MacDuff: Character Analysis #igcse #gcse #gcseenglishliterature

In this video, I'll be talking about the character McDuff from William Shakespeare's play McBth. This is great preparation if you are sitting the GCSE or IGCSE English literature exam. But if you just want to be able to write about McDuff in great detail, then you've come to the right place. I do advise you have a pen and paper ready because there definitely will be lots of notes to jot down. I like to think that there are clear signs fairly early on in the play that indicate that McDuff is destined to save Scotland. I think one significant thing to mention is that the audience hear McDuff actually before they see him in act two, scene two, just a reminder, McBth has just killed King Duncan and he's having a breakdown basically. And we hear this repeated knocking at the gate which torments him. Well, that's actually McDuff that's knocking at that gate. And that knocking interrupts his private horror and it signals to him, hello, there's an external world out there. There are external con consequences that you're going to have to face. So the sound function symbolically, it is McBth's fate knocking at the door and therefore McDuff is his fate. uh and he cannot be silenced. And then of course we see him in act two scene three and then from that moment he becomes you could argue the physical embodiment of of that fate of that reckoning and you could therefore argue that Shakespeare is foreshadowing McDuff's ultimate destiny which is to be McBth's tormentor and then eventually his destroyer. It's also significant to think about in act two, scene three, the fact that McDuff is the character who discovers King Duncan's body. So, he is the one to reveal to everyone else on stage that he has been murdered. And I think structurally this is crucial because it positions him as the revealer of truth and therefore Shakespeare immediately aligns McDuff with moral clarity. He's the one that's going to bring everything to light. So, in dramatic terms, you could argue that he's acting as a catalyst in this moment because he propels the play. It's gone from this secret crime, these whispers between Lady McBth and McBth to public chaos. Now, he's the one that brings it out into the open. So from this moment, it could be argued that McDuff kind of occupies the role of a kind of like an agent of truth or even like an agent of justice and he's set in direct opposition to McBTH. For the Jackabian audience, they're living in a time when the concept of fate is being explored and it tended to be intertwined with ideas of destiny and free will. So, I think they might interpret McDuff's character as destined to stop McDeath, but I think they'd also recognize that it will will come down to the choices he makes as to whether he fulfills that destiny. So, there are many elements you could argue about McDuff's character that help secure his destiny as Scotland savior. And the first one is the fact that he is intensely patriotic. Upon discovering Duncan's body in act two, scene three, he cries, "Most sacriiggious murder hath broke open the Lord's anointed temple." The adjective sacriiggious, it's loaded with religious meanings. As a reminder, the Jacabian audience believed in the divine right of kings, which asserts that monarchs rule by God's authority. They're chosen by God. So by describing the murder as sacrilege, what McDuff is doing here is he's recognizing that the murder of King Duncan isn't just political. It's a sin against God himself. And then to continue with that idea, I would focus on the metaphor the Lord's anointed temple. Here he's describing Duncan's body as if it were a temple. And so he's elevating his body to something holy. And zooming into the verb anointed really reinforces the sacred ritual of of coronation. In other words, of choosing a king. And so through his religious language, McDuff demonstrates a deep respect for the legitimacy of kingship. And and and to go on from that, what he's doing here is he's emphasizing the enormity of the crime of reicide. He's really troubled not just on a personal level level that a person has been murdered. He's thinking on a much higher level of that that this is the ultimate sin against God. However, it's McDuff's loyalty. Like I just said, it isn't just about losing the individual King Duncan. He it deres from a patriotism um a love for his country. It's not just a blind devotion to an individual. And you can support that when looking at his interaction with between um him and Malcolm in Act four, scene three. Just a reminder, Malcolm tests McDuff and pretends to be more corrupt than McBth because he wants to test why what is it about McDuff? Um what is it that is motivating him to go against McBTH and wants to test make sure that he truly loves his country and McDuff laments bleed bleed poor country and oh Scotland Scotland the vivid personification of Scotland this image of it being a bleeding body conveys both physical violence and moral decay and of course um describes the state of Scotland under the rule of um King McBth. The repetition of bleed intensifies this sense of suffering. His interjection, oh, an interjection is a is a way of showing emotion. The exclamatory tone is using an exclamation. All of that works together to reveal real heartfelt deep anguish. And it the despair is for Scotland itself, not for an individual king. And again, this comes back to the idea that he is deeply patriotic. He wants the best for Scotland, for his nation. So that selfless patriotism starkly contrasts with McBth's selfish ambition, establishing McDuff as a foil to McBth. And I can't believe I didn't put that on the screen. Please mention that he is a dramatic foil. He is a character through his contrast to to McBth emphasizes things about McBth. His uh selflessness only serves to highlight and emphasize McBth's selfishness. For a Jacabian audience, the image of a wounded nation would reinforce their belief that reicside disrupts the natural and cosmic order. And so through his language, Shakespeare is underscoring the catastrophic consequences of unlawful rule and of course the importance of patriotism as well. Another way that McDuff is helped in becoming Scotland savior is the fact that he is morally intuitive. So in act two, scene three, we see this intuition by the way that he challenges McBth directly. So he's just learn that McBTH goes, "Oh my god, I was so angry. I killed the guards." And immediately he says, "Wherefore did you so?" In other words, why did you do that? The interrogative exposes his suspicion regarding McBth's killing of the guards. And unlike Banquo, Banquo, remember he harbors doubts but remains silent. McD McDuff is unafraid to voice his instincts. And I think this distinction between McDuff and Bangquo is important because it establishes McDuff as a man of integrity, not just in thought, but in action. His intuition leads him to refuse attendance at McBTH's coronation, replying in act three, scene six, um quite curtly, "Sir, not I." Um, just a reminder, it's actually through kind of uh word of mouth. We don't actually see him on stage say that the brevity of the sentence conveys quiet defiance. Structurally, this moment officially marks him as separate from McBth's regime and foreshadows his rebellion. His withdrawal is really a moral protest because he's establishing himself in that moment as McBth's enemy. And the witches warn this right to McBth in act 41. They say beware McDuff. Um, so even the supernatural recognizes him as the greatest threat to tyranny. Now this it's important here that he is pitted against not just McBth but in some respects the witches as well. The Jacabian audience believe that witches made packs with the devil. So for them to warn against McDuff reinforces this sense of him presenting the good fight against evil. And this is important because technically if you went against a king it would be considered treasonous. But because McBth has has an allegiance if you like with the witches it makes it clear that this is a type of holy war to save Scotland from evil forces. And so that's why I haven't just called him intuitive. I think he's more than that. I think he's morally intuitive. He has an instinctive sense of what is right and wrong which informs the decisions he makes no matter the risk and no matter the consequence. And we get to see the consequence of rebellion against a tyrant. Shakespeare definitely does not present resistance as something that is easy. And that only goes to serve McDuff in presenting him as this truly loyal subject that he is so willing to protect Scotland that he makes the greatest sacrifice. So of course here I'm talking about the murder of Lady McDuff, sorry, and her children. So McDuff's wife and children as the cost of opposing tyranny. Lady [clears throat] McDuff's anguish complaint. This is in act four, scene two and she realizes basically her husband has run off and left them basically to be murdered. Although of course he didn't. We we'll come to whether he realized that would happen. She says to leave his wife to leave his babes. Here we have Anna Fora used to emphasize that sense of abandonment. In other words, the repetition of to leave intens intensifies her sense of portrayal by Mc Muff. And it invites the audience to feel really frustrated with him in this moment and question how could you do this? What kind of man would do this? But it's really important not to look at that quotation on its own, but to consider his reaction to finding out his family have been massacred. Um, in act four, scene three. And that really complicates our view of McDuff. He says, "All my pretty ones." Did you say all? Oh, hell kite. All the repeated all and fragmented questions convey disbelief and overwhelming grief. Maybe that disbelief suggests that he underestimated McBth and he never thought he would go as far as to kill his wife and children. The term Hellkite associates McBth with predatory evil, preying on the weak and innocent. And structurally, this is a really important moment because it humanizes McDuff before the final act. And so what we see here, we're able to realize or put his vengeance into a context. His vengeance stems from love and loss rather than ambition. And of course, again, we've talked about him being a dramatic foil to McBth. Here we're highlighting the differences between these two men. again when he is um violent when he is vengeful it comes from a good place from love and loss whereas we see McBth many of his actions have derived from selfishness and bolting ambition it's also important to consider the context he is fain of five um fains had military obligations to defend their king and country. So, could the killing of his wife and children, could the abandonment of them be Shakespeare highlighting the harsh expectations that one has um of a of a fame to be so loyal to your nation that you would have to personally potentially personally sacrifice. So McDuff's choice to prioritize Scotland over his family reinforces his role as a loyal subject. Um two, this is important to legitimate authority. He does not recognize McBth as a legitimate king. Okay? He sees him as a um a tyrant who has no authority. Continuing this idea of McDuff being a dramatic foil to McBTH. Another difference that we notice is the fact that he is a man of faith. He turns to God in the most troubling moments. He consistently aligns himself with heaven rather than darkness. As an example, when he learns of his family's murder, he prays, "But gentle heaven, bring thou this fiend of Scotland and to myself." So unlike McBTH and Lady McBth who call upon evil spirits and darkness, McDuff appeals to God, the adjective gentle reflects a trust in divine justice. We'll come back to this idea of divine justice later. And what he does here is he he frames his revenge as something that is heaven sanctioned. He's asking for God to help him bring revenge. So it casts his actions as righteous rather than sinful and again frames his resistance as a holy war. I think this is really important that Shakespeare did this. Again he wants to make it really clear that McDuff is a good character. We should not interpret his actions as committing treason. He is fighting the good fight. He's fighting a holy war. A Jacabian audience believes strongly in the idea of inherent human flaws rooted in um Christian doctrine. Remember the majority of the Jacabian audience would be Protestants. They saw people as naturally prone to sin because of the original sin linking back to um the idea that they inherited the sin of of Adam and Eve. So even the noblest person carried potential for for corruption. So watching McD McDuff make this decision in that moment to turn to God rather than Satan, you might argue would be viewed by the audience as this defiant step against his own human nature and it represents the capabilities of all human beings to be able to choose the right thing to do. Furthermore, if you look at the way he describes McBth, not in the legions of horrid hell can come a devil more damned. He uses alliteration here to emphasize McBth's evil. The hyperbolic comparison presents McBth as the ultimate embodiment of wickedness. And this contrast again reinforces McDuff's moral purity as well as paints him as a type of role model for the audience to aspire to be more like. is possible to do the right thing. He's very much like Banquo. We saw Banquo also turn to prayer, but the difference here is that we're going to see um McDuff act on it rather than sit back passively. That's the major difference between um him and Bangquo. Another function of McDuff as a character. And again, it continues this idea of him being a dramatic fool and highlighting something else about McBTH is the fact that he represents true manhood. His response to Malcolm's instruction, dispute it like a man. This is when he's learned about his um family being massacred. Um and Malcolm's basically saying, "Fight and dispute him. Dispute it like a man. Be violent. Be aggressive." And McDuff replies, "I shall do so, but I must also feel it as a man." I'm going to focus purely on the on the verb feel here because that indicates that McDuff prioritizes his emotions, his grief in this moment. And Shakespeare, I think, here is redefining masculinity in a patriarchal jackabian society that valued stoicism and aggression. McDuff asserts that compassion and vulnerability are also intra integral to to true manhood. And of course we can think about how at in the same moment we have McBth suppressing his emotions. He becomes less and less emotional. Um and of course he's manipulated by Lady McBth into killing thinking this is uh the way he's going to prove he's a real man. And so this offers a more complex harmonious way of considering manhood. All of the character traits that we have explored so far, McDuff, of course, are very important in establishing him and giving him this vital function as Scotland savior. I would argue none of this would matter if he weren't a man of action. So what we know, what we witness as an audience member over the course of this play is McDuff's quiet protest at the beginning develop into this decisive resistance. And we see this in act four scene three when he urges Malcolm, let us rather hold fast the mortal sword and like good menstru our downfall and birthed him. So, just for some context, Malcolm's being a little bit mopy and saying, "Let's go and sit under a tree and cry about Scotland." And he's saying, "No, let's do something about it." The imperative let and the first person plural pronoun us create unity and urgency. He is inspiring uh Malcolm to do something about it. Unlike Malcolm's despair, McDuff channels grief into action. Of course, the Jackabian audience would expect McDuff as a man and as a fame to be a brave warrior. So, of course, this would also achieve their greatest respect for him. Also, later in act five, scene eight, when he confronts McBth, he declares, "I have no words. My voice is in my sword." The blunt curt clauses reflect a directness in McDth. He gets straight to the point. He's not messing around. And unlike McBTH, again, dramatic foil, he's not manipulated by language and prophecy. He focuses on action over rhetoric. Structurally, again, I' you could argue he's acting as a catalyst again because he's propelling the play um towards its violent but necessary resolution. And I know I've mentioned Banquo already, but this is again a great opportunity to compare him to Banquo um because Banquo unlike McDuff holds back and lets fate take its course. And of course doing that actually is a fatal decision for Banquo, right? It leads to his death. Uh whereas McDuff on the other hand will not passively sit back. He is a man of action. So again, this draws in this exploration at the time for for the Jacabian era about fate and the part that fate plays um alongside free will. And so finally I would end my essay on the conclusion that I think we realize and we've got to think in the eyes of a very religious audience. The Jacabine audience would have been very religious and I think they would have viewed McDuff as God's instrument. So if we think about the final confrontation, McDuff, this is in act five scene 8 reveals he was from his mother's womb untimely ripped. Shakespeare here is using a quivocation. It's a central motif in the play to overturn the witch's prophecy. It's this moment. This is the plot twist. You could use plot a mentioned plot twist here um as a structural technique to realize that the witches have been tricking McBth. The ambiguity that misled McBth now ensures his defeat. So structurally Mc McDonald is a really important character because he becomes the means by which the prophecy is resolved and fulfilled. So for a Jackabian audience, this would affirm their belief in divine justice. This idea that God always ultimately restores order. And I think they would view McDth as a key tool for God to make that happen. So when McDuff hails Malcolm, hail king for so art in again at five scene 8, he uses an exclamatory tone. uses a declarative sentence to publicly reestablish legitimate monarchy and by helping to reestablish lawful rule. McDuff h has functioned as a defender of the natural and political hierarchy otherwise known as the great chain of being. So that's what the jackabian audience would have believed in. Okay, that there's this great chain of being, there's a hierarchy, and when McBth unlawfully took the crown, it created chaos because it wasn't it disrupted this great chain of being. It's not this was not God's will. So ultimately, I guess Shakespeare presents McDuff as Scotland savior. He's patriotic. Like I said, he's intuitive, he's compassionate, he's courageous, but I think ultimately he's a man of action. He trusts, he knows what's right and wrong. He trusts that and he allows that to inform his actions. And so ultimately he functions as the moral opposite and um to McBth um a inspiration to the audience on how you should how one should live their lives. Um and he's also an instrument of divine justice. So, he's pretty awesome. I really like McDuff as a as a character. He might be my favorite. Um, but please feel free to share your own thoughts on McDuff. Uh, feel free to comment in the comments section. You can always reach out to me personally as well. My email is mrs rumsy@mrs rumsy.com.