- 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 C
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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During this scene, Macduff proves his true loyalty to Scotland. Malcolm says that as king, not even the most beautiful women could satisfy him, and he would rape them. He also says that he will take land from nobles and steal all their wealth. Lastly, he will bring chaos to the universe and bring turmoil everywhere.
ReplyDeleteOn line 117 in act 4 scene 3, Macduff says, “O Scotland, Scotland!”, after Malcolm has listed all the terrible things he will do to destroy Scotland. Macduff shows concern for his homeland, because he thinks that the person he wants to follow, plans on destroying it. Macduff responds to Malcolm that he is not even fit to live while he is trying to become king. He believes that Scotland will never become peaceful again, and no matter what, the people will suffer and live in despair. Macduff says that Malcolm is cursed and a disgrace to his noble father. He loses hope in Scotland ever becoming great again.
While Malcolm is telling Macduff how he will be much worse than Macbeth, Macduff proves his loyalty to Scotland by not simply going along with Malcolm’s terrible remarks. Instead, he shows concern for Scotland by saying that Malcolm is a terrible person that is no fit to live, and will destroy his homeland.
Malcolm’s test binds the two men before their battle with Macbeth because they are both united under the same desire to reclaim Scotland. It showed that they both had a common goal that they are both very passionate about achieving. It also lets them trust each other. Before Malcolm’s test, he was very wary of Macduff, but now he is certain that he is a trustworthy person.
I agree with this because I think that there would have been nobody to help defeat Macbeth. Having a powerful ally is definitely important before a mutiny. Malcolm also needed the assurance that he was friends with somebody who truly cared for the better of Scotland as a country.
DeleteSteven, after seeing how easy it was to storm Macbeth's castle, and force his army to surrender, do you think the alliance between Macduff and Malcolm was necessary, and also do you think that Macduff would have been able to/would have taken the throne for himself had he not sworn allegiance to Malcolm?
DeleteI do think he would have been able to take over without Malcolm. But, I do not think the alliance between the two is strictly about killing Macbeth. Once Macbeth is dead I think it plays a big role to be allies with someone who could help benefit you in the future.
DeleteMalcolm talks about himself to make it seem as if he will be more destructive than Macbeth. Malcolm has a test to see whether Macduff will support him as the new king. Malcolm tries to tell Macduff about his brutal plans for the future. The test was successful because Macduff confronted Malcolm by saying that he would never support anyone who had such terrible ideas, such as Macbeth. It is important for Malcolm to know that if he were to become too controlling over power, Macduff would help him set his wrongs, right. Macduff gets a little nervous while listening to Malcolm talk about his future plans as king. Macduff then says to Malcolm he will do whatever is better for Scotland. Knowing that other powerful people will do whatever they can to protect their country is very comforting for a king. This helps Malcolm give Macduff his full trust.
ReplyDeleteMalcolm says he will be a far worse of a tyrant than Macbeth. He specifically said he will rape Macduff’s family, to which Macduff takes no offense and agrees that a king needs a lot of women. Macduff has lost all trust in Macbeth, and will be happy with anyone else as king. Later, after Malcolm says more horrible things, Macduff expresses his sadness by saying, “O Scotland, Scotland!” Here, he shows his loyalty to the country and doesn’t talk about fleeing somewhere else. Macduff gains Malcolm’s trust through the tests, which is very important if they want to defeat Macbeth.
ReplyDelete