very next line with:



I shall do so.


But I must also feel it as a man.



Macduff's initial response is a response that one normally associates with females.  As is repeatedly done throughout the play, gender roles are reversed here.  Macduff says that he must first feel the loss before he handles the situation in the macho, masculine way Malcolm suggests.  Macduff will take care of Macbeth, to be sure, but first he must mourn.


His second response concerns memory and a questioning of his faith, or his God.  He says:



I cannot but remember such things were


That were most precious to me.  Did heaven look on


And would not take their part?



He must first take a moment and remember those who were so precious to him.  Then he wonders why heaven did not intervene.  How could heaven let something like this happen and not stop it? 


Macduff does blame himself for his family's murders, and he does dedicate himself to revenge, but he will not "play the woman with mine eyes/And braggart with my tongue."  He will just do the deed.  But first, he must mourn and remember.

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