- what Malcolm says about himself
- how Macduff establishes his sadness about Malcolm's remarks
- how Macduff establishes his loyalty to Scotland
- how Malcolm's test succeeds at binding the two men together before they battle Macbeth in Act 5
Saturday, April 2, 2016
Conversation #2 --- Group B
The first half of Act 4 scene 3 of the play is in the form of a dialogue between Malcolm and MacDuff through which Malcolm tests MacDuff in a most peculiar way: by describing himself as wise than Macbeth, Malcolm is looking to see the degree which Macduff is loyal to Scotland more than to any particular leader. Please comment on
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ReplyDeleteMalcolm says that he, personally, is a lot more evil than Macbeth. Malcolm himself has too much sexual desire, a factor that can end up being more harmful to his country than any malicious character trait that Macbeth has. Malcolm would never be satisfied when it comes to women fulfilling his sexual needs, an unrighteous quality for a king. He says all this stuff about himself because majority of his feelings are true, however; he does say a lot of this to figure out if he can trust Macduff or not. Macduff tells Malcolm that no quality of his is worse than the current king, Macbeth, and that he can always fulfill his desires in private. Macduff informs Malcolm that even with the amount of non virtuous qualities Malcolm has, he will still be a better king than Macbeth, and save the land of Scotland. Malcolm shouldn’t dwell on his impure qualities, but rather should kill Macbeth in order to save Scotland.
ReplyDeleteMalcolm’s plan of proving Macduff was loyal to Scotland and to himself worked. Macduff proved his trust to Malcolm by informing him that he would become a great king, better than Macbeth, and that he would be more than qualified to save Scotland. Macbeth is running Scotland into the ground since he is showing no care for the land and people himself but it just too worried to lose his position as king. Especially after Macduff finds out the truth, that Macbeth killed his family, it’s obvious to Malcolm that Macduff can be trusted. Macduff later wants nothing more than Macbeth dead, since he had no right to kill Macduff’s family. Macduff decides to join Malcolm in building an army against Macbeth.
Malcolm starts off by saying many fact about himself that make him seem more evil than Macbeth. (“That, when they shall be opened, black Macbeth Will seem as pure as snow”) Malcolm says that if he becomes king that he will want all the women in Scotland and that he will never be satisfied with what he has, he will always want more even if it means taking from peasants. Macduff then responds by saying “Not in the legions Of horrid hell can come a devil more damned In evils to top Macbeth” what he is saying to Malcolm is that no matter how bad he(Malcolm) thinks he is he will never be as bad as Macbeth is, he is saying that even in hell there is no one as bad as Macbeth. In the end Malcolm ends up telling Macduff that this was a test and that he is actually a virgin and never lies, besides during this test.
ReplyDeleteBy not choosing to side with Macbeth a former friend, but rather Malcolm as it will benefit Scotland, Macduff establishes his loyalty to Scotland. The reason for Macduff having to prove his loyalty to Scotland is all a test to make sure that Malcolm can trust a former friend of Macbeth, as Malcolm was concerned that Macbeth might of set all this up to lure him in and kill him to prevent him from taking the crown that should be him due to the line of the throne. Therefore after the test Malcom is able to see that Macduff is trustable and they decide to come together along with many English troops to kill Macbeth, and help get Scotland back to how it used to be.
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ReplyDeleteMalcolm describes himself as more evil than Macbeth, and even describes himself as a rapist. He does this to test if Macduff is loyal to him. He was unsure whether Macduff was a spy sent by the king to infiltrate the rebellion. Macduff goes on to say, nobody could ever be worse than Macbeth. Macduff was able to persuade Malcolm enough to except he was on his side. He then goes on to say this was a test of loyalty. He even admits he is a virgin and would never lie. As the story progresses and doubts that Macduff may have been a spy diminishes. Malcolm witness Macduff receiving the news that Macbeth sent assassins to kill his family. In all the misery and grief Macduff swore vengeance by raising his sword to god.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone think Malcolm may have not trusted Macduff until he raised the sword to god? Could there have been any doubt, and if so is there any textual of visual proof?
I think that Malcolm truly trusted Macduff after seeing him get the news that his wife and children were killed by the assassins that Macbeth hired. By Macduff repeating himself saying "My wife killed too?" really shows that he is shocked. And I think that if Macduff was truly on Macbeth's side he would not let Malcolm see him in such a vulnerable state of mind.
DeleteTo answer your question Noah, I agree with Kylie. I think that Malcolm didn't fully trust Macduff until Macduff was made aware that his "Wife, children, servants, all that could be found" were killed.
DeleteI also agree with Kylie. I believe that when Macduff hears about his wife being killed and when Macduff tells him that he needs to "handle it like a man" before getting revenge, that is when Malcolm truly trusts him. I think the way he tested him, by saying how he would be a terrible king and then Macduff "passing" the test of loyalty and saying how no one could be worse than Macbeth, brings them closer so they will be able to unite against Macbeth.
Delete-Haley
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ReplyDeleteMacduff proves to Malcolm his absolute loyalty to Scotland when he says, "These evils thou repeat'st upon thyself hath banished me from Scotland. O my breast, thy hope ends here!" He is saying that the terrible traits Malcolm says he possesses will force me to leave Scotland because it's future is doomed and he’ll have to leave forever. This is said after Malcolm confesses to being greedy, merciless, unjust and likely to start wars and make trouble. After Malcolm has thoroughly convinced Macduff that he is unfit to be king, that he is a terrible person and a danger to the throne he asks Macduff if someone like him is fit to be king. Macduff’s response is no, you’re not fit to be king, and not fit to live. He goes on to praise Malcolm’s mother and father (King and Queen) and says that based on what you told me, I will have to leave Scotland forever. He does not want to be part of Malcolm’s rule and his hope for Scotland and it’s future is dead.
ReplyDeleteUpon hearing this Malcolm confesses he was lying about his evil nature and explains that he never lies and is excited at the chance of their fighting Macbeth together.
I think that it was clever to have Malcolm test Macduff's loyalty by pretending to be evil. By doing that and hearing Macduff say that he would leave and he had lost all hope, it shows he wouldn't just follow the newest king and truly cared for his country.
ReplyDelete**Haleys account wasn't working**
ReplyDeleteMalcolm tries testing Macduff's loyalty to Macbeth by saying how he would be a much more terrible king than Macbeth. Although Malcolm's main goal is to prove that Macduff is loyal to Macbeth, I think he could also be trying to say how he believes that he would be unfit to be king to try and prove that he is not guilty of Duncan's murder. Some are suspicious that Malcolm was to blame for the murder since he would be the next heir to the throne, so by praising Macbeth and saying how he, himself, would be a much worse ruler than Macbeth, sort of helps him prove that he is not the one guilty of Macbeth's murder.
-Haley